Quieting the Iron Beast:
The Train Whistle as Alarm

Phylis Johnson and Jonathan Pluskota

Origin: Static Issue 06
Content: Text/Audio

MP3: Trained Alarms: A Salute to the Iron Beast (2:20)

The train has emerged as a critical soundmark within the larger soundscape of industrialization, but has also been contextualized as a romantic icon of days gone by. The train’s sound symbolises not only progress but what has been silenced in its name. The near-silent Kiha E2000 on the Koumi Line in central Japan contrasts starkly with the thunderous drum-roll of the American train, an echo of once expanding territories. This essay and its accompanying sound piece allow us to hear Western and Eastern train signals converging in one soundscape, which is located, if anywhere, in Thoreau’s Walden.

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Contributor:

Phylis Johnson is an associate professor of radio and sound studies at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. She has published/presented extensively on sound culture, digital media, and diversity issues, and has more than twenty-five years of experience in radio broadcasting and production. She has presented work in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Scarborough, Vancouver, and regularly at the New Media Consortium’s conference series, with topics including social computing, gaming, and media literacy. Her publications can be found in the Journal of Radio Studies, Convergence, Journal for the Studies of British Culture, and Soundscape, to name a few.

Jonathan Pluskota is a Ph.D. student at Southern Illinois University and owner of Alchemy Recording Sound Studio in Carterville, Illinois. He has been a professional recording engineer for several years, and more recently has begun to experiment with sound art and field recording. He taught sound at Webster University in St Louis prior to his Ph.D. studies.

Associated Links:
www.sonicwalden.blogspot.com