Smart Market
Abstract
As time has progressed, easy self-service shopping in supermarkets has become the daily routine for many people. Some large companies are stepping in, taking over traditional wet market spaces and introducing modern and convenient characteristics to optimize and adapt to the changes of times. For example, launching various modern innovative services, including electronic membership systems, electronic payment services, etc. These services not only improve operational efficiency, but also make shopping smoother and more convenient for customers. These upgraded wet markets, which are known as ‘smart markets’, are increasingly popping up in front of the public.
This project is about how wet markets have changed over time. The old-school setup of wet markets has slowly evolved into a more modern version due to societal progress, introducing a new kind of wet market that better fits the lifestyle nowadays. Even though these new-gen wet markets have brought in handy electronic services like supermarkets, they have kept their charm without going full-on commercial. The chit-chats between shopkeepers and customers and the neighborly vibes are still going strong and have not disappeared over time. By the term referential listening (Rudi, 2011), the audience can connect their personal experience and emotions, as well as invoke the memories of cultures, through this project.
The recordings were made at Chun Yeung Street Market in North Point, several supermarkets and the wet market with electronic services near my home.
Technical details
Device:
Zoom H4 recorder and Zoom H5 recorder as they are handy to bring along in the wet market.
Software: Reaper
Explanation of the editing
Wet market part:
● Start with two different voices chatting and to play in the left and right ears respectively. Then, electronic hawking sounds indicate the setting is a wet market.
● Use the sound of cart passing by to be the transition of environment changes from wet market to supermarket.
● Semantic listening: Audience has to listen to both voice chatting to guess the current environment setting.
Supermarket part:
● Play the sounds of goods being sorted and paid in the supermarket, with the music playing in the supermarket as the background. Besides, the sounds from machines and shopkeepers in the ‘smart market’ are mixed into it. Then, the sounds from two different places gradually move closer to the middle, which represents integration and development.
● Casual listening: Using the music played in the supermarket as the background music. It does not require focused listening as it gives the overall mood in the supermarket.
● Semantic listening: Audience has to pay attention to the sound and make a guess about the relationship and the reason why sounds from shopkeepers are occurring in the supermarket.
● Reduced listening: It is focused on the characteristics of the sound from paying, including the zipping sound of the wallet and the sound of holding money.
Smart market part:
● Transit to ‘smart market’ by the electrical payment sound.
● The chit-chat of people and hawking sound represents the relationship between shopkeepers and customers is still ongoing, not disappearing due to the re-new of the wet market.
● Semantic listening: Audiences have to listen in detail to find out that there is an announcement about electrical membership in the wet market, which is the combination of characteristics of traditional wet markets and supermarkets.
Reference
Rudi, J. (2011). Soundscape and listening. Soundscape in the Arts, 12(2), 185-194.