Sounds we treasure to celebrate the nation’s birthday

Our city is filled with all sorts of sounds. They exist around us, in our homes, workplaces, communities and even our memories. In ever-evolving Singapore, new notes are constantly cutting through the cacophony of everyday life, while traditions left behind slink slowly into silence.

This National Day, we have captured nine sounds that resonate with the Singaporean experience. See how many you recognise.

9 sounds of Singapore

We travelled across town hunting for sounds. We revisited old haunts, stood in nature and followed the music. Our findings are compiled here, accompanied by poems written in response to the feelings evoked by each sound.

3 programs that visualise sound data in 3 different ways

We built three programs that detect and illustrate different aspects of sound – Rhythm, Texture and Musical Tones. The programs use sound waves and pitch data to generate animated shapes.

Tap on the chart below to play, enable sound first.

Rhythm

Texture

Musical Tones

15-second quizzes

We created nine 15-second animated videos by combining video footage and the sound visualisers to illustrate each sound. You will be prompted with a poem before each sound, see if you can guess the source of the sound before the full video is revealed.

Are you ready to start the quiz?
There are three sections with three sounds each.
Each sound will begin after a poem. Scroll down to begin viewing the first section, Morning.

Morning

Mornings in Singapore are not always quiet affairs. Early risers coax the neighbourhood out of its sleepy reverie and into the dawning day. Here are three wake-up calls you may have heard before.

The tree outside is long dead. The opera
Troupe, disbanded. My children haven’t
come of late. One voice remains, is candid.

Disappearing sounds

Certain sounds are heard less frequently these days, having hit their crescendo in the last century. For older readers, these snippets might stir up a sense of nostalgia. For younger ones, they could present an unfamiliar soundscape. Which of these sounds do you want to preserve?

Who still operates these nowadays? I call
The number on the turquoise panel.
It hums a please-hold jingle.

Leisure

What do Singaporeans do to relax? Some head into town to shop, others seek out music and entertainment; most search for food. Do these sounds remind you of your day off?

Endlessly customisable or a custom
Without end? Soon, we would fold fish
In it, bicycles, turnstiles, MacRitchie, sand.

These are some of the sounds that form the soundtrack of daily life in Singapore.

Some will continue playing on loop, while others have already started to fade.

What does your everyday routine sound like?

What will you stop and listen to today?

Sound Index

Morning