Sound Map: Memory & Discovery (Discovery Bay)
Introduction
Every time you listen to a recording, it's a revisit to the past even if it have ceased to be. This realisation of the nature of recording lead me to this topic for the project. For the sound map, I revisit Discovery Bay (DB), a community I spend my childhood in but seldom visited since on 21 October, 2022. From morning to evening, I carried the Sony PCM-D50 recorder with a pair of binaural mic, went on a journey that is half on recovering childhood memories, half on discovering the new changes after I left.
One key feature in the soundscape of DB was the frequent disturbance of sound produced by aeroplanes soaring in the sky due to its proximity to the Hong Kong International Airport. In the past, I had always found it disturbing. From a music ecology perspective however, it was what makes this place special. Songs from birds and insects also appeared frequently across recordings due to DB being a suburban area. Another recurring sound you may notice in the recording would be the sounds from water sources, whether it is the sounds of ocean, stream or fountains in plaza. It just showed how prominent and common they were in DB.
I'd like to present the recordings in chronological order (recording time) rather than by area for storytelling purpose. The recording I choose to present are results of tough compromises between sound quality and my personal stories with the spot. For some recordings, I recorded without Binaural mic, the tracks are labelled with (R) at the end.
Sound Map
Morning
Spot 1: Central Park in Siena
This was the place to start as it contained all the sound elements I have mentioned in the introduction. Sound of water, animals and jet plane. I was sitting comfortably on a bench, surrounded by trees while recording with the Binaural mic. It also picked up sounds from a child calling someone (perhaps his dog?) and a lady performing her aerobics routine.
Spot 2: Seaside (Siena)
This was a recording of the relatively calm seaside of Siena. It was rare to record in such quiet environment thanks to it being right next to the Siena Clubhouse swimming pool. Luckily, it was so early that the pool was not opened yet. Back then, the opening of the Siena Club was a real deal as it offered many new things that was lacking in the old Recreation Club, bowling tracks, a basketball court and a pool table. Though, none was more exciting than the outdoor playground on water. There was a huge bucket with water at the top constantly filling in, once it was full, it poured.
Spot 3: DB North Plaza
Back when I left, DB North Plaza was just opened and there were just the supermarket, nothing else. In the recording, I started from the plaza, went into the supermarket and wandered around before heading back out. I had some mixed feelings towards DB North, as the hotel attracted tourists and has been a hotspot for staycation in the past few years. However, DB lost its sense of purity in my mind when it allowed taxi to get in. Before that, DB was a quiet place isolated from most part of Hong Kong without outside vehicles, only golf carts, buses and hired van.
Spot 4: A Stream near the lookout on the hill (R)
I remembered catching prawns and tadpoles there with an empty tissue paper bag. Obviously, it had not ended well. Besides, the lookout and the Gazebo next to it were considered the destination of hiking trips with my late Grandma. Back then, Grandma always talked about spots beyond like the Tiger Head, the Reservoir and the Golf Club which were like myths to me as I did not have the stamina to reach. This time, I had the stamina and will to reach them, but Grandma wasn't with me anymore.
Noon
Spot 5: Plaza
One of if not the most common place I hung out and killed time during my childhood. It now had an indoor area that include an ice skating rink. The recording however was taken outdoor with me walking around the plaza. I was amazed by just how well the mic picked up the Youtube content the people are watching! One of my greatest memory was my dad daring me to wear my Doraemon pyjama to the plaza and let him take a photo, which I promptly did.
Spot 6: Pier: Ferry to Central (R)
In the recording, I record the moments before and during the ship left. From the hurrying passengers, the blurry broadcast to the start of the engine and the ship departing.Taking the ferry was usually an adventure for me. Going from a laid back, relax DB to the fast paced Central were such a change of pace. Besides, I remembered my mum's friends brought their kids (my classmates) to protest against the ever increasing ticket fee which ended with resident discount. Still very expensive though. When taking the ferry, I also always went onto the upper deck. Sometimes, I was fortunate enough to take the smaller boat, which there were outdoor seats upstairs at the back. The ride was also considerably more exciting with the howling wind and the stronger motion. (glad the travel time was short and I was not that susceptible to seasick)
Afternoon
Spot 7: Tai Pak Beach
Aka the beach. I took zigzag path, from one side to the other, trying to pick up interesting sounds on the beach. Sound of children laughing, people picnicking and small waves from the ocean crashing onto the beach, all were recorded. At the far side of the beach was the playground area, in which both adults and kids were finding joy. I had tonnes of memories on this beach both good and bad. I really enjoyed playing with candles, lanterns and glowing sticks at night in Mid-Autumn Festivals. Nonetheless, I seriously did not enjoy the deafening sound of drums and cymbals in Dragon boat festivals. As I lived near the beach, it was super annoying!
Spot 8: Pier: Ferry to Pingchou (R)
Compare to the adventure mood I feel on the air-conditioned ferry to Central, I was usually in a weekend mood on the ferry to Pingchou. Riding my bike all over Pingzhou, visiting my mum's pottery workshop and eating chicken wing noodles in a certain tea restaurant were what I was expecting. The ship was not air-conditioned so the wind was always howling when I was sitting on the side. The ship was super noisy with the sound from wind and the engine. The dude collecting the money was so nice and often chat with our family for a little whenever he approached us. Sadly, now the ferry accepted octopus card and this experience was lost.
Evening
Spot 9: Outside DB Recreation Club Tennis Courts (R)
Tennis survived in my life unlike many of my other childhood hobbies as I still play it regularly. Here, I picked up the racket and hit the tennis ball for the first time in my life. In fact, most of my experiences listening to the rally were not even when I was playing. Most of the time, I was on my way to play table tennis. My coach had complaint on multiple occasions that tennis stole her students. I guess she was right then. This day however, wen I was recording at a golf cart parking lot next to the tennis courts, I noticed a person playing against the wall of the transformer station next to the carpark, in an area surrounded by cones. I had never seen that even in the past in DB.
Spot 10: Football court next to Discovery College (next to spot 2) (R)
I ain't keen on playing football like many do. I was and still is chubby and not athletic. My skills wasn't good either. Still, every Saturday, I got up early and played with my brother for the church's team. It was super excited when we scores in practice (cause it was rare), even more so when I score (which happened a handful of times). Most of the time however I was not having a good time, either scratching me knee when I fell or taking a painful shot with either my face or my chest. In this recording however, I witnessed people having fun. Whether it was kids playing on one side, a woman playing with her son on the other, an old man jogging around the field or a father bring his son to the field and joining the group. The slight imperfection is that the drilling sound from workers renovating a house from afar (which also happened on the beach recording) but I guess that's life.
Reflection
The project was extremely tiring (walked almost 30000 steps) but incredibly rewarding. Coming back to a place I used to come home many years after with a particular mission, a different perspective was such a unique experience. The funny part is I was somewhat an insider, somewhat an outsider, whether it was my relationship with DB or my approach towards the sound I was familiar with. With the equipments, I gained the mindset of a photographer, eager the capture the beautiful moments I experienced. I also felt extremely frustrated when I messed up as I knew the moment might not be there again. At those moment, I also discovered how vastly different our ears and brain perceive sound compare to the mic and recorder. For example, our brain amplified certain sound while cut other subconsciously. I could hear the distanced singing from my alma mater, but could hardly record it on the recorder thanks to the background noise. Moreover, I actually explored places I have never been to in the past as a resident and sound I took for granted.
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