- Wednesday, late night Hammer Lab, 3am
- A constant high pitch humming tone, door opening and closing, janitor cart rolling through, the toilet flushing
- Voices, someones music through their headphones (hip hop), a zipper
- A phone vibrating on the table, my keyboard clacking, a friend rustling their paper
- Lots of different sounds, sound level medium to high at in short bursts
- Drained
- High pitch humming noise, voices, keyboard clacking
Category Archives: Journal Entry
Journal #9
1- 3/28/13 – 11:23 A.M. – Chautauqua Guest House: Boulder, CO
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. – Furthest from me I can hear a U.S Marine playing Taps from the front porch of the building. He is standing facing inward toward the front of the room and has a mute in his trumpet as he plays. The sound is very pure but it appears that it is coming from a distance much further away than it actually is.
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – At a medium range from me I can hear two more Marines shouting out commands as they presented the Stars and Stripes to my dad. I could clearly hear each command as the taller man said them. Then I could hear the softer sound of the fabric being folded before us to make the iconic triangle shape of the flag when it is presented to us. I could also hear the soft clicking noise the men’s shoes against the creaky old floor as they walked closer to each other as they folded the flag.
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – Closest to me I can hear my own heart beating and the internal audio that is associated as I sniffled and cried to myself; saying goodbye to my grandfather for the last time. Next to me I could hear my family doing the same.
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – Every noise around me at this time was muffled and soft. The horn was muted and every sniffle seemed to be held back as everyone witnessed the presentation of the flag.
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. – Solemn
7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment. Note: you need to try to 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. – Horn, Sniffling, Fabric of the flag
Journal Entry #9
1) 3/28/13, my bedroom at home, 11:42pm
2) The movement of cars on the highway behind my house, branches hitting each other in the wind.
3) The movement of the occasional car in the street right next to my house, the general creaking of my house and its heaters.
4) My cat snoring on my dresser, my other cat knocking things down outside my room, the water pipes in the wall next to my bed.
5) The sound level is extremely low, but there is a decent amount of sound activity.
6) Familiar
7) The cars in the highway outside, the creaking of my house, my cat snoring.
Sound Journal #8
1: Wednesday, March 20, 2013, 11:10 pm, House on Braxton St
2: Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you.
I’m taking a bubble bath in my friend’s newly installed tub as a rare treat, because the tubs on campus seem dirty. I am also doing this with the specific intention of creating a sound journal for what I hear underwater. Once submerged, the only distant sounds that can be heard are of so low a register that they seem more like pure vibrations – the sonorous thud of a shutting door and the dull footsteps of a heel-walker on the hall floor outside the bathroom door.
3: Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you.
I can hear the hot water rushing out of the faucet, making frothing sounds and splashes as it divides to slap the surface of the water and churn down to the closed drain with its stream. Once I turn off the faucet (with a feeble squeak), I can hear the occasional, singular plink of water into the tub, and even the fluid rustle of water displaced by my shifting limbs.
4: Identify and list the sounds closest to you (– you can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant).
Internal sounds are more audible than they’ve been in any previous sound journals with the water pressure pushing up against my eardrums. I can hear my heart beating with a thud, with the sonic clarity of hearing it through a stethoscope. Occasionally my viscera make squishing noises in hunger – as my friend Greg once described the growlier of these noises, they’re like “a monster submerged in pudding.”
5: Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.
The sound level to an external ear would be very low – in fact, most of the sound activity I’m observing would be practically inaudible to anyone as far as the other side of the small bathroom. But beneath the water, the sounds are very full.
6: Assign a one-word description to the “sound environment”.
“Internal”
7: Select and list 3 sounds that 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.
The sounds from outside the bathroom give clues to context like dulled honking outside a sealed up car, but they aren’t vital to the vibe of the sonic environment. The sound of the water of varying sizes and speeds (from a downpour to the sporadic droplet) go well with the internal sounds of my body, as there is a fluid, quality to both. After all, the human body is filled with fluid; therefore, being inside a bathtub is aurally like being inside a body. Thus, listening to the fluid in my body while submerged in fluid is like meta-sound-journaling. (Whoa!)
Journal Entry 8
1- 3/21/13, 10:30 PM, Babysitting
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you: Slight rustling of wind blowing and animals moving in the backyard
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you: Something making slight clanking noises from the other room (maybe the heater?), the dog snoring on the other side of the room
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant).- The Daily Show on TV, clacking as I play 7 Little Words on my iphone
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.- Quiet, it’s late and the volume is low so I don’t wake the baby, and everything is fairly quiet, making the clanking and the sounds from outside really stand out
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. Spooky
7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment. Clanking, Wind Rustling, Dog Snoring
Journal Entry #8
1) 3/22/13, 9:43am, Adam’s Playhouse wings
2) A truck backing up outside, blaring it’s signal, the punch of time cards in the shop.
