In a world dominated by the visual, beautiful sounds often get overlooked in favor of beautiful sights. For many people, “sightseeing” is synonymous with traveling—we go searching for interesting things to look at and rarely notice the unique noises around us, much less seek them out. I’ll admit that I’ve also scrolled through dozens of Tripadvisor articles (i.e. “THE 10 BEST Things to Do in Ireland, with Photos!”) and travel blogs to find pictures of breathtaking views and “must-see” attractions before going to new places. In this case, the pictures didn’t lie; Ireland is visually stunning. However, I wanted to dedicate this blog post to highlighting some of the interesting and wonderful sounds that I’ve come across during my first two months on the island.
The first weekend after I arrived in Cork, I took a bus out to the coast and spent a day at Fountainstown Beach, climbing rocks, peeking into tidal pools, and searching for critters. I recorded the sound of a wave rushing in to fill a small tidal pool before gently receding. The spectrogram (the plot of the frequency spectrum of a signal over time) of the noise shows the rising and falling of the ocean! Please forgive the wind noise, which also shows up as bright/high-intensity spikes in the low frequencies.
One of my favorite lesser-known attractions in Cork City is St. Anne’s Church, where you can actually play the Shandon Bells by pulling a series of ropes. You can even climb the tower and perch on a wooden beam to listen to the bells up close. The sound is piercing and lovely and lingers in the air long after each note is played. I terrorized the surrounding town with an awful rendition of the birthday song, in honor of my best friend’s 23rd birthday! In the spectrogram, you can see all the harmonics layered in each note. I’ll go back to St. Anne’s and play something nicer someday!
I also went to the Fota Wildlife Park and fed the birds a handful of nondescript bits from a coin-operated machine. The response was very loud and enthusiastic! That was a fantastic day. I also may have witnessed a mass lemur escape? There were dozens of them swinging around in the trees above our heads, outside of their enclosure. I hope that turned out alright.
Lastly, I have a recording of the fireworks show finale from the Halloween Festival in Derry, which I was lucky to attend alongside my fellow ’25 Mitchells! I love the popping, crackling sound and the shrieking whistles that start about 26 seconds in. Those high pitched sounds are also clearly visible in the spectrogram.
For each sonic wonder captured and plotted, there are infinite others that went unrecorded. I’ve heard so many delightful sounds! A gorgeous performance of Les Mis on West End, the metallic screech of the London Underground, the playful tone of a concertina during an Irish trad session, the rush of the river I walk along on my way to class every day, the rhythmic hum of the dryers in the laundry room downstairs, the satisfying hiss of a can of root beer (a rare and precious commodity in this country). Everyday life is full of noises, both commonplace and peculiar. I wonder how many of them go unnoticed when I’m distracted or rushing from one commitment to another. What else am I missing when “being busy” is taking up all my time and attention?
Maybe it’s something about the work culture or the lack of busywork in my master’s program, but I find that I’ve been more able to relax and appreciate the sounds, people, and learning opportunities in my everyday life here. Although I’m applying to PhD programs and thinking intently about my future, I feel more present in my day-to-day life than ever. I’ve always packed my schedule to the brim. Now, my life is thrillingly spontaneous! Each day surprises and delights me. Take the last 24 hours, for instance. Yesterday, after a workshop about auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing for my audiology class, in which I volunteered to be a guinea pig, I peeled the electrodes off my face and headed off to my first orchestra rehearsal. Now, after hours of travel by train, plane, and bus, I’m typing this blog post out on my phone from the backseat of an Uber in Portugal!
I always worry that the joys of life will get diluted if they come too easily or too often—that maybe all this jet-setting will dull my wanderlust, or that I’ll soon get over the novelty of living in Europe. But life in Ireland hasn’t lost its flavor yet! (Even if my fellow Americans might argue that the food here never had any to begin with).
Beyond all the traveling, I’m also very excited about my research project! I’ve started working with a Marine Ecology group to help study the effects of electromagnetic fields generated by underwater power cables on shark behavior. And, back in September, I got to go on a shark tagging trip in the Irish Sea, off the coast of Wicklow.
Overall, I am incredibly charmed and delighted by Ireland and my daily life in Cork. Smiles and adventures come so easily here. I’m incredibly grateful that I get to have this year. It already feels like it’s going by too quickly. I’ll try to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open. I’ve already learned so much from living in Ireland and having conversations with my roommates and fellow Mitchell scholars.
So, 10 more months of this? Sounds pretty good to me!
Bonus Sounds 🙂
While I was out fishing for sharks with my research group, I kept hearing this haunting, whispery high-pitched noise. After some poking around, I found out that it was an Aeolian tone (a sound caused by wind passing over an object) coming from the fishing lines.
Traditional Irish music is also really growing on me! On one of my first nights out in Cork City, I happened across an accordionist and guitarist playing together in a pub. It was an combination of instruments I’d never heard before, but I thought it sounded so warm and lively. All Irish trad music does. Ever since that night, I’ve been battling the urge to buy an accordion or concertina. In the meantime, I’ll keep trying my best to learn folk tunes on my viola.