Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

1:  Thursday, February 14, 2013, 6:14 pm, Hofstra Student Center

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

The sound of over a hundred voices bounces around the high-ceilinged, hard-surfaced space, making any sound beyond the room in which I sit completely inaudible over the din.  At its farthest, the sound of voices constitutes more a continuous, singular noise than a collective of individual voices – a humming, steady roar.

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

At my table, several people eat their food in solitude, sitting rather close to me on all sides because of the way the seats are configured around the table.  The sound of plastic forks and knives scratching against the cardboard of their to-go boxes makes a cacophony of irksome scratching noises.  One girl sits close enough to me that I can hear the wet, tearing sound that her soda makes when she sucks it violently through her gnawed, spit-covered straw, as well as the smacking of her lips as she eats her pasta.    Without such proximity, I would not be able to hear anything from my fellow diners.  After all, I can hear very few individual noises from the next table over, due to the general noise level in the dining area.

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

On my laptop, I am live-streaming the audio from a show in Boston’s Café 939, via Birncore.com.  I can hear the noises in this venue in Boston: I can hear glasses clinking, peals of giddy laughter, and the three male musicians tuning their guitars and making Valentine’s-related jokes to their largely female and thusly doting audience.   With no visual knowledge of the inside of the space, it’s a strange experience to be able to hear so vividly so finite moment and so intimate an environment, as it exists miles away from and yet simultaneous to all the hubbub in the student center.  Such an overlap is the closest thing one can get to a concrete experience of the multiverse.

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

Many individual sounds can be heard, but the general racket begins to sound very monotonous the more I sit in it.  Again, the overall noises level is quite high.

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

“Rambunctious”

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 audio livestream is interesting, but not necessarily integral to the essence of the space at large.  Much more important is the incessant, buzzy sound of dozens of conversations at once, juxtaposed with the individual sounds of people scraping up their food, as well as the slurping sounds of the girl eating nearest to me.

1:  Thursday, February 8, 2013, 1:55 am, 1111 Alliance Hall

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

The window is open, and I can hear the tires of very fast-moving cars on the asphalt of the turnpike.  The traffic is so fast and so constant that the sound of one car cannot be distinguished from the collective.  All together, the distant noise of the turnpike makes the unending tearing sound of a plane traversing the sky high above.  Sporadically, I hear a motorcycle accelerating with a succession of staccato, upward-inflected growls.

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

For a few minutes, a boisterous group of three or four girls crosses the parking lot far below.  Their voices carry well, so that a few individual words said louder than the rest (like, “shit,” “Lydia,” and “bitch”) can be heard.  In spite of all the intermittent profanity, the mood of the mobile conversation is jubilant.  Once they’ve passed the building, their voices fade out, and a state of relative quiet resumes.

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

Stephen sits at his desk, typing on his laptop.  The percussion of his fingertips on the keyboards is gentle and composed.  The fabric of his shirt makes soft, hushing sounds as he shifts in his chair and brushes his forearms against it.  Occasionally, his bare feet scrap against the densely woven carpet and make a similar swishing sound.  The different noises of his lucubration are very soothing, as attentive activity is one of my ASMR triggers.  Sometimes Stephen hums a few whimsical notes of nothing in particular before restoring his full attention to his work.

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

Once the girls have passed by, the sound level becomes quite low, although plenty of individual sounds can be heard.

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

“Studious”

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 most essential sounds are not any from the outside world, but those of Stephen at work.  The clicks of his hands on his computer, the sound of his clothing being brushed, and his occasional humming all create a very specific kind of calm.

1)   4/3/12 sounds at my best friends house 8pm

2)   cars driving by, keys jingling, door opening

3)   My best friends mom walking into the house, door slamming shut, dog collar jingling

4)   My best friend talking, teen mom on the television, cat purring

5)   The sound level is average

6)   The environment is calming

7)   Three key sounds are my best friend talking, the door clamming and the television