Chain link fence

The sound of a chain-link fence is unmistakable. It's not quite the jingle of change in a pocket or a key ring. It's metal on metal but sounds different than anything else but every fence sounds the same.

The sound can elicit different feelings or memories depending on who you are. Maybe it brings back thoughts of playing kickball on playground. Or pitching your first baseball game in high school. Maybe it's a sound you remember from being shoved up against it by a bully. Or of a dog leaning up against it. Maybe it was used to keep something in. Perhaps it kept something out.

You know sounds in movies and TV shows aren't recorded while they happen. If you see guy run down an alley and jump on a fence and climb it, they're not recording the sound of the fence as he climbs it. All that stuff is edited in later. There are even professionals who do nothing but MAKE those sounds to sell to studios or work on-set to create the sound to go along with the specific scene. The click of a gun isn't really the gun clicking. The "sound" of a knife is the same in nearly every movie. But when have you heard a knife actually make that sound? It's kind of like watermelon candy. You know what the taste is, but it isn't REALLY watermelon. Same with BBQ potato chips. (gross!)

But back to the fence. I think they are overused. They are ugly and unremarkable. Make sure that whatever you're using your fence to keep in...or out...that you're not missing out because of it. And always remember, there is more open space in a fence than the wire itself.