Friday, June 26, 2009

Sounds of the Subway - Audioboo.fm & BBC_SOS Save our Sounds!

This morning, bleary-eyed and hungry from having to wake up early in the morning for work, I was greeted by a wonderful voice. It came from Tim Blevens (sp?), an African American man who stood very simply in the walkway tunnel that connected the entrance of the A train station on 190th street off of Broadway to the subway platform area itself. He has a gorgeous low voice, and it echoed through the station. I had to stop, turn around, and ask him his name. He had a NY baseball cap upturned on a plastic crate box, wore black shorts and a black tshirt, and was very lowkey in manner. But man, that voice!!! I had to tell him I appreciated it, asked him if he'd be around, and that I was a singer as well. I wanted to help him in some way - it's hard being an artist with low funds, sometimes, especially when you want to help other people whom you notice and appreciate.

So, to you, Tim - this audioboo! It's not much, but it's something.

And I would like to take this opportunity to promote two neat applications of technology: Audioboo.fm, a sort of "Twitter" for audio around the world, and BBC's "Save our Sounds," a World Service project(@BBC_SOS on Twitter). If you tag an Audioboo you make with BBC_SOS, you add it to the vast collection of sounds heard around the world. I learned of this project during #140conf when Kate AG (@RadioKate)spoke on a panel regarding "how twitter is shaping and disrupting across different media and news projects."

The audio of Tim singing is a perfect example of these two projects/concepts in action, I think.

You can hear the rest of my boo's at my audioboo profile - if you wish, sign up, follow me, and I'll do the same! I'll be doing live cabaret boo's, maybe a rehearsal or two, sounds of New York, conversations with my hubby, etc., more often in the future.

You can also subscribe to my AudioBoos using your own reader of choice here:
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