I’m embarking on an ongoing audio recording project. I would like to capture sounds that are “Taiwan”. I would like your input on what things you feel representative of what Taiwan sounds like.
For example:
The garbage truck song(s)
A night market
Firecrackers going off at the crack of dawn (ugh)
To put it simply, if you came across a CD titled “The Sounds of Taiwan”, with nothing but “boring” typical Taiwan-sounding recordings, what sounds would you expect to find on it?
It doesn’t have to be something limited to just Taiwan; it could be something heard throughout Asia. But perhaps when you hear it, it somehow connects you to this country. (Buddhist chantings at a funeral, for example)
Raspberry pi was directly above this thread so my first thought was fanpi. It’s the noise my students sometimes make putting their hand under their armpit and making a downwards movement. Your buttocks combined with your indigestion tract will make the noise they are imitating.
The endless construction noises (including jackhammers and beeping of vehicles as they reverse).
The pedestrian/intersection traffic cops blowing their whistles.
There are millions of pictures of Taipei 101 at sunset taken from Xiangshan… That doesn’t stop me from going back there every now and then to take a few more.
I have another sound for you: “[politician’s name] xia tai!”
-the fix your window guy’s recording
-garbage trucks
-screaming (while running) kids
-the ding dong melody when you walk into Family Mart
-the unnecessary shit blurted out in four languages on elevators
-TAM-Shoe-eeee
-the incessant compu talk blurted out at the ticket collection machine when you exit a parking lot
-the nerve crushing din of the ‘jia yo’ lady at every public event or local style wedding
-Japanese pop music (or Taiwanese pop made in the Japanese style)
-huay yin guang yin
-‘sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry’
-air raid test siren
-the beeping on the bus when speed exceeds 40km/h
-the your number is up at the bank recording
-the song they play in Wellcome on a 30 second loop all day
-a brick of firecrackers being set off
I could go on, basically Taiwan is the world capital for recorded noise that is played back ad nasuem, and when you couple that with fireworks, scooters and extremely loud talking people, you are basically at noise ground zero.
“Maaaaaaantoooooouuuuuu!” (the song of the mantou (steamed bun) vendors–the ones who have carts)
Traffic cops’ whistles at rush hour.
Multilingual announcements on the MRT (Mandarin, Taiwanese (Minnan), Hakka (I think), and English–I don’t remember the order).
Someone mentioned the garbage truck songs. I’ll add the names of the two songs that they play: “Für Elise” and “A Maiden’s Prayer.” I don’t think “Für Elise” needs an explanation.
“A Maiden’s Prayer” is a nineteenth-century Polish piano piece, which somehow morphed into a cowboy standard, and which, according to this webpage, is also “performed when the fence closes and the train departs in Shin - Yokohama Station” in Japan. (downloadable midi file) When I was in Korea, “A Maiden’s Prayer” seemed to signify something at the local elementary school (perhaps the start of school?), and at my hagwon (cram school), it signified the commencement of classes.
Here’s the garbage-truck version of “Für Elise”:
Here’s the piano version:
Here’s the garbage-truck version of “A Maiden’s Prayer”:
