I am renowned in our household for being a good mimic (well, maybe just a mimic…) Whenever we walk out of a shop that’s been playing music I’m singing whatever they were playing, even if it’s just a couple of lines over and over again. I get stuff stuck in my head easily so I could never have been a sound or picture editor and maintained my sanity.
Here are some of my cannily brilliant mimics of bus noises
Please note: 99s are the express buses to UBC. They are diesel powered and articulated like 190s back home with three-door-boarding:
99 riding on through the snow…
Most of the other buses are electric with wires above that they attach themselves to via long antennae:
Skytrains are like monorails but way more frequent, more affordable and they go to useful places:
…very similar to 99s door closing sound… The other cool thing about skytrains is that they don’t have a driver (they are remote controlled!) but there is a seat at the front where you can pretend to a reckless driver like Tabs was…
And finally, here’s pedestrian crossings Vancouver-style. They sound like birds chirping (I’m not totally happy with these renditions - work in progress).
8 responses so far ↓
1 tabitha // Mar 9, 2008 at 10:03 am
These are awesome, Beth! I actually remember a lot of these sounds based on your renditions. I particularly like the subtle difference between the Sky Train leaving the station and the 99 doors closing.
I think these kinds of sounds are hugely important to our experience and memories of a place. Every time I hear the glass bottles in the recycling bins being emptied outside my window, I think of the sound the line 3 Metro made as it rounded the bend at Saint Lazare.
2 Karen // Mar 9, 2008 at 2:26 pm
what a shame, these won’t play for me.. maybe a special codec?
3 beth // Mar 9, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Sorry Karen, maybe it’s a PC Mac problemo….they’re just MP3s and should play on Quicktime. I’ll have to do them for you in person when I see you next…
4 mischa // Mar 9, 2008 at 10:34 pm
the two electric bus sounds are particularly impressive!
5 beth // Mar 11, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Your kind words inspire me to do more recordings! There are many more skytrain noises to do that’s for sure!
6 tabitha // Mar 13, 2008 at 7:03 am
It’s funny that all our “invisible” posts had a public transport theme…
7 beth // Mar 13, 2008 at 7:08 am
Public transport is our muse!
8 Commas & Dots » Blog Archive » Another blog for your reading pleasure... // Mar 13, 2008 at 8:13 am
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