Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

Location: Commuter Parking Lot

Sounds Heard: Crunching of snow, light footsteps on the sidewalk, the slight crunch of dirt/gravel, cars driving in the distant street, a little bit of ruffling of clothes

1. 02/26/2023 – 8:47 PM – my bedroom
2. Far away: Cars on the highway, people talking outside
3. Medium: People talking downstairs, a toilet flushing, a sink turning on
4. Closest: Someone watching tiktoks, someone walking past my door
5. Sound level: relatively low, not much going on
6. One word: Tired
7. The essential sounds are: TikToks, people passing by in the hall, cars in the distance

Date: 2/24, 5:58pm

Location: Dutch Treats

Far sounds: water running in the kitchen in the back

Medium sounds: rustling of a bag, door opening and closing, beep of the scanner at the register, people walking around shopping

Close sounds: the TV playing loudly (ads, then Star Wars music), the cashiers having a conversation, a staff member answering a phone call, the refrigerated items shelf buzzing, the crinkle of the Uncrustable I’m about to buy

Sound description/level: it’s not a busy time for Dutch but there are a handful of other people so it’s a fairly consistent volume in here. Not loud; you can hear the TV from anywhere inside but it’s not overwhelming, and a few people are talking but when they move away I can’t hear them as clearly

One word: supermarket

Most important sounds: the TV, the cashiers’ conversation, the fridges buzzing

1. 02/24/2023 – 5:16 PM – Outside of Vander Poel Hall
2. Far away: A car honked, some kind of radio music playing
3. Medium: Cars driving by, a car driving very fast, leaves on trees blowing in the wind
4. Closest: People having conversations passing by, a cat meow, some birds tweeting
5. The sound level is quite low when it is closer to me, but things like the car driving are loud. 
6. Descriptor: Busy
7. The essential sounds are: the car honking, the sounds of cars driving by, leaves blowing in the wind, and the birds tweeting.

1. Location: Living Room of my house, 4:14 pm 2/24/23
2. Sounds furthest away: Planes flying overhead, Cars driving down the turnpike behind me, wind in the distance, cars revving, horns honking
3. Sounds at Medium range: Cars driving past my house and down the street, The sound of my storm door banging against the porch railing due to wind, my roommate typing down the hall, sound of garbage being thrown in the dumpster of Popeyes, woman talking on the phone on the sidewalk.
4. Sounds closest to me: Me typing on the computer, the sound of me sipping my tea, phone buzz notification, me breathing, my knees popping, the chair shifting under my weight.
5. Around me in the house, the sound is very quiet. There is, however, a lot of loud sounds in the distance, mainly due to the cars and busy roads. By the time those sounds get to my ear, they are dampened and muffled.
6. “Secluded”
7. Cars going by on the turnpike, me breathing, me sipping tea

Outside CV Starr

3:36 pm 2/24/23

Farthest sound- cars driving by on the turnpike, honking of said cars, construction truck backing up

Medium sounds- tumbling leaves, rustling of trees around me, brief conversations of people walking by, airplane overhead, lawn mower hum

Close sounds – music in my headphones, wind against the outside of my headphones, rushing of water from drinking of my water bottle, me swallowing, clanking of keys in my pocket, rustling of hands against my jacket

Sound level/amount – the sound levels of this spot ebbed and flowed, but on a general noise scale, there was rather nothing majorly apparent., but enough general background noise to take notice of. 

One word – serene

Three most important noises – 

• Wind against the outside of my headphones
• The rustling of the leaves
• Rustling of trees

1- DATE-TIME-LOCATION of the sound environment

— Sit, close eyes and allow the sounds around you to envelope you, listen for all of the sound in your environment.

February 22nd, 11:57AM, Emily Lowe Hall room 216.

2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you.

Furthest: David Henderson talking aloud (teaching), chairs squeaking and clinking against metal parts.

3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you.

Medium: Heater exerting a mid-range hum, students whispering, mice clicking, students typing on computers. 

4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant).

Closest: My own breathing, swallowing, student behind me sniffling.  

5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.

Sound level is varied with one vocal booming sound accompanied by many smaller sounds of technology (clicking, typing, etc.) The amount of sound activity comes in waves, when David stops talking the room is mostly silent. Otherwise his voice takes up the most space. 

6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”.

One Word Description: Lethargic 

7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment. Note: you need to try and figure out what sounds make up this environment and which of those sounds need to be there for the feeling of the environment to stay intact.

Essential Sounds: 

1. David’s teaching voice
2. Heater hum 
3. Mice/computer clicking and typing

Location: between HofUSA and Dutch Treats

Sounds heard: slight wind/air, sirens, a car horn honking, distant and muffled voices

Location: Bench in front of Davidson Hall

Sounds: Airplane flying overhead, Students going to next class, Bike rack/Lock, Door Opening and Closing

1. February 12, 12:00pm, Film Set in a Dinner

2. People chatting in a corner about the next shot for set, cars driving down the street, the hum of the heater running

3. The hum of the appliances (mainly fridge), actors practicing their lines, people walking by me and the squeaking of their shoes

4. The rubbing of my jacket in the booth, my heavier breathing and stuffy nose

5. It can get loud when people are debating in the corner or when they are walking by, but it’s generally at a medium level. The most consistent sound level is the appliances running.

6. Hectic

7. Fridge hum, director talking with actors, steps of people frantically walking to grab/move equipment