What Christmas Sounds Like
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 12:08PM 
Sound has so much to do with memory and memory has so much to do with Christmas. We all have Christmas soundtracks in our heads, probably one from childhood and maybe a compilation greatest hits of sounds that evoke very personal memories about the holidays.For a child I think the sounds of Christmas start with noises and voices talking downstairs when you're supposed to be asleep-the sounds of mystery. Then the sound of Christmas becomes the sound of being allowed to stay up to watch The Grinch-the good one with Boris Karloff and Thurl Ravenscroft singing, "Šyou're a mean one, Mr. Grinch." It's the sound of getting bored with a black and white version of the The Christmas Carol and just barely suffering through the Mr. Magoo version.
I don't think that those same old carols that play endlessly in every shopping mall are audio touchstones for kids. Poor old Bing Crosby, et al, have just become part of the background din. If anything I'd say more real memories are created by kids banging away on the piano practicing those songs. That's the way you remember them or maybe how your parents really remember them.
Flash forward to being an older kid, a college kid. Where Christmas memories are often sparked not just with the sounds of home but the sounds of trying to get home. The sound of thumpy windshield wipers and a car heater that's blasting as hard as it can. It's the sound of somebody's tires spinning at a flashing broken traffic light. Trying to get home.
The sounds of Christmas have a lot to with the sounds of transportation. It used to be buses and trains, right?-The squeal of air brakes and the doors opening, hopping out into slush. Buses don't go to all the places they used to and trains are what our parents took, but just hearing those sounds can be nostalgic. Then there are airports--unintelligible announcements, babies crying and maybe one of those big floor buffers driving off down an empty glass enclosed corridor. Not very holidayish, but they are the sounds of heading home.
The sounds of telephones have a lot to do with Christmas. Calling home to say you're stuck in a snow storm. Busy signals. Waiting for a call. Hoping for a call. Picking up the phone and it's Grandma and not your girlfriend. Funny, even though we all have cell phones nowadays the sound of Christmas phones always have a Ma Bell ringer and a rotary dial.
Yeah, Christmas soundtracks. We've all got them. Pipe organs playing in echoy churches. Clocks ticking. Snow falling in the woods. Every sounds mean something to somebody, probably something quite specific.
And now that I have my own family we have Mark the Moose. A friend gave him to us although he didn't know where it came from. We've never heard of Mark before or since. Turns out Mark was a discontinued Avon product. He's a stuffed animal and when you press his belly he sings a silly song. Mark's become part of our Christmas tradition. He goes:
I'm Mark the Moose, I'm on the loose
Spreading Christmas cheer,
I wish you peace and happiness
Throughout the coming year.
I love to skate and decorate
With Christmas lights aglow
I'm Mark the Moose
The very merriest moose you'll ever know.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Merry Christmas.
--
Brian Price
920 Creekside Lane
Plainfield, IN 46168
317/203-5044
check out: http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com
our newest play "Jokes In Space" is just out
920 Creekside Lane
Plainfield, IN 46168
317/203-5044
check out: http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com
our newest play "Jokes In Space" is just out
Reader Comments (1)
I think there is definitely a follow-up here about how to use sound effects to manipulate people's memories in audio programming... either to reinforce those memories or to contrast them (Jeff Adams' "Up on the Rooftops" comes to mind!)
Merry Christmas, you too!
Fred
http://www.radiodramarevival.com - Radio Drama Revival
http://www.finalrune.com - FinalRune Productions
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