On this podcast, I agree with the points made. It’s almost like we’re all trapped in our own worlds. There seems to be nobody looking up from their smartphones and noticing what’s going on around them. We prefer, as humans to separate ourselves from one another. We do this often to escape publicity and stay out of trouble within NYC, this way life can be seen more than often. We have public transit in new york, which is called the MTA. You can go anywhere in the city on the MTA. The fee cost $2.75. You’ll see everything but not just musicians, singers, and homeless people on the MTA. Our lives in NYC are closely linked to noise. Every day we listen to the sound. “Noises are the sounds we have learned to ignore”, as Schaffer says. One way people, like myself, stop hearing noises is by using noise-cancellation inside headphones such as AirPods pro. I prefer to disregard the noise to sum it up, and maybe sometimes I see the noise as a phase of life.

In Krukowski’s podcast “Ways of Hearing” he explores the concept of privatized spaces, one of them being personal bubbles. It hadn’t dawned on me till I heard Kurkowski’s description of today’s modern climate, but as someone who can’t go outside without music in their ears; I agree that people voluntarily engage into these safe spaces with intent of removing themselves. As I reflect personally on my own experiences, I remember the times I’ve chosen to remove my earphones because I became conscious of my lack of awareness. It’s as if not being in tune with my surroundings can cause spikes of anxiety. When one’s senses are deprived, the deficit can distort one’s perception of their own reality. With many people practicing the same habits, there has been a societal shift in how we interact with others on the outside. We now market audio products with terms like soundproof. There’s business in enhancing these personal spaces. I’ve found myself cranking the volume to the max on my earphones so I could combat the loud interior of a train. I never engage with any strangers because I’m uncomfortable with the idea of forcing someone out of an experience they’ve opted to be in. In a lot of ways our society has normalized the use of personalized safe spaces.

The Podcast “Ways of hearing in SPACE” by Krukowski wants to clarify why our generation is deprived of natural sounds. He said that he grew up in Manhattan with the sound of heater, subway, busy streets, winds with all the sounds of natural.  Nowadays,though, he has  found that everyone is more interested in Sound technologies  than natural sounds which are more beautiful and pure. I think i can relate to him, most of  we used airport or earphone in our ears to avoid the sound, teasing, or unwanted things that happened around us. That’s how we are robbed of the natural sound. I have also found that homeless people ask for  money in the subway to avoid their sounds many people used airphone and avoid the sound of support. There are even a few guys playing  various instruments, singing songs  in the subway to raise money. They want our to grow themselves, essentially. Yet the technology that we use makes us fascinated with ourselves. We never consider that the sound is not just for noise, but also for the support of those who are humanity’s responsibility.

The podcast “Ways of hearing #2 – SPACE” by Krukowski refers to how he grew up in the city with sounds and noises of sirens, the wind, and trains; however it all seems to have changed due to technology. Krukowski claims that “with all these headphones is like we are avoiding ear contact”. I agree with Krukowski, before when there was less technology in the streets people had no option but pay attention to their surroundings and was stuck with the noise that the city brings however now if we go on a train we see more than 80% of the people on a phone, with headphones/AirPods on or on a kindle and the other 15% is probably with someone else such as a friend or family member having a conversation. We can all agree that we have been guilty of this when we get on a train we don’t want to hear the loud noise that the train makes, little kids crying, people talking over each other so we put our headphones on and it is like if we are in our universe. We try to avoid strangers talking to us or people asking for money and when we have our headphones on people understand that we are trying to not be disturbed.

I think I can relate a lot with Damon Krukkowsi’s idea about how we are privatizing the public. When I used to get on the train everyday to go to school or go to shopping, most people are staring at their phone and either listening to music, watching a video, or reading a news. I often noticed that since people are not aware of their surroundings, they don’t realize when an elderly or pregnant people get on the train and therefore they don’t give up their seat to the people who need it. I myself often wear earbuds too on the train even when I am not listening to anything because sometimes when you are not doing anything some random people starts talking to me and often times they ask for money and things so I get a little scared, so I try to pretend like I am busy looking at my phone and cannot hear anything. I also feel like not many people are talking to each other so even when I am on the train or bus with my family or friends, we just keep quiet often times and just stare at our phones until we get off.

