Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is “Sounds Like Staten Island” (SLSI)?
How does this website serve the SLSI initiative?
How do I upload or download sounds, using the interactive Google sound map?
How do I upload or download sounds, using the SLSI Audio Database?
How do I submit material for publication on this site?
Are there any restrictions on the content I can upload?
I want to record Staten Island sounds. What kind of equipment do I need?
Can I use these ideas as a teaching tool in my classroom?
What are the legalities of submitting, uploading and downloading content to this site?
What is “Sounds Like Staten Island” (SLSI)?
A: SLSI is an island-wide initiative for the creation and promotion of intentional (”radical”) listening in every Staten Island neighborhood. SLSI hopes to engage with local artists, activists, educators, environmentalists, and community people in the creation, engagement and promotion of activities focusing on or incorporating Staten Island sounds. Visitors to Staten Island are also welcome to participate in this initiative. Learn more at our About page.
How does this website serve the SLSI initiative?
A: The SLSI website will be a social watering hole and information-sharing locus for Staten Islanders and fans of Staten Island who are interested in listening to, utilizing, or creatively interacting with the local audio environment (“soundscape””). You don't have to be a Staten Islander to appreciate Staten Island sounds, so don't let your geographic location keep you from enjoying this site, or contributing to it! Become a member of SLSI today.
How do I upload or download sounds, using the interactive Google sound map?
A: First, become a SLSI member. Once you are a member, go to our Uploads/Downloads page.
How do I upload or download sounds, using the SLSI Audio Database?
A: First, become a SLSI member. Once you are a member, go to our Uploads/Downloads page
How do I submit material for publication on this site?
A: Go to our Contact page.
Are there any restrictions on the content I can upload?
A: Yes. First and foremost, content for this site must relate to Staten Island audio experiences. If you are a Staten Islander and you record audio environmental sounds on Martha's Vineyard, they don't belong on this site. On the other hand, if you designed an audio performance piece while living in Japan but record yourself performing it at Martini Red on Staten Island, it is now a part of the Staten Island soundscape and is welcome on this site! Finally, if you are a tourist or fan of Staten Island who has recorded sounds while visiting Staten Island, your audio recordings and online participation is welcome. For more on what is allowed and not allowed on the site, check out The Rules page.
What is a sound walk?
A: sound walk is “...the practice of focusing one’s ears on a chosen soundscape and then moving through that soundscape while listening closely to it. A soundscape [is] any audible field of sound and all of the sounds it contains—perhaps best thought of like it’s analog the ‘landscape.’ Public soundwalks [guide] a group through a chosen soundscape, helping the other walkers to focus and re-focus their ears occasionally.” —Jonny Farrow, Visit: http://jonnyfarrow.net/
What is a sound map?
A: A sound map is a visual representation of sound heard in a particular location. It can be something that you follow, like a treasure map. It can be something that you draw to represent your personal experience of a particular soundscape. It can be a literal map with traditional geographic references, or an abstract, interpretive and free-associative image. A sound map can be scientific and based on data. It can also be digital and interactive, like the Google sound map of Staten Island on this site. Sound maps can be drawn by machine, by hand or through a digital software program. They can be created by an individual or shared by a whole a community.
What is a soundscape?
A: A soundscape is the audio equivalent of a landscape. It refers to all of the audio experiences available to you within a particular natural or built environment. Acoustic ecologists often monitor soundscapes for the effects of noise pollution on communities. City planners may engineer soundscapes to create a positive environment for city dwellers. Sound artists, composers and musicians may create soundscapes to illuminate and enliven. Everyday people listen to soundscapes for creative, spiritual, political and informational reasons.
What is soundscape ecology?
A: The term refers to an awareness of sound as part of the totality of our world ecological system. To think about soundscape ecology is to think about our relationship with the built and natural worlds. R. Murray Schafer and others have recognized the danger of losing unique local audio environments to the ubiquitous hum of cars, planes, electrical appliances and human-generated urban sounds. City planners and sound engineers seek to protect people from overwhelming sound levels through engineered solutions. Others draw attention to soundscape ecology (also called acoustic ecology) through scientific documentation or artistic audio expression.
What is sound art?
A: The term “sound art” covers a broad range of creative activity, including:
Sound art is often generated out of an appreciation for the interrelatedness of human beings with their natural and built environments. Sound art can be musical, noisy, or meditative. It is often community-oriented and grassroots generated. Sound art theories and practices often correlate to, bounce off of, and interact with the theories and practices of visual art.
Music is sound art, isn't it?
A: Yes. However, the focus of SLSI will be on those areas of music/sound investigation that question norms, push perceptual and conceptual edges, and challenge accepted notions of what is or is not music. The Internet is loaded with sites devoted to every music genre. This site will focus narrowly on local sound practices that receive far attention. However, we do recognize that the sounds of Staten Island include a great deal of musical expression. We are happy to include any kind of locally-produced music events in our Audio Events Calendar.
I want to record Staten Island sounds. What kind of equipment do I need?
A: Good question! You can find some answers on our How-To page.
Can I use these ideas as a teaching tool in my classroom?
A: Yes! Just give credit to this site (“Thanks to soundslikestatenisland.com”), and link any online material or pdfs to http://www.soundslikestatenisland.com.
I'm not a Staten Islander Can I use this site as a model for my own community audio initiative and website?
A: Yes! Just be sure to give this website credit (“Thanks to soundslikestatenisland.com”), and link any online material or pdfs to http://www.soundslikestatenisland.com.
The legalities of submitting, uploading and downloading content to this site:
How do US copyright laws affect the sharing of creative works?
A: U.S. copyright law governs the legally enforceable rights of creative and artistic works under the laws of the United States.
What is Creative Commons licensing?
A: Creative Commons licensing intends “to increase the amount of creativity (cultural, educational, and scientific content) in the body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, re-purposing, and remixing” without loss of copyrights.
What is a release form?
A: For the purposes of this site, it is a legal document signed by a person(s) whose creative work or identifiable voice(s) you would like to record and upload to this site. The person(s) must sign a release that states they have given you permission to record them and that they have given you permission to share that recording on this site. If several persons are identifiable in your recording (as in a band, a lecture panel, or comedy show) you must get signatures from all persons involved. In general, you don't need a release form for recording people in common public areas, unless the recording includes audio work that is copyrighted (Muzak, copyrighted sound tracks, the sound of a TV show, etc.).
Where can I get a release form?
A: You can find release forms at a number of sites online, or you can simply write or type up a release form yourself. Visit for links to release form examples.
What kind of Creative Commons licensing applies to this site?
A: The Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License applies to the uploading and downloading of audio material to and from the Sounds Like Staten Island site.
If you download audio files from this site, this means that you are free to:
• Sample, mash-up, or creatively transform this work for commercial or noncommercial purposes.
• Perform, display, and distribute copies of this whole work for noncommercial purposes (e.g., file-sharing or noncommercial webcasting).
However, with the above freedoms come some responsibilities:
• You must attribute the audio work that you’ve downloaded in the manner specified by the author or licensor— i.e. the person who uploaded the material—but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work.
• You may not use this audio work to advertise or promote anything but the work you create from it.
• For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to Creative Commons
When you upload audio files to this site you are giving permission for your files to be used in the ways specified above! In no way are any of the following rights affected:
• Your fair dealing or fair use rights;
• Rights other persons may have either in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights.
