# Which extra-musical sounds please you the most?



## Edward Elgar (Mar 22, 2006)

I was wondering if humans had an inate pleasure for natural sounds. Contemplating my own sound preferences, I much prefer natural sounds (i.e. the sea, the wind) to man-made or synthetic sounds (i.e. clocks, trains).

I'm not talking about instruments here, I'm talking about just sounds and which collection of sounds please you more, those offered by nature and those offered by the soundworld humankind has built around us.

I have a theory as to why some may prefer the man-made sounds, but I will only reveal it after your opinions have been expressed on the matter.

P.S. Sorry about the sexism of the word "man-made", but it is easier to say than human-made.


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I would go for natural sounds by default, but I really think that I enjoy a mixture. For example (like most people), I'm fond of the sound running water, breezes and birds _etc._, but I also love the sound of hasty footsteps and lawn-mowers. I imagine I enjoy the natural sounds for the same base reason as anybody else, while I find pleasure in certain man-made sounds because the ones I listed (along with a few others) take me back to certain feelings from my childhood.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

'Man-made' isn't necessarily sexist. Fe-male, wo-man - are those words sexist just because they include man and male in them? 

Anyway I think it's true that natural sounds are more pleasant, of course they could have the tendency to be annoying as well in some instances. Some sounds made by animals in nature are obviously meant to be not unpleasant as they are meant to communicate, such as birdsong. Other sounds of nature can be relatively quiet. Man made sounds such as drilling, noise from transport can be very loud and often dissonant. One man made sound which is more consonant is bell ringing, but that is because it is sound made for the sake of it and not as just a residual effect.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Sounds of nature.

The other _very_ man-made sound that many do like, and industries deliberately make a point out of it, are performance motor car engine sounds when the engine gets fired up and revs. Apart from that, I can't think of other sounds that are deliberately made/tuned for apparently aesthetical reasons, other than music. You might get the odd alarm, clocks, telephone ring tones etc. that are mellifluous by design. But as for pure noisy sound, I can't think of others that parallel the motor car engine example.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

I don't like the sound of the motor engine, they actually block out much of the sound for those inside a car, it's those outside who have to listen to it at full volume.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

starry said:


> I don't like the sound of the motor engine, they actually block out much of the sound for those inside a car, it's those outside who have to listen to it at full volume.


Right. Also we need the engine noise blocked out because we listen to Classical CD's, radios, electronic devices with fine music during a car journey.


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Right. Also we need the engine noise blocked out because we listen to Classical CD's, radios, electronic devices with fine music during a car journey.


But what about those outside the car with mp3 players, they have to deafen themselves to make sure they can listen to what they want and not the outside noise. Vehicle noise is obviously much more than just the engine (which can be a high pitched whistling noise as well I think?) but the sound of tyres on road, the brakes as well.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I too have a lot of trouble listening to my iPod while walking. Trucks and buses are the worst with airplanes a close second. Very annoying.

My least favorite sounds are TV's and radio. The constant onslaught of loud aggressive blah blah blah BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!!!!!!!!! NINETY DAYS SAME AS CASH!!!!!!!!!!! MIDNIGHT MADNESS EVENT!!!!!!!! ZERO CALORIES!!!!!!!! Void where prohibited. Your results may vary. (Inrareinstancesmaycausechronicdysplasiadiarrheadandruffandpersonalitydisordersuseonlyasdirectedexceptunderhteadviceofaphysiciannotvalidafterthirtydayssomerestrictionapply.) 

I do not watch TV for this reason.

In spite of loving synthesizers and all sorts of unusual man made sounds in music, I prefer natural sounds in my environment. The sound of birds, wind, rain, crickets -- these are all soothing. I especially enjoy the sound of children's laughter in the distance. I've never really thought about why these sounds are pleasant. They just are.


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## rojo (May 26, 2006)

Well, I think I might like any sound, depending on if I like the context. Although I'm fond of hearing my cats purring in pretty much any context, I guess.

For example, there is a sound that I didn't really feel one way or the other about, until I heard it in this context:

_Breaking Windows_






Oh, wait; you said extra-musical. Oops.


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## Mark Harwood (Mar 5, 2007)

Natural sounds are delightful: we hear sea birds and woodland birds from our garden here on Arran, and if there's a slack low tide in the evening it's magical.
But for inspiration I find a lot more material in machine sounds, and have done so since being a child in the back seat of a car. Extractor fans work too.
We look at a cloud & imagine that it's an animal. Similarly, I hear a machine sound full of complex harmonics & sculpt it into a piece of music, dreamy & evanescent.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Definitely natural sounds for me. I almost can't stand being in big cities for long, just because of the obscene sound pollution... yeah.


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## Isola (Mar 26, 2008)

Edward Elgar said:


> P.S. Sorry about the sexism of the word "man-made", but it is easier to say than human-made.


No need to get paranoid, we know what 'man-made' means.

I too definitely go for natural sounds - rain, wind, waves, animal & birds... Above all, my doggie's snoring and muted barks in her dreams! I can't think one man-made non-musical sound that I enjoy.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Isola said:


> I can't think one man-made non-musical sound that I enjoy.


We have a manual lawnmower which makes quite a soothing whirring sound. I especially enjoy hearing it when I'm not causing it.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Man made has much more variety


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Natural , what else.
Man made : we have enough bickering on this site.


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## Capeditiea (Feb 23, 2018)

I like, natural. for the very reason of the existent evil fabrications of sound that happens... like those big ******* trucks that decide to go vroooooom as they are moving. then the various television shows that are so loud that you want to shoot the television a few dozen times... guns are another scary thing to hear... especially if you are unsure if you are the one that has been shot. 
But if it is implimented into the music then it is okay about 95% of the time... 

but worst of all... is the random arguements from the neighbors who are arguing over if they were seeing other people... 

(these were all experiences when i lived in the actual city... a few years back.) 

now that i am in the suburbs of that city, in my parents basement... i hear the ******* trucks still, and the weekly arguements of the family on the subject of money. luckily i have never heard a gunshot around here... aside from the various similar sounding things... 

July Fourth is the worst... here i am trying to work on music... and boom boom boobooboboom! kaplow shhhhhh flooflooflo brackbrack boomboom 
for a few hours... the dogs upstairs are all freaking out... finally when i think it is over we have drunks running through the street hooting and hollaring like the end of the world was delayed another year... need i mention the fact that ******* trucks occur more often on this day... 

Walking to the store... has always been difficult, since i absolutely need music to be penetrating my ears... otherwise my anxiety acts up and i start walking about as fast as the cars, which then concerns the local police... and then i would have to explain to them the fact i have anxiety and require to listen to music... but since i end up speaking so fast they end up thinking i am on some anphetamines... and search me... (which has happened twice in my lifetime.) 

but i end up always having to listen to some louder music... so i can drown out the sound of the ******* trucks that happen to be everywhere... 

not to mention those car subs... that have recently been the latest trend for popular folk... where they drive around and suddenly evacuate all the sound of the music i am listening to as they pass by... (if i am in a residential area... slowly... which is probably due to my increased heartrate.) 

Turns out they passby and i can hear the music again... next thing i know i arrive at the destination. which then at the destination it too is noisy... 

HUMANS JUST NEED TO BE QUIET! i think inside my mind... which then i start contemplating on how i could make my next work cause them to sit down and shut up for just a few moments... but then i am at the check out, and i pull of my head phones which then the cashier and i exchange a few words... and i leave... which then i am suddenly bombarded with more noize... so i continue to listen to the music... i get home, with a bit of a migraine and have to relax a little while. 

After this it is back to working on music.


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