Leave music out of it for a moment. What’s your favorite sound?
Like most things, it’s easier to identify the worst sounds we encounter: Jackhammers, screams, the drill at the dentist’s office . . . My vote goes to the tines of a fork on the surface of a plate. Aiyeee!
Selecting the best requires a few moments of serene contemplation. We’ve done that for you, and come up with the following list.
An Almost Top Ten List of the Best Sounds in the World . . .
5. “I’m letting you off with a warning this time.” A cop or trooper jockeys into traffic behind you, hits the lights, does the slow walk-up, and runs your license, registration, and insurance. All the while, you’re muttering nasty things inside your head. You guess there weren’t enough murderers or burglars or drug dealers to occupy someone’s precious time today. And you check the calendar to see how close you are to the end of the month, otherwise known as Quota Time. You’re going to be in a hideous mood for the rest of the day, and the other people in your life will know it. Here he comes, another slow walk-up right out of central casting. Only this time he throws a switch. “I’m letting you off with a warning this time.” And your day is suddenly brighter than any you can remember.
4. Steaks being thrown onto a hot, well-oiled grill. With apologies to our vegan readers, this sound is sublime. You have to remember to brush oil onto the grates, and make sure you let the temperature climb above 400F, so you get a decent sear on the meat. And it’s better to have an audience, so you can begin by saying, “Listen to this…” Don’t be talking on the cell phone, or you’ll miss the moment, which is at its absolute apex when the second steak hits the grill and adds its hiss to the first one’s early sizzle.
God, I love summer.
3. Baseball practice in early spring. You’ve been away from them all winter, but now the sounds are coming back, along with the grass and the sun. The thwock of balls hitting the pockets of gloves, the distinctly sharper sound of them jumping off bats, relaxed insults flying back and forth. The sounds of a good high school or college team getting back to work evoke the coming of spring, and that always brings a surge of hope.
2. The sound of your spouse or partner breathing as he or she sleeps. Especially if you’ve had a crappy day. I realize this one comes with its own jackhammer sounds sometimes. Try to look past that. Think of the snoring as tangible evidence that you’re not alone in this world. (A lot of people are, you know.) If your life partner doesn’t snore, spoon up close behind and just listen. It’s nice to be reminded that another human being thinks highly enough of you to trust you with that sound.
1. A laughing baby. This needs to be triggered by something silly. (She’s an infant, for God’s sake. She’s not gonna get Bill Maher.) A game of “Boo” will do just fine. This has the added benefit of taking you out of yourself, because it’s hard to remain self-absorbed when you’re making a funny face and saying, “Boo!” And the baby starts laughing, a little tentatively at first, but unabashedly by boo number three. By the fifth boo, the child’s entire body spasms with every laugh, and you can’t help but become a baby yourself and laugh harder, and better, than you’ve laughed in a long time. And you wish your life partner could be there with you.
A laughing baby paves over a lot of stupid bickering.
By Michael Gavaghen
Warm up a tube amp … Preferably one with a pair or quad of 6L6s but a pair or quad of EL34s will do ( heck, a pair of EL84s are plenty these days – I’m getting old) … Turn it up about half way and flip the stand-by switch “go” … Select the bridge pickup of a dual humbucker guitar preferably one with 24.5″ scale … Use your index finger to half mute an A chord at the 2nd fret … Quickly give a sharp downstroke followed by an equally sharp upstroke … THAT sound … Bonus, if you’re standing in the right place, you get to feel it as we’ll as hear it …
Talk about inside baseball . . . BUT — I’m happy to be among the 0.07% of the population that knows what you’re talking about, and several of our regular readers are as well. And that A chord in the open position is always the first one I play once I’ve tuned up.
Why is that?
I think it is a visceral thing … It is such a cro-magnon grip … Especially the way you don’t even fret the notes fully – just enough to get a nice “kachunk” – like a beast clearing his throat before a roar …
I almost chose a different sound … The long sustained note from ‘Europa’ – I think you know the on I mean
My two favorite sounds are both baseball related. The first is the sound of ground balls being hit on the hardwood floors of our high school gym. As ridiculous as that sounds, it reminds me of our winter baseball practices, and how baseball season was almost upon us. The other is the sound of cicadas in the NY summer. We really don’t have them out here in WI. It reminds me of riding my bike for hours on end, sitting in my old back yard and standing in the outfield on night games.
Ah, the cicadas . . . It’s hard to convey to someone who’s never been through the upside of the 17-year cicada cycle just how loud those suckers can be.