“Whenever I miss the comforts of the road I can rely on this authentic recording to soothe my soul.”
- Richard (Rick) Fitch, Retired Truck Driver

Interstate  follows the East Coast of the United States, stretching from Miami, Florida to Houlton, Maine. Passing through 15 states, it is the longest north-south interstate highway. Peak volumes can reach 300,000 automobiles per day, making Interstate  an ideal setting for this exemplary recording of modern day traffic congestion. Listeners are immersed in the sounds and senses of dense, slowly moving traffic: the rumbling, reverberating bodies of trucks passing in an opposite direction, the sharp odor of hot colorless gasoline fumes, and the bright shine of smooth rounded car exteriors in the late afternoon sun all leap to mind.

Traffic jams are a fact of life for all drivers. While many associate idling in traffic to be a nuisance—particularly on interstates, being designed for long distance road travel at high speeds—this recording documents the peculiar sensation of being stuck in traffic. The heightened awareness of nondescript surroundings that one is expected to pass by at 75 miles per hour, the absurdity of coming a complete stop on a busy roadway, of fellow travelers stuck in their automobiles wasting fuel and listening to stale radio hits just like yourself, makes traffic congestion a triumphantly postmodern human experience, and one which can be encountered in the comfort of one’s home with this expertly-captured audio.

During research conducted while preparing and optimizing this audio file for maximum fidelity, it was found that our test listeners comprehended the gradual changes in sound but did not interpret these changes to denote significant movement, either sonically or physically. As such, this recording provides a background particularly useful for meditation, household chores, relieving tension, or otherwise achieving a sense of stasis.

We at Sounds of the Early 21st Century hope that you enjoy all of the benefits that this recording engineered for your personal use has to offer.

Recorded at approximately 8pm est – June 6, 2010

“I felt like I was right there next to the rushing traffic, without even leaving the comfort of my living room. I could practically smell the pavement and exhaust. Exhilarating!”

- Maria Sanders, Civil Engineer

Do you find yourself camping in the wilderness and requiring a respite from the incessant chirping of birds and insects? Vacationing on a remote tropical beach and wishing you had the aural comforts of urban environments at the ready? Yearning for the open road yet unable to find time to get away? This recording is the perfect solution for those seeking the appeasing sounds of late-night interstate travel.

Recorded at the intersection of Richmond and Cambria Streets in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia, this location is an ideal combination of complex roadway noise factors, including engines, tires, aerodynamics, brakes, and extemporaneous audio elements. The collective sound energy emanating from automobiles results in an
extraordinary amount of environmental noise exposure, saturating the collective consciousness and resulting in an inadvertent nighttime auto-orchestrated lullaby for many city dwellers.

The pacifying effects of high-speed road transportation are well documented, and its benefits are now available to listeners lacking a personal vehicle or proximity to a major roadway. Without prior knowledge of the subject and locale, one might easily mistake the beginning sounds of this recording as the roar of ocean waves crashing on a beach. This is particularly fitting considering the sounds may in fact serve as the metropolitan equivalent of ocean waves, ideal for drifting to sleep or soothing one’s nerves.

Sit back, close your eyes, and let the expertly-documented sounds transport you to an endless highway of serenity.

Is there a more significant time of day than dawn? In a word: no. Dawn represents, most obviously, the beginning of another 24-hour cycle, and all the opportunity, anxiety, and other mental baggage a new day instigates. As the period of time between darkness and sunrise, dawn is popularly known as the instant that all threats are banished: vampires, zombies, ghosts, evil spirits, etc.—safety from the unknown. We’re not talking about a dark orange sunrise peering over the horizon. This has nothing to do with twinkling dark blue twilight, casting a pleasant glow on idyllic creatures below. This is Dawn. The Dawn of Time. The Dawn of Man. Potential, possibility, renewal. See, for example, Dawn at New Hope, PA.

Considering the significance of dawn and the scope of this project, what better way to christen the series than a tribute to what is known as the quintessential field recording, “Dawn at New Hope, PA” (found on the Environments 2 LP [1970] & Environments 3 CD [1987])? In this contemporary version of “Dawn at New Hope, PA,” recorded thirty years after the original was released, the positive characteristics of dawn can be easily located in the rushing water, calls of geese, and chirps of birds. Serene? Yes. Peaceful? Absolutely. On the surface level, all is well. Listen closely, however, and the recording calls to question the optimism of the natural noises that are captured. The duality of the natural world—harmony versus struggle—is central to the sounds that can truly be heard on this recording.

You think waking up at dawn every day is easy? Listen and learn.

also available for free download at the Internet Archive as Ogg Vorbis, WAV, & other types of audio files.

These tracks were recorded on the banks of the Delaware River, New Hope, PA – Sunday, April 11, 2010 – Dawn