Taleamor Park Community Sounds

Chris Schumann

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers

by Henry David Thoreau

“For the most part, there was no recognition of human life in the night, no human breathing was heard, only the breathing of the wind. As we sat up, kept awake by the novelty of our situation, we heard at intervals foxes stepping about over the dead leaves, and brushing the dewy grass close to our tent, and once a musquash fumbling among the potatoes and melons in our boat, but when we hastened to the shore we could detect only a ripple in the water ruffling the disk of a star. At intervals we were serenaded by the song of a dreaming sparrow or the throttled cry of an owl, but after each sound which near at hand broke the stillness of the night, each crackling of the twigs, or rustling among the leaves, there was a sudden pause, and deeper and more conscious silence, as if the intruder were aware that no life was rightfully abroad at that hour.

There was a fire in Lowell, as we judged, this night, and we saw the horizon blazing, and heard the distant alarm-bells, as it were a faint tinkling music borne to these woods. But the most constant and memorable sound of a summer's night, which we did not fail to hear every night afterward, though at no time so incessantly and so favorably as now, was the barking of the house-dogs, from the loudest and hoarsest bark to the faintest aerial palpitation under the eaves of heaven, from the patient but anxious mastiff to the timid and wakeful terrier, at first loud and rapid, then faint and slow, to be imitated only in a whisper; wow-wow-wow-wow--wo--wo--w--w. Even in a retired and uninhabited district like this, it was a sufficiency of sound for the ear of night, and more impressive than any music. I have heard the voice of a hound, just before daylight, while the stars were shining, from over the woods and river, far in the horizon, when it sounded as sweet and melodious as an instrument. The hounding of a dog pursuing a fox or other animal in the horizon, may have first suggested the notes of the hunting-horn to alternate with and relieve the lungs of the dog. This natural bugle long resounded in the woods of the ancient world before the horn was invented. The very dogs that sullenly bay the moon from farm-yards in these nights excite more heroism in our breasts than all the civil exhortations or war sermons of the age. ‘I would rather be a dog, and bay the moon,’ than many a Roman that I know. The night is equally indebted to the clarion of the cock, with wakeful hope, from the very setting of the sun, prematurely ushering in the dawn. All these sounds, the crowing of cocks, the baying of dogs, and the hum of insects at noon, are the evidence of nature's health or sound state. Such is the never-failing beauty and accuracy of language, the most perfect art in the world; the chisel of a thousand years retouches it.”

Rita Garand

This is a sound of my backyard swamp. The frogs seem to be affected by that love moon as well (referring to the lunar eclipse on May 26th 2021).

He’s persistent. He sings his songs every morning and throughout the day as well. I think he’s looking for a lady friend.

Angela Just

My little recording is from a walk in one of Chicago’s lakeside bird sanctuaries. In the first half, I am walking on snow and then I am walking on leaves. I thought there would be a big difference between the two, but it’s a pretty subtle difference. Oh and I think you will hear a red-winged blackbird.

Emily Craver and Doug Barber

This is a series of tornado siren tests that happen every Wednesday at noon combined with an actual tornado warning in Columbus, Ohio.

Vincent Geels and Vicky Deitrichs

This recording was taken by Vincent and Vicky in their backyard in Columbus, Ohio on a cool, sunny morning. The windchimes hang off our back porch and, when they play, remind them of warm summer days, vegetables and flowers in their garden, and birds singing in the trees.

Richard Glennon

Richard took this recording of coyotes in the backyard of his house in Dayton, Ohio. Later, he returned to the spot and played the recording back. Two coyotes emerged from the treeline to investigate the sound, perhaps hoping one of their pack found food.

Dylan O'Donoghue and Joey Wendel

This recording is from February 2020 in Taipei, Taiwan. Religious ceremonies such as this one are a prevalent feature of the city soundscape in every neighborhood, often involving hundreds of performers and participants. While we don't know the details of this particular event, these sounds remind us of our experience living there and the deep spiritual connections and adherence to tradition that persists in the city.