Sounds of HK Island in miniature
Sound 1: The sound of street hawking
Location: Queen’s Rd W, Sai Ying Pun.Date: Sept. 30th
Equipment: Zoom H5 with Deity S-Mic 2
Sai Ying Pun is one of Hong Kong's older residential areas, though the streets are crowded and densely populated, the atmosphere of life is very lively. Residents can be seen carrying pockets of fruit and vegetables in the street, day and night. This recording was from a street fruit shop in Sai Ying Pun. Every day when I walk past the shop I can hear a female shopkeeper hawking, which is quite characteristic. Although I couldn't quite understand Cantonese, I felt that most of the passers-by were attracted by her hawking and stopped to choose fruits. This recording also features the sound of traffic lights, vehicles, etc. I think this is a representative sound of Hong Kong street.
Sound 2: The sound of a cake shop
Location: Queen’s Rd W, Sai Ying Pun.
Date: Sept. 30th
Equipment: Zoom H5 with Deity S-Mic 2
Sometimes when you walk down the street in Hong Kong, you will hear the repeated sound of hawking from loudspeakers that have been recorded in advance by stores. Next to the aforementioned fruit shop, there was a cake shop that used this method of advertising. The same Cantonese language came out of the speakers, but unlike the former, hawking in this way was more frequent.
Sound 3: The sound of the tram
Location: Eastern St, Sai Ying Pun.Date: Sept. 30th
Equipment: Zoom H5 with Deity S-Mic 2
The clanking sound of a tram is undoubtedly one of the most impressive sounds in the mind of every first-time visitor to Hong Kong. Locals told me that only Hong Kong Island has trams, so I thought this must be included among the sounds that only Hong Kong Island has to offer. This recording contains both the clanking sound of the tram starting up and the sound of passengers swiping their cards and coins as they get off.
Sound 4: The sound of children's playground
Location: Sun Yet Sen Park Children's Playground
Date: Sept. 30th
Equipment: Zoom H5 with Deity S-Mic 2
Sun Yat Sen Park is one of the typical seaside parks in Hong Kong. Locals here enjoy strolling and jogging after dinner and bringing their kids for playtime. The recording was sampled in a small amusement park here, a place where both Cantonese-speaking children and foreign language-speaking children can get along happily with each other. In the recording, the children were playing hide-and-seek at a slide and we can clearly hear a little boy saying "He's coming! He’s coming! ". Hong Kong is a place where diverse cultures come together, this is also reflected in the amusement park. This sound, in my opinion, is also distinctive to Hong Kong.
Sound 5: The sound of Filipino housemaids meeting
Location: IFC
Date: Oct. 2nd
Equipment: iPhone
In Hong Kong, many families hire Filipino housemaids. Sundays are their day off and many Filipino housemaids gather to chat, eat, sing and dance. They usually gather at some overpasses or shady places on the street. The IFC serves as a great meeting point for Filipino housemaids living nearby. This recording was sampled from the bus stop at the IFC, where a group of cheerful-looking Filipino maids can be seen singing and dancing in unison.
Sound 6: The sound of the ferry
Location: Central Ferry Piers
Date: Oct. 2nd
Equipment: iPhone
In Hong Kong, apart from buses, MTR and trams, there is also a very representative mode of daily transport—ferries. This recording was made while I was on the ferry from Central Pier to Tsim Sha Tsui. Due to the sound of winds, the roar of the ship’s engine and the sound of the water were not very clear in the recording, so I used the software Logic Pro to adjust the high and low frequencies of the recording by a moderate amount. But I don't think that having the sound of the wind is not necessarily a bad thing; it makes up the characteristic sound of Hong Kong, along with the other sounds of the daily ferries.
Sound 7: The sound of the ice cream truck（mobile softee）
Location: Central Ferry Piers
Date: Oct. 2nd
Equipment: iPhone
I was lucky enough to come across one of only 15 remaining "Mobile Softee"(an ice cream truck) in Hong Kong at Central Ferry Pier. This truck carries with it the childhood memories of Hong Kong people. Due to the noise of the crowd, I have only taken a snippet of the recording. The sound that comes out of the recording like a music box is the classic "Blue Danube".
Sound 8: The sound of birdcall
Location: Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden
Date: Sept. 30th
Equipment: Zoom H5 with Deity S-Mic 2
When I chose the Zoological and Botanical Gardens as a recording location, I didn't anticipate that there wouldn't really be much of a good sound for recording. So I've only picked one birdcall to share as recording material. I found that capturing the sound of animals is a complex matter, and perhaps better equipment is needed to capture to achieve clear results.
Sound 9: The sound of Didgeridoo
Location: HKU
Date: Sept. 26th
Equipment: iPhone
This recording is different from all the previous ones. I chose to record it because of a chance encounter after class when the GreenWoods Society at school was doing a promotional event and I was attracted by the sound of many instruments, especially the Didgeridoo. The Didgeridoo is a traditional Australian Aboriginal tribal instrument and one of the oldest instruments in the world. But I didn't have any professional recording equipment at hand, so I had to record the sound with my mobile phone. In the eighth second of the recording, you can faintly hear the crisp sound of the chanting bowl being struck, echoing the sound made by the Didgeridoo.
Sound 10: The sound of Hang
Location: HKU
Date: Sept. 26th
Equipment: iPhone
This recording is similar to the ninth one, both from Greenwoods' promotional meeting. Although the recording equipment was not professional, you can still hear the crisp and ethereal sound from the Hang.
I have named the above recording files I have shared out as a miniature of the sound of Hong Kong Island, they were only a very small part of the sound. If we look and listen, we will find more "Sounds of Hong Kong".
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