8:52pm on 22nd April 2015
I sit down by the Yarra river on the Arts Centre’s side opposite Flinders Street Station. I am overwhelmed by the soundscape of reality: the lusting of the wind; the electronic music surrounding me; the trains to-and-from Flinders; the sounds of footsteps on the concrete; and the conversations surrounding me (both on my side and the opposite side of the river). Suddenly, a saxophone. Where is this saxophone’s sound protruding from? Is it close? Is it far? To tell the truth, I am unsure. Perhaps under the Princes Bridge? Nonetheless, it is irrelevant. The opening notes of Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street is indescribably controlling. My ears suddenly hone in on the saxophone’s beauty and kill off every other external sound. I am overcome by a wave of sincerity and calmness that is unparalleled.

My riverside relaxing perception of the sonic environment was skewed. The technical aspects, temporal aspects, interactions of sounds, associative and emotional aspects of sound and the origin of the sounds was altered. Media’s manipulation of sound can trick the ear into mirroring the occurrence by the Yarra River. Editing in media goes hand-in-hand with sound to create this focal effect, which I will probably study in Project Brief 4.