Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

Anna Holmes and I are in Fitness for Life together, and our professor is a REAL character. Here she is, lecturing to 16 of us (most of us are still asleep since it is 8:20am) about avoiding high-fat, high-calorie meals.

Royston’s voice is only ONE of the interesting things you can hear in class.

3/19/15, 3pm, Breslin Hall

Farthest: Cars outside in parking lot, a couple guys laughing about something in the hallway, someone’s leg shaking out of restlessness in the front row.
Medium: Royston talking about Expressionism, someone’s iPod (which they forgot to turn off) playing an undiscernible yet audible song from their bag, a row in front of me.
Closest: My chair squeaking (UGH), Anna and Kelly (both sitting next to me) trying to giggle as quietly as possible, Paige’s pen writing on paper.

Royston’s voice remained at a consistent level, and all the surrounding noises fluctuated from nearly silent to about half the volume of Royston.

One Word Description: Restless.

Three sounds: Royston lecturing, chair squeaking, stifled giggling

I will never NOT be amused by how passionate Maureen McFeeley is about Shakespeare. Here is a short clip of her reading from “Measure for Measure” in Englush 116 (recorded with her permission).

1- Thursday, April 24, 2014, 3:15pm, Breslin Hall

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

Furthest away from me, you can hear my professor lecturing about the legal studies in business and asking the class questions pertaining to the lesson we’re learning.

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

At medium range from me, you can hear my neighbor flip through her notes as she looks for the answer to the question my teacher has just posed.

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

Closest to me, you can hear the sounds of my clicking away on my keyboard as I’m pretending to take notes in class.

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

The sound level in the classroom is rather quiet as everyone’s paying attention and trying to grasp exactly what the teacher is trying to explain.

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

Bored

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.

Three sounds that are essential to this sound environment are the sounds of my professors voice in the background as she’s teaching class, the sound of my neighbor flipping through her notes and the sound of me messing around on my computer.

1)      12:42 p.m 0019 Breslin, Waiting for Peter Sander

2)       footsteps, radiator, quiet music from someone’s Ipod

3)       clicking of computer keys, the door slamming as it shuts

4)       a boy reciting the plot of “Midsummer Night’s Dream, girl asking questions on same subject

5)      medium to slightly loud

6)      panicked

7)       the boy talking, the girl talking, the slamming of the door

1. 5/3/12, 11: 25AM, Italian Class

2. Kids playing outside, a truck going by on the street, an airplane flying, birds chirping.

3. A bike bell and a bike, doors in the hallway opening and slamming shut.

4. Kids talking in class, the professor lecturing, a book dropping on the floor.

5. The noise activity and sound level are relatively low. While there are many sounds, they are all spread too far out to make a collectively loud noise.

6. Morning.

7. Kids outside, the professor talking, doors in the hallway.

Date, Time, Location: Monday April 2^nd, 2012; 2:30PMish, Shakespeare class during in class writing

Farthest Sounds: Birds and breezes outside

Medium Range Sounds: professors laptop, doors opening/closing in hall

Closets Sounds: papers shuffling, pencils writing, me scratching my head

Sound Activity (Amount/Level): Low

Descriptive Word: Intense

Essential Sounds: Papers Shuffling, Pencils Writing, Scratching Head

1. 3:31pm, 4/3/12, Breslin Hall

2. Doors opening and shutting in hallway, some sort of large machinery/vehicle moving heavy things outside.

3. Royston speaking, generator running, the moving of the whiteboard, tearing paper from notebooks, chairs swiveling, students asking questions in the front of the classroom.

4. A cap being screwed back onto a soda bottle, a metal bracelet sliding against the desk, pages turning, a pen being dropped, backpack zipper.

5. The sound level is above moderate and there is a great amount of sound activity.

6. Restless.

7. Royston speaking, the chairs moving sporadically, papers shoveling.

Location: DRAMA 174

Sounds Heard: Kolb talking, slight digressions, deep laugh, Long pauses, keys tapping, papers crackling, student silence.

1. 3/1/12  12:40 pm   Breslin classroom

2. The sounds farthest away from me are someone opening the door to leave the classroom and it shutting, someone throwing something out in the garbage, and someone asking my professor a question.

3. The sounds at a medium range from me are someone rummaging through stuff, like a bag or backpack, and the sounds of people talking to each other before our test.

4. The sounds closest to me are chairs squeaking as people move in and out in them and the sounds of pages turning in notebooks and textbooks.

5. The general sound level is moderate and there is a lot of sound activity coming from throughout the classroom.

6. I would describe this sound environment as “anxious”.

7. Three sounds essential to the sound environment are the sounds of rustling papers, the chairs squeaking and creaking, and people asking each other about things for the test. Together they make up a classroom full of students trying to fit in last minute studying and getting situated before a test.