Michael Bull's Sounding Out the City

The three articles, “The World of Personal-Stereo Users,” “Refiguring the ‘Site’ and Horizon of Experience,” and “Empowering the Gaze: Personal Stereos and the Hidden Look,” from Michael Bull’s Sounding Out the City: Personal Stereos and the Management of Everyday Life , all describe how walkmans, and now mp3 players and cell phones, affect our perceptions within city spaces and how it affects our state of being. Although they felt rather repetitive as a read as a whole, they still thoroughly and effectively explained many relatable experiences while using a personal stereo.

It is interesting that so many different experiences could stem from a single, simple activity. I could certainly say I can relate to nearly all of the experiences mentioned from music putting me in my own little world to not being able to sleep without it playing. We are conscious and subconscious of what music will make us do or think, we try to make the music fit our mood, to avoid conversation in certain situations like riding the bus, to make other tasks more interesting, or to put us in our own worlds. These days it is easy access to music worldwide, with a variety of genres and artists, we can find so much music to affect us in different ways depending on our tasks and moods, though not all seek a wide variety. It makes us feel like spaces are more aesthetic and lively, gives us more security and confidence, enhances our moods, and promotes productivity.

Each article’s use of quotes made the reading as a whole more comprehensive and relatable because they took the quotes from average people who use personal stereos. The quotes were easy to read and supplemented each article’s overall point well. They help to emphasize the argument of how personal-stereo users play music to replace the environment sounds from nature to technology to evoke a certain mood or state of mind. The quotes emphasize how it is typical of users to seek comfort in music, to engage with their surroundings and day’s tasks but also to disengage from them. It stimulates and creates more entertainment while doing things but it also can keep us trapped in our minds, paying less attention to what we are doing and the world around us.

I took a class last summer that inspired me to take off my headphones and listen to the world around, to be conscious of all its sounds, as if listening to music was a distraction from life itself. But music is very much a part of life; even the natural can sound musical at some point. Music can be considered another way to enhance life, especially when considering act two of “This American Life” audio broadcast; maybe the mechanical drone around us is subconsciously negatively affecting our moods with sad chords and augmented fourths. Maybe music is a positive influence on our life, enhancing the experience of even the simplest task, but I do not mean than it cannot be negative like in distracting us in a situation that can be harmful or supplementing sad/bad moods.