Recording the sounds of a place

Text A: an original contemporary practice extract.

Our group set out to record the square at lunchtime. We expected the fountain and the traffic to dominate. On the first recording, both were nearly lost beneath wind striking the microphone. We returned with a cover for it and stood in the same position. This time, we could hear the bicycle bell that sounded each time a courier crossed the square.

We kept a list of the time and position of each recording. A shopkeeper explained that the shutters made a different noise when the shop opened than when it closed. We added an early visit rather than asking him to repeat the sound for us. The finished collection could not contain every hour of the square. Its labels made the hours we had chosen clear.

Text B: an original contemporary practice extract.

I began a harbour sound project expecting engines and gulls. My first attempt captured my own sleeve brushing the recorder more clearly than either. After trying the equipment at home, I returned and held it differently. A rope knocking against a metal pole then became a sound I had previously walked past without hearing.

A boat owner told me that the quay was quieter before the first departures. I came back at that time and noted where I stood. The recordings changed with the hour and the tide. In the small exhibition, I placed the location and time beside each clip, so visitors would not mistake a selected minute for the harbour’s entire voice.

Both texts describe the sound-recording projects.

What similarities do the sound-recording projects share in these extracts? Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.