Culture
Here's What Manhattan Sounded Like in 1609
A new virtual reality project reconstructs the city’s historic soundscape.
You’re standing on the High Line. The walkways are damp, and fellow strollers have zipped on windbreakers to ward off the drizzle. Look up, and you’ll find a sky the color of poured mercury. The sound of a revving motorcycle ricochets in the canyons between the buildings. Bend your gaze to the street and you’ll stop for a moment on windows glowing amber before settling on cabs, startlingly yellow against all the gray.
A few seconds later, 400 years melt away. A recent 360-degree video dissolves into a threadbare black-and-white sketch; traffic sounds give way to waves lapping against a shoreline and distant bird calls. The present disappears, and in its place is an aural recreation of a distant past in the same footprint.