It's a virtual visit to New York City, a new and ingenious kind of audio
walking tour, one that's designed to provide a revitalized awareness of
New York City neighborhoods.
Using snippets from movies, music inspired by various neighborhoods, and
ambient street noise (beeping cabs, passing conversations), Soundwalk CD
audio recordings take you on urban tours no tourist riding atop a
double-decker bus will ever see. And it's all recorded with high-tech
methods to achieve 3-D surround sound. The effect is startling.
Just pop a disk into your CD player and you stroll through, say,
Manhattan's Lower East Side from Delancey Street to Katz's Delicatessen
where you hear Meg Ryan's infamous fake orgasm. Or start at Chinatown's
Cup and Saucer at the corner of Canal and Eldridge, then join Robert
Thurman in meditation upon entering the Mahayana Buddhist Temple. Enter
the crossroads of the world at Times Square, catch a glimpse of the
garment workers and tour the city's streets with everything from live
Sonic Youth to the mumblings of William S. Burroughs. Or take the No. 5
train to Simpson Street, in the heart of the South Bronx. The voice
speaking to me -- soft, patient, kindly -- was that of BG183 (a.k.a.
Sotero Ortiz), who, as a teenager in the 1980's, gained international
fame as early creators of subway graffiti art.
For curious New Yorkers and bold visitors, use a portable CD player,
headphones, and an accompanying map for a guided walking tour of a new
kind. It's a unique experience, set in the real world.
It's a virtual visit to New York City, a new and ingenious kind of audio
walking tour, one that's designed to provide a revitalized awareness of
New York City neighborhoods.
