Water for Human Use
Exhibit: Water Acoustics
Referenced Sounds
While this waterfall may appear natural, its actually humanmade. Near the koi pond, this waterfall was the first Duke Gardens recording of this collection.
A specific note of interest in the recording are the lawnmower near the end of the recording. Moving away from the water (after the recording), the sound of the mower became more obvious even if the amplitude (and my distance from it) hadn't changed.
The small trickle of a stream can be heard and a noise that sounds similar to a whisper or wind. There is also a rumbling noise, perhaps from the bubbling of the waterfall. The knocking, it can be noted, is a result of the incredible shallowness of the water.
The American Tobacco Campus is one of the many locations in Durham that shows the cities roots in the Tobacco industry. Once a major production center for tobacco, the site now holds restaurants, a theater, and (during the winter) an ice skating rink. The site also still has the water stream once used for the manufacting of tobacco.
The water under the stream also sounded powerful, and the jumps of the recorder in and out of the stream made for an interesting slurping sound.
Biddle's fountain was the only one on this page where distinct human influenced noise can be heard. Indistinguishable talking can be heard in the background. Also, the fountain sounds similar to some of the other insider water recordings on the page, but not the outside recordings on this page.
The inside water recording is incredibly quiet, sounding like nothing more an a tiny trickle of water. Again, the small layer of water is enough to filter out the human voices, though.
The large garden fountain sounded incredibly similar to the small waterfall fountain at Duke Gardens, but with more human conversation and less lawnmower. The trickling heard is moderate and sounds similar to a light rainshower.
The water trickle inside the water mirrors the outside water trickle but quieter and gentler. It sounds similar to many of the other Duke Gardens water structures (with the exception of the Koi Pond). This recording is amplified 20.6X.
Inside the water, the actual rock water can finally be heard, although the waterfall is still heard to some extent. The stream is quiet but swift.
Since the rocks were quite close to the ATC top, the waterfall is the most distinguishable water feature in the recording. Music can also be heard. The water by the rocks themselves is much less distingushable.
The inside water sounded similar to someone gargling moutwash. Of the water recordings analyzed, it is one of the most loud and powerful underwater sounds. Again, as might be expected, no human factors can be distinguished.
The water in this recording sounds powerful and a low rumbling can be heard. Despite the presence of human factors near the rapids, very few (if any) can be distinguished.