What does a rockfall sound like?   A pine tree swaying in the wind?

Duke Today has just published an excellent story on Sounds of the South, the Audiovisualities Lab-affiliated course taught by English PhD student Mary Caton Lingold. The article also marks the public debut of Sonic Dictionary, a multi-course collaborative experiment that we’ve been eager to unveil.

What is a sonic dictionary, you ask?

 

Lingold envisions a searchable archive of sound open to all. Wonder what a cicada sounds like? Search under “c.” Need the difference between the “d” and “b” strings on a 5-string banjo? Check the dictionary.

 

“There are a lot of reasons why someone might want to know what something sounds like,” said Lingold, who grew up in Texas. “It may be useful for teachers. Or a poet or author may want to describe something — like the cutting of a tobacco leaf — but they’ve never heard it done so they can’t describe it accurately.”

Lingold’s students have curated a fascinating, eclectic soundtrack of the South, ranging from Southern musical genres (e.g. African American spirituals, Dolly Parton) to sounds of agriculture and industry (e.g. tobacco harvesting, saw mill).

The Dictionary also includes contributions from Lab Director Guo-Juin Hong’s 1st year seminar.  The Dictionary has been designed in such a way that students in future courses can contribute to it as well.

We encourage you to listen through the online exhibit – or come take in the sounds as part of the AV Lab’s Vistas and Vestiges multimedia exhibition, opening December 5!