Monthly Archives: March 2013
Sound Journal #5
1: Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 3:14 am, Alliance Hall, 7th Floor Bathroom
2: Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you.
Inside the shower, water falls steadily in thin, high-pressure streams onto an assemblage of plastic, toiletry bottles, of which the varying degrees of emptiness create an array of tonalities. The water also drums on the edge of a plastic shower curtain, creating the full, soft sound of rain on wide-leafed flora – the sort of sound one hears on a recording of a lush rainforest, meant to work as a relaxation/sleep aid.
3: Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you.
A girl sits in a stall on the other side of the bathroom, talking on the phone in a low yet urgent voice. Each syllable, no matter how hushed, ricochets off the smooth, Formica countertops and the hundreds of small tiles, echoing onto the start of the next syllable and garbling her words so that only the vague sounds of pleading and apologizing can be discerned. The conversation has the intimate, shameful tone of a confession to a romantic partner, and she seems to have sought relative privacy in the bathroom at 3:00 am, presumably to not disturb her sleeping roommate. The sound of me showering has made her self-conscious, and she murmurs sheepishly for the better part of my shower.
4: Identify and list the sounds closest to you (– you can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant).
Outside the bathroom, a resident can be heard strumming his guitar inside his single room. However robust the sound may be within the room itself, when emanating through the wood of the bathroom door and the curtain of water, the notes sound eerie and thin. Compounding this effect is the slow, lilting pace at which the player strums as he tries to find his way through the ill-remembered chords.
5: Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.
The sound level is somewhat low, in keeping with the time of night and the solitary nature of the various, simultaneous activities, from my ablutions to the girl’s chagrinned confessions to the boy’s meandering guitar practice.
6: Assign a one-word description to the “sound environment”.
“Intimate”
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.
All three levels of sound work well together, however disparate the individual sounds may seem in character. Each is the product of a private activity, carried out alone in the latest hours of the night, and thus creates a sound suiting one such mood. As a result, the tone of each sound fits nicely within the theme of the collective.
Journal Entry 5
1- 2/27/13 10:00 P.M. My suite.
2- Talking from rooms downstairs, Faint music, Sniffling
3- Faucet running, Toilet flushing, Ventilation, Doors
4- TV,
5- A low hum with miscellaneous sounds
6- White Noise
7- TV, Ventilation, Faucet
It was interesting to me how, in my field recording, much of the sound environment was lost to the quality of my laptop’s mic. In it you are unable to hear the farthest sounds. Some of the medium range sounds blend in with the ventilation. Most of the sounds are distorted.
Field Recording 4
Field Recording #4
Journal Entry 5
1- Date/Time/Location.
2.26.13/3:30pm/Monroe Hall (Practice Rooms)
This location was interesting to me because (even though they say they are) the rooms are definitely not sound proof, and you can hear others practicing, but when I was listening to the sounds closest to me, in my practice room, the other sounds seemed to disappear.
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you.
Indistinct piano music, Someone opening a door in the hallway, someone speaking unintelligibly
3- Identify and list the sounds at medium range from you.
A locker closing, Two girls speaking, one saying something about how she “sounded very good.”
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you.
My fingers sliding up and down the piano keys (not pushing them down), my own breathing.
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.
Medium to low. Lower in my practice room, but more active in the hallway.
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”.
Multifarious.
7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment.
The indistinct piano, The girl speaking, My own breathing
Field Recording 4
Identify the location:
On a train going to Penn Station.
Identify the sounds:
I know I’ve already done a train post of two girls having an interesting conversation; however, the squeaking of the train car was too good for me to pass up recording.
The squeaky car dominates the recording, the sound seeming to be crescendoing towards the end of the recording, and at one point you can even hear what sounds like the train car, itself, shaking. but you can also hear what sounds like a young boy moaning (“Oh, man,”), and a plain going overhead. You can feel the train shaking just by hearing it.
Field Recording 4
Republic Hall Dorm Room, quiet afternoon
I had just walked in on my friend playing around with different chords on the guitar. If you listen very closely in the beginning, you can hear another another person entering the room with a soft greeting and falling silent. I liked this clip because though the strumming and chord changes are not perfect, the sounds seem to wander aimlessly and yet coincide beautifully with the notes that come before and after creating a coesive progression.