It was a Sunday early evening around 6 o'clock when I did my soundwalk exercise at the Atlas Park (an outdoor mall) in Queens after work. I was sitting down at a store with my eyes closed and I listened carefully. I could hear many sounds from different things. The first thing I could hear was the keynotes: room acoustics, sound that behaves in an enclosed room where nobody's talking. There was also the engine sound from the ac back behind me. Next thing immediately I heard was the sound signals: people from outside of the store. Many people were talking in English most of the time. Sometimes I would hear Polish because this mall is located near a Polish neighborhood. The sound of them talking was blurred due to the fact that I heard them from indoor. However, when it came to a child crying, that sharp and high pitch noise actually caught my attention. Besides that, there was a moment i heard a sound of the friction between the wheels of a scooter and the ground. I can tell the person was riding the scooter very fast.
Some expected sounds were the laughter from children, fast footsteps, and the horn sound from vehicles because it's a Sunday night, children came to the mall with parents to have fun, and it usually starts to have traffic around the time when everyone is rushing to leave and go home. One unexpected sound during the excercise was the cheerful crispy crystal clear sound of a cricket. I did not expect there was a cricket around the area. And this sound is very unique to me because it seems like the cricket is responding to whatever sounds it hears. For example, when people talk, it will make a sound. It is funny to me. I couldn't hear any soundmarks during the exercise though. During the summer time, maybe I would hear the music from ice cream truck but sice the weather is getting very cold, I don't hear it anymore.
I think that the specific instruments in the city symphony are the people, the nature sound from wind, and vehicles.
