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Friday 5 for June 7: Aural examination

Friday 5 for June 7: Aural examination

Ariane June 7, 2024 · Filed under Blog, Memes & Asks, Personal

Answers to today's questions at f.riday5.com :-D 

1. What kinds of non-music sounds do you like falling asleep to?

I prefer the quiet sounds of my neighborhood. The sounds normal to the area I'm living are such as a bus or a car or a motorcycle driving past every now and then, people pulling suitcases when coming home or leaving for a long distance travel, high heals clacking sometimes, elevator door clicking shut, some quiet or normal voice conversation while passing by my bedroom window... those are all okay and don't bother me at all. But sounds like neighbors having a party with loud music or drunkards, usually teenagers or people in the 20s by their voices and music choices. Those things tend to wake me and/or prevent me from falling asleep. There are no bars etc. in the immediate vicinity - just homes and very few businesses most of which are home businesses such as hair dressers. There's also no pass through traffic - if you come here, it's because you live here or have come to visit friends/family. It's usually quiet at night in my neighborhood.

2. Besides alarms, what sounds do you associate with a particular time of day?

Always and forever: when I watch a Miami Vice episode and the opening credits come on, it is Saturday night and time is about 20 minutes past 10pm. Because that was the day and timeslot in the mid-80s when Miami Vice originally aired here. It in actuality might be 1pm on a Wednesday but it does not matter - by brain and bones say it is Saturday and 20 minutes past 10pm whenever Miami Vice opening credits video comes on the telly.

I don't usually hear this anymore but - the 12pm test of the general alarm system (that's to be used in the event of a huge disaster/war/bad event etc.) that happens on the first working Monday of every month. This is an alarm technically, but I've never heard it used for actually alarming so far - only the test run for as long as I've lived here in my current neighborhood. For 20+ years now! I never heard it anywhere else I've lived. First several years that I lived here, I heard it every time - even if I was asleep I'd wake up to it. Now? I don't notice it almost at all anymore! Sometimes only if I'm outside at exatcly 12pm when it's tested, but if I'm inside I just don't notice it it!

I don't associate any other sounds with particular times of day.

3. What sounds (of any type), unliked by most people, do you like?

I don't think I have a like like that? I don't like to have sound on in general, most of the time, since my migraine went chronic in 2008. And even before that, I only really liked my own music on and preferred silence to most other stuff. But I used to be able to tolerate random sounds better than now when the sounds can actually make my head pound if they're loud enough and go on long enough. I've always been sensitive to sound, just like my eyes have always been sensitive to light.

4. In your downtime at home, what is usually the predominant sound?

Now: silence.

Before chronic migraine: my music. I used to always have my music on, and would very rarely turn it off when I really, really, really needed to or wanted to concentrate. Most often I turned it off during school years, when I had to read for the exams. Otherwise I always had my music on in the background.

5. How do you feel about the sound of your own voice?

When I'm speaking, it's okay. Although sometimes I think it feels and sounds like like I might run out of voice in the middle of a sentence/word. I have sometimes thought it might behoove to get some training in using my voice and speaking - certainly would arrange for some if I wanted to participate in something like politics where I'd need to speak, or needed more flowing speaking ability for work.

When I listed to a recording of myself, I sound a complete stranger.

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2 Comments

  1. Marcin

    I remember coming to Finland in August four years ago and hearing that alarm at noon! It's like one of my first memories from my life in Finland. I think it's everywhere in Finland, isn't it? I lived in Tampere then. I arrived on Sunday and it happened the following Monday. I was outside then, went to do some shopping (I guess my first shopping in Finland!). That alarm sound surprised me, for a while I wondered what happened but when I saw that nobody was paying any attention to that, I assumed that it is just some test. I think I heard it afterwards several times also even at home, then I moved to another flat, where it wasn't heard so much. I was mostly working remotely then, later I started to come to my office at Tampere University but I didn't hear it there either. I guess it depends where the alarm sirens where. Now I live in Espoo, I actually heard it this Monday while being at work but it was rather quiet.

    1. intothisshadow Post author

      I've been thinking about the alarm on and off since making this post, because I never heard it in Kärsämäki area of Turku where I spent my childhood, or Korso area of Vantaa in the two years I lived there for studies. Only here in Harittu/Koivula area of Turku I can hear it even if though it's only occasionally now because I'm so used to it and it doesn't carry inside very well. Out of curiosity, I ended up googling it just now! https://pelastustoimi.fi/en/home-everyday-life/emergencies/alarm-signal says that

      <blockquote>In hazardous situations and emergencies, the authorities warn the public of a direct and imminent danger to the population with a general alarm signal and an emergency warning. The general alarm signal is sounded using sirens placed outdoors or, outside urban areas, mobile sirens on a vehicle. The public warning system does not cover the whole country. Sirens are primarily located in areas with the highest number of people. The warning sirens are mainly intended to warn people who are outdoors, and the sound may not be loud enough to be heard indoors at all. The terrain, the built environment and the weather also affect the audibility of the sirens.</blockquote>

      So it isn't heard everywhere, only where in urban centers with the highest number of people and isn't really meant to be loud enough to carry inside.