Way Too Much Noise at the Hospital.

You may think that you're hearing traffic when you listen to this recording. There is some traffic, but the continuous rumbling noise is the hospital itself (Columbia St. Mary's).


What is the source, exactly?

I don't know. It could be some sort of generator, or construction equipment, but it really isn't clear. This mysterious element adds to the image of the building as a sort of ominous sonic presence in its environment. It is alive with sound, in the sense that it never dulls its volume. The hospital even dwarfs the construction that is taking place all around it.

At one point, a construction worker, who is standing a few floors up, yells down at some ground workers: "You guys are making way too much noise down there!" This is audible in the recording, although it is not easy to pick out. There is an irony in the fact that the man complains about his co-workers generating too much noise, when his own voice is nearly drowned out by a seemingly uncontrollable aural force (the hospital). Listen.
















September 21, 2008
12:40 P.M.