Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

1.  Thursday 2/20, 7:30 pm, HofUSA

2.  Identify sounds farthest away from you:

• The sounds of video games from the arcade room
• Clattering of metal from the back kitchen
• The front doors opening and closing

3.  Identify sounds at medium range from you:

• People ordering/talking on line
• The banging from the air hockey game being played
• General conversation

4.  Identify sounds closest to you:

• The girl next to me asking for her order to be fixed
• The banging of the game of pool behind me
• The Olympic theme and coverage from the tv.

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

The room is full of ongoing games and conversation provided by the air hockey and pool tables.  There are general cheers stemming from the games and a white noise of conversation in the background.  The sound level is fairly high as it usually can be described as excited.

6.  Assign a one word description to the sound environment:

vibrant

7.  Select three sounds that are essential to the environment:

• The pool game
• General Conversation
• The girl asking for her order to be fixed

1. Friday, April 19, 2013, 2:02 am, Graham’s Bedroom

2. Sounds Farthest: the house settling? A car passing on the street.

3. Sounds Medium Distance: Graham’s friends on X-Box live headset

4. Closest sounds: Graham talking to his friends over X-Box live, Call of Duty Zombies playing, going from a lot of shooting to the main menu.

5. Not particularly loud, but it only seems loud because of the lateness of the hour

6. Disoriented

7. The shootings in CoD, Graham talking, the buzz of his friends talking over headset.

1- 04/05/2013- 12:41 am- My room in Vander Poel

2- Sounds farthest away: Extreme silence. The occasional car passing by on Oak Street and some wind, but not a whole lot.

3- Sounds at medium range: Radiator’s hum, Caitlin breathing, Graham breathing, a small burst of laughter from Graham.

4- Sounds closest: My toes cracking, the bottom edge of a poster behind my head sliding along the wall, keyboard keys, a computer fan, my own breathing.

5- General sound level and amount of sound activity: It’s almost uncomfortably quiet in here, as we’re all in our own little worlds.

6- One word description to the “sound environment”: Unnerving.

7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment.: Computer fan, radiator hum, keyboard keys

1- March 15, 2013, 1:07 am, just outside Hofstra USA
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. –  Cars (very few of them, as it’s late) some people talking

3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – people talking and walking, the base from the music playing in Hofstra USA the door to dutch treats opening and closing, the rustling of a paper bag caught in a tree and wind.

4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – Keyboard keys, my breathing indicating that I’m shivering, the doors to Hofstra USA opening and closing, my friend Petra talking to me, and my phone receiving a text.

5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – Very quiet, serene, and peaceful. It’s as if i’m in my own bubble and the noises and stress of the outside world are barely touching me. Except for the fact that I’m still cold.

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

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. – Wind, the dull base, and the plastic bag. Perhaps the cars in the distance as well.

1:  Saturday, February 16, 2013, 3:17 am, My Room in Alliance Hall

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

The boys two doors down the hall are having some sort of party in their room.  Their subwoofers emit a thunderous bass line that combines with the high-pitch clangor of their laughter and general horseplay to create a cacophony that precludes any sleep.  The voice of a more stentorian girl carries the most; she flirts with Matt, the louder of the two roommates, by protesting loudly (albeit unconvincingly) to whatever he is trying to do to her, with seemingly interminable iterations of “Stawwwp it!”  This ruckus persists for over an hour before either Matt or Henry turns the music off to speak with a girl at their door.  She is the girl whose single sits between the boys’ room and mine and thusly has taken the brunt of their late-night, sonic assault.  I can hear her something garbled about how it’s 3:00 am, and then the doors to respective rooms close.  Thankfully, the music stays off.

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

In an attempt to drown out the sound of the random dorm party, I am blasting the heat in my room, making use of the fuzzy sound of the hot air rushing out of the grate, as well as the hum of the unit itself.  As an additional measure, I have turned on an old, white noise machine, so that the its assertive whir blends in with the sound of my heater and provides me further aural distance from the racket.

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

Through a set of headphones, I listen to an ASMR video on YouTube in yet another attempt to batten down my ears.  A woman whispers into a set of binaural microphones, smacking her lips and making little clicking sounds with her tongue that are very relaxing.  She slowly goes through the entire Greek alphabet, naming each letter with a thick accent.

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

The noise level is very high – even two doors down, the sounds from the party are louder than anything happening in my own room.

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

“Antagonistic”

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 sound of my ASMR video is not as important as the external sounds of the party, with which I come into conflict with my attempts to tune them out.  Thus, the warring sounds of Matt and Henry’s music (and their very loud, pitchy voices) and my heater and white noise machine are most essential to the combative mood of this sonic environment.

1- Date/Time/Location.
2.21.13/9:15 pm/Game Room

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

3- Identify and list the sounds at medium range from you.
People yelling at computer screens, a Mario video game being played, keyboards clicking

4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you.
Pool balls hitting each other, me and Graham talking to each other, another group talking and playing pool besides us

5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.
Somewhat high activity, but the sound level was not always consistent.

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

7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment.
Gamers yelling at each other, pool balls hitting each other, Mario music

1:  Friday, February 15, 2013, 8:55 pm, Hofstra Student Center

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

Students talking and eating in the large dining section.

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

The student center television, some other students in the front part of the dining section eating.

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

Students walking by on their way to their first class, “Kill Everybody” by Skrillex on my iPod.

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

For such a busy hub on campus, the sound is rather muted and subtle.

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

“Subdued”

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.

Footsteps of students, the tv, the cashiers at their posts ringing students up.

1- DATE-TIME-LOCATION- 2/8/13 12:30 AM, 10th floor lounge

2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you.- the slight rumble of buildings settling, or maybe it’s wind from outside.

3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you- some girl giggling obnoxiously distracting me from really hearing the sounds farthest from me, a door opening as someone goes to the bathroom.

4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you- computer fan, keyboard keys clicking, breath, radiator hum.

5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – very quiet. but not a peaceful quiet.

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

7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment.- giggling girl, computer trackpad clicking, Graham mumbling to himself as he plays Runescape (and now he’s beat boxing)

3/5/12 around 1pm Art History

2. heater, hum of the projector

3. teacher rambling about the Protestant Reformation, general rustling, coughs and sniffles

4. the girl behind me pounding the keys on her laptop, the same girl blowing her nose unrelentless and unnecessarily loud.

5. there is a lot of activity but most are fairly quiet.

6. distracting

7. the loud typing, the obnoxious nose blowing, other distracting bodily noises.