Wednesday 14 April 2010

The Sounds of Summer



I always hear that phrase in musical form. Our local AM radio station needed a new call sign back in the dark ages. When I was eighteen, the owner offered me twenty bucks to record the snippet along with some dude I don't remember.

The studio was in the basement of The Arts Music Store in a local strip mall. I got to sit in a glassed-in booth and sing into a microphone bigger than my face. We did the same piece over and over again, and harmonized with the playback until we sounded like a choir. Then I got to sing, "The sounds of summer," all by myself.

They never aired it and I didn't get my twenty dollars, but the experience was fun.

Now that those lazy hazy days are around the corner, real summer sounds are imminent. Here are some of my favourites:

The crack of a wooden bat against a baseball
The call of a redwing blackbird
The zzzzzzzoip of a tent flap
The high pitched hum of a mosquito
The rumble of distant thunder
Waves lapping and hissing on sand
The dip of a canoe paddle in a lake
The call of a loon (My favourite sound of all!)
Lawnmowers in chorus across the neighbourhood
Steak sizzling on the barbecue
The tinkling music of an ice cream truck
The snick of a cap off a beer bottle


... and the aaaahhhhh as you settle back in a lawn chair.

What are your summer sounds?

9 comments:

Bernita said...

These are very nice, Sandra.
I could add a few: the sound of little children laughing and shrieking in a pool, the fizzy of cold coke poured into a glass, the sound of cicadas.

Linda said...

The lapping of waves against the hull of our boat.

The drone of the prop plane as it flies slowly overhead.

A sprinkler tch tch tching around.

Anne said...

Oh, I have so many! Love the sound of the waves hitting the sand. But my favorite is the sound of children playing outside in the early evening.

Sandra Cormier said...

I'd have mentioned kids, but the ones in this neighbourhood tend to scream bloody murder.

Oh! I forgot about the robins and their evening call.

Amber said...

The endless whiiiiiine of skeeters...
The echoing boom of a gator in rut...

Oh, wait--you said favorites?

How about the lovely hum of the air conditioner?

Sandra Cormier said...

Perfect, Amber! That's my most favourite.

Kari Lynn Dell said...

The clang of a roping chute. The whir of a rope. And the sound of a rodeo announcer's voice echoing across the arena.

BernardL said...

My favorite is the silence that follows the smacking sound shutting off the high pitched whine of a mosquito. :)

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