Remember the last time you wrote something down the old fashioned way—with pencil and paper? It's probably been a while. But it makes a pretty great sound. If you listen closely, you will notice that each letter makes its own distinct sound as its being written. You can actually make out words as they get put down on paper.
This is one of the sounds in Leah Reid's musical composition, Sk(etch). She also mixed in the crumpling, tearing, and cutting of paper. And throughout her piece, you can hear sketching and drawing on paper, wood, and metal.
Leah Reid is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Virginia. She's an alumna of Stanford University, where she spent time at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. There, students make 'musique concrète' out of all kinds of recorded sounds.
As always, listen with headphones for the full effect!
This story comes to us from Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett of The World According to Sound podcast. They’re partnering with the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco to help us re imagine California in the rich way blind people experience it every day. The project has additional support from California Humanities.