Trying to pair amid/among properly with sound/sounds
I want to make sure that I'm using amid and among properly. As I understand it, amid is for uncountable nouns, and among is for countable nouns.
My sentence was originally:
The three enjoyed their drinks for a moment amid the sounds of the crowd.
I believe sounds in this context is countable. Is this correct?
If so, I think there are two ways to fix my error.
1) Change the sentence to use an uncountable noun: sound.
The three enjoyed their drinks for a moment amid the sound of the crowd.
2) Change the preposition to be the proper one for a countable noun: among.
The three enjoyed their drinks for a moment among the sounds of the crowd.
Are these last two variations correct in their preposition/noun agreement?
I believe sounds in this context is countable. Is this correct?
No. We're not talking about five sounds, as opposed to three sounds.
You can think of amid like "in the middle of."
Note, your alternate sentence is kosher:
... amid the sound of the crowd.
At a very fine level of comparison, "amid the sound" gives the impression the crowd spoke as one -- probably not what you want.
Your other idea
The three enjoyed their drinks for a moment among the sounds of the crowd.
doesn't work (but it's not an embarrassing mistake -- one would have to listening carefully to pick up on this).
Here's a sentence that successfully uses "among the sounds":
Among the more unusual sounds we heard while the orchestra was tuning up: a hunting horn, a harp, a celeste, and a slide whistle.
Garner’s Modern English Usage characterizes “amid” as implying position and “among” as implying a mingling. “Amid” and its variant “amidst” are regarded as somewhat quaint, according to that source. Garner prefers the more wordy “in the midst of”, citing its more common usage and its pleasant cadence.
Perhaps, “The three enjoyed their drinks in the midst of the noisy crowd”, or if “midst” doesn’t fit your tone, consider: “...drinks, surrounded by the sounds of the crowd.”