3) The buzzing of my audio feed which has no input from any mics yet, the tick of the clock above my head, the air quietly blowing overhead
4) My own sick sniffles and typing.
5) The sound level is low, and the sound activity is low, but existent.
6) Patient. The playhouse is waiting for its shows.
7) The buzzing of the speaker, the tick of the clock, the rhythmic punching of time cards.
Journal Entry #8
1. 3/22 – 8:59 AM – Room 100 Breslin (History of Drama 2)
2. The heater spitting in the most obnoxious way it can at 9 AM, talking in the hallway, Dr. Kolb ruffling through papers
3. Corinne talking to her prospective student about Alpha Psi, Gianfranco commenting here and there, Beep chatting to Christina
4. My typing, crunching (lucky charms, yum!)
5. The sound level and amount of sound activity are very low in comparison to how this room normally is. Everyone is very quiet – so much so that the heater is one of the loudest sounds in the room. The amount of activity is pretty low as well, with only the heater and people as the main sources of activity.
6. Tranquil
7. The heater, the talking, the ruffling of papers
Journal Entry 8
1- 3/21/13, 9:00pm, Republic Hall bathroom
2- Chatter of a group of people in the hallway, someone thumps against the wall and everyone laughs, as time passes, their talking gets quieter and they seem to have left the hall
3- Someone walks into the bathroom, the door creaks open and slams shut; I can barely hear them shuffle to a stall and the door bounces shut behind them; the next sound I hear is the door of the stall bouncing open again and the automatic sink clicks on. The paper towel dispenser grinds rhythmically as they pump it and they shuffle to the door and let it slam shut behind them.
4- I am standing in the shower, the water is splashing down around me. The shampoo bottle top clicks as I open and close it. My soft humming echoes slightly in the enclosed space
5- The general sound level is at a medium and the sound activity is at a medium-low
6- Mundane
7- The water splashing down around me, the slamming of the door, the chatter of people outside
Journal #8
1- 3/20/13 – 2:00 A.M. – Somewhere in Indiana
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. – Furthest away from me I could faintly hear Bryan programming on his computer for the ACDFA concert from his “mobile command site” in the back seat of his car. I could faintly hear the murmurs between him and Athena as they bickered back and forth about what intensities each fixture needed to me set at. As they progressed in their conversation I could also hear the noises of Bryan typing commands into his key board in a very hushed clicking noise.
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – At medium range I could hear Dena sitting next to me tapping the touch screen on her phone as she got frustrated with the game she was playing and eventually ended up throwing the phone into the plastic console making a plastic tapping noise. Also, surrounding the two of us in the first seat I could hear hush of the radio as we kept it at a low volume so people could sleep if needed. It was just barely audible as a large portion of it was masked by the noise of the car engine and other road noise as we cruised down I-80 at 75 MPH.
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – Closest to me, I could hear my hear myself breathing in and out as I watched the endless road to Milwaukee pass by under me. I felt as though the ride was going faster that I had predicted but was still very long and boring. Sitting with no one to talk to and nothing to do, I often found myself hearing my own breathing and growling stomach.
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – Low and somber
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. – Boredom
7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment. Note: you need to try to 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. – Click of keyboard, Breathing, phone tapping
Journal Entry # 8
1- Monday 03/18/2013-12:41-Hofstra Blue Beetle.
2- Sounds farthest away: Cars whizzing by outside, the sound originating and terminating from left to right and vice versa on the turnpike, people from outside getting on the bus saying things like “Good afternoon” and “Thank you”, very faint music that sounds far away because it is being played so low.
3- Sounds at medium range: Squeak whenever the bus comes to a halt, general hum/buzz of the engine every time the bus starts from stopping, he picks up the radio to report “bus is leaving _____”.
4- Sounds at closest range: Speed bump causes crash throughout whole bus, the directional sign clicking every time we are going to make a turn, the hiss of the door opening when it stops, his coat rubbing against his chair.
5- General sound level and amount of sound activity: Sound level is very low though there are many things going on in terms of sound activity. The different clinks and clanks of the bus remind me of a well-run machine during its daily routine. It makes me feel reminiscent of a bee in a hive, everyone doing their tasks, being polite and getting where they want to efficiently.
6- One word description to the “sound environment”: Cordial.
7- 3 sounds essential to the sound environment: Squeak whenever the bus comes to a halt, people from outside getting on the bus saying things like “Good afternoon” and “Thank you”, the directional sign clicking every time we are going to make a turn.