In Damon Krukowski episode two of his podcast, “Ways of Hearing” he explains how new technology blocks people off to the people and environment around them via headphones and phone screens.  I can relate to this when I’m on the move through the city I always have my air pods in and I’m I do everything I can to avoid other people around me.  I also fully relate to Krukowski’s view on the roar of the city I also grew up on the top floor of an apartment looking over a busy street in Brooklyn.  I grew very accustomed to all the noises and ruckus of the street below me hearing it all day and night.  When I moved away for a few years out of the city to a more rural area where there was barley any cars or anything going on for that matter the nights were silent, and it was hard for me to sleep I found myself sleeping with the tv on throughout the night.  Along with all the sounds I can relate with him on the gentrification aspect the area I grew up in was mostly industrial all factories and plants.  It was where all the European immigrants came to work there was not much else going on.  When I go to revisit now its nothing but high rise apartment’s and hotels strips of bars and clubs and fancy restaurants the cost of living has also gone up exponentials little remains of the neighborhood it used to be as cost of living has gone up exponentially.

According to “Ways of hearing #2 – SPACE”, Krukowski describes how sound is all around us. He explains how earbuds affect us as if we are in our own world or bubble. He explains house noises are a part of our everyday life’s no matter where we are. In the podcast Krukowski states “If you are busy talking on the phone or looking at a screen, are you really in this crowd, are you here with me on this side walk moving together like we are all in the same wave or are you in some space all together” In my personal experience I see this happen everywhere around NYC, people seem to be talking on the phone or staring at a screen not aware of their surroundings. They do not pay attention to what is in front of them and sometimes can lead to accidents because they are to busy staring at a screen while walking. Krukowski also mentions that “the streets of NYC move much slower” which is relatable because people who are staring at their phone or talking on the phone move slower, bump into people. They are not aware of what is going on around them at all. Most people use earbuds to cancel out all the noise that are around them. They can’t hear the cars, trains, people talking, dogs barking etc… which is like they are not really even there to begin with because they are in a whole different noise environment. If I do not have headphones on and one of my friends with me does, we will not hear the  same things and its like we are in two different places even though we are right next to each other. Personally I do not use earbuds much, but when I do it’s not for long because I like to be aware of my surroundings. Technology has advanced plenty through out the years causing people to be less social with one another. People do not talk as much and avoid eye contact because they are to busy looking at their phones.

According to Krukowsi’s podcast, Ways of Hearing, we privatize our space in the public with the usage of earbuds. The idea that is brought up in the podcasts infuriates me because I myself agree and discuss about this subject often. With the advancement in technology, we don’t take the world and its noise into account anymore. Us humans also don’t talk anymore; Our ways of communicating are artificial. We text, DM, or email to verbalize ourselves. We don’t call or arrange to be in the presence of someone as often. People now say I love you or were breaking up over a message. This shows that we try to avoid sounds in all forms, whether its outside noise or communicating with your loved ones.

 The Radio City Music Hall was made to establish a space where you can enjoy music while controlling the noise that interferes it. Krukowski compared earbuds to the venue stating that “Earbuds are like an auditorium without walls”.  My earbuds play an important role in how I visualize things, it enhances my ability to imagine, imagine a place other than here. But I don’t intend to estrange myself from reality, I just don’t find listening to the bus, the tracks of the train, or the rush of traffic amusing. That’s why it’s called white noise. Most people don’t actively listen to it. Every now and then though, I resort to tradition by removing my earbuds and listen to myself walk, hearing my feet hit the pavement and everything that surrounds me, including those private bubbles. 

According to the book, “The Soundscape” by R. Murray Schafer, the author argues that people should seek a way to make environmental acoustics a positive study program. He develops soundscape theory and  makes a lot research to propose that soundscape is composed by sound and landscape. Schafer’s theory of soundscape is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of noise. As he argues, the management of noise is not only sound, it also is a environmental concern. When we live in New York City, we tend to think of outdoor sounds as noise, such as the sound of car horns, the sound of ancient subways and all kinds of sounds of people taking. When we only think these sounds as noise, they are regarded as a kind of waste. However, soundscape theory treats sound as a resource. It take advantage of sound from the perspective of environment and so on. When we are in an environment, we should distinguish the sound source and focus on more preferred sounds, and use them to mask the unwanted ones, then reducing some sounds what we unwanted. What’s more, different sounds in different environments will make people produce different emotions. We need to protect and use some kinds of special sounds because they are already embedded in people’s minds. For example, the bell of the end of class, the sound of the subway door will be opened and the sound of police car passing. Soundscape is that people use some specific sounds or create some sounds in some environment to reduce the sound that people do not like. My grandfather is an architect, my hometown’s house is near the highway, so any sounds from the road becomes a sound that we don’t like. Therefore, grandfather planted some bamboos to reduce the noise. We like the sounds of bamboo blown by the wind.