Sounds of the TTC

I’ve gotten into the habit, when I’m taking the subway, of sometimes just closing my eyes and listening to all the sounds around me. It’s amazing to realize how many sounds we block out when we’re focused on thinking or looking. The subway makes a remarkable array of noises — a gathering crescendo as it accelerates out of a station, with a thumping rhythm section of the wheels on the tracks, overlaid with higher-pitched sounds of air passing by, engine noises, metal rattling, concluding with the high-pitched squeal of brakes as it comes into the next station. Then the opening door chime, the Star-Trek-style wooshing sigh of the doors opening, a sudden surge of footsteps and voices, then the closing chimes and it starts all over again. If you’re going to Union station, the whole thing climaxes with a crazed shriek of sound of wheels scraping against track as the train rounds the tight bend at the base of the “U”.

Ever since I started doing this listening, I’ve thought how cool it would be for a composer to write a piece of music that captured this mix of sounds. It’s by no means beautiful, but it’s intriguing and kind of compelling. And now, a composer has done just that. Local composer So Jeong Ahn has written a piece of music called Sub, which mixes a 14-piece orchestra with sampled sounds from the TTC to capture the sounds of the subway, including those of stations (such as a squeaky escalator or wind whistling through a station entrance).

The piece was premiered in performance last week and is being played Tuesday on CBC Radio 2 after 10:00 pm (not Monday as the Star piece said). The CBC’s playlist page unfortunately doesn’t say what time it will be played exactly.

Photo by Kevin Steele.