Das Kraftfuttermischwerk Beiträge

Mal wieder Großartiges Mediennutzungsding der New York Times, die dafür mal eben alle Sounds von Türen schließender und dann anfahrender U-Bahnen der ganzen Welt in einen Kontext bringt: When train doors close, these jingles warn riders to stand clear. Dingdongdidongeldidong.

Ted Green has been collecting the sounds and sights of transit systems for more than a decade. He travels frequently for work, as a civil engineer, and in every city he visits, he rides the mass transit system and films video of the closing doors, replete with the announcements and the telltale chimes — beeps, ding-dongs, jingles and arpeggios that warn riders around the world to stand clear.

“I think the appeal is the simplicity,” Green said. “You wonder, how can there be so many different variations of beeps? And then you listen, and they’re all so different.”

Like many aspects of mass transit systems, door chimes may seem banal, the dull background track to daily commutes. If you listen more closely, though, you’ll notice regional patterns and distinctions.