I recorded some sounds that were naturally occurring in my daily life. I noticed that much of it is quite noisy - trains screeching to the platform, the train rumbling across the tracks from within, cicadas roaring in the night, and the low constant hum of buildings operating in the background.
My first thought for this exercise was to record the world as it is, which is the opposite of music! Music breaks the realm of reality and transports you to another place using instruments. The sounds in music don't exist in the day to day universe; they've been crafted and have been evolving since humans learned to use their voices in song. Do you hear people singing when you're walking down the street? Perhaps there's a street busker, but that would mean they're working.
Later on, I used the Zoom recorder for something different - interviews. I captured my friend on the phone as he shared a (bad) joke. I used it to record Shir's stories about where she was when 9/11 happened. I took it around the city and recorded my sister's review of the Armory show.
I've always known that I'm not so musically inclined, but it was cool to realize that I gravitated toward something else in the sound realm. This was also reflected in the sound assignment - I found it easy to record myself speaking but all my other recordings were grumbling city noises. Crafting the sounds together was quite fun too. I think my editor's brain was able to discern slight nuances in the sound that I played with to try to make "perfect."