Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

3/4/16   10:43 pm    Sitting in a train waiting to leave Penn Station

Sounds: Hum of the train, train announcement, beeping, people talking, door that connects the train cars opening and closing, and the conductor speaking.

1. Location: Mineola train station
2. Sounds: Wind, Train horn, people talking, train passing, car engine

Train from Penn Station to Mineola. 2/19/15, 11:20pm

On a train with a friend after seeing “A Delicate Balance” on Broadway.
People coughing, some far-away drunken chat on the other end of the car, and the train rolling along.

1- March 3, 9:40am, LIRR train from Mineola to Penn

2- High pitched humming in the background due to the heating system at the other end of the car, other train-like mechanisms make soft noises off and on.

3- The sounds of the train moving on track creates a hypnotic lull, an announcement is made regarding the next station and that patrons should watch the gap between the train and the platform,  the doors ding and slide open with a groan

4- The person in the seat in front of me coughs occasionally and ruffles the papers of their newspaper; when the doors open, a large gaggle of high school girls with a chaperone, talking and laughing loudly – clearly on a field trip of some kind. They discuss a woman they saw on the train another time who decided to appear in public topless in high pitched voices, talking over each other and finishing each other’s sentences.

5- The sound level and activity begin at a low and are abruptly shifted to a high sound level and activity

6- Interrupted

7- The background humming, the clacking of the train tracks, and before: the shuffling of the newspaper, after: the loud chatter and laughter

Subway S Train waiting area at 42nd St
A man is playing the Pan Flute on the other side of the area, while people mull around, conversing. In the background, you can hear trains entering/leaving the station, echoing on the tracks. At the end of the clip, an automated voice announces the next train to Grand Central will arrive on track 1 in two minutes.

Location: To continue with the theme of amazing subway singers, here is another clip of a different subway session.

Sounds heard: The “ding dong” of the subway doors opening and closing. Singer with guitar, everybody singing, loud laughter, other guy rapping, whizzing and honking of the train, murmur of people talking, uproarious applause.

To hear more check out their website: Akil www.isawyouguys.com

Identify the location:

This was on 1/31 around 3:30pm on the train from Mineola to NY.

Identify the sounds:  Two girls having a conversation about hair.  There is a man talking on the phone.  There is another man speaking aloud to his phone (he was deaf).

1. 3/25/12   In passenger’s seat, near Long Island City  3:00pm

2. The sounds farthest away from me are cars honking their horns and engines revving.

3. The sounds at a medium distance from me are the train passing by overhead and music playing from a car somewhere nearby.

4. The sounds closest to me are the radio playing and the GPS giving directions out loud.

5. The general sound level is loud and constant.

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

7. The three sounds essential to the sound environment are the train passing by, the cars honking horns, and the GPS.  They are related to traveling in an unknown urban area and sitting in loud, heavy traffic.

This was taken on the LIRR train from Penn Station to Mineola.

You can hear people talking and the wheels moving on the track.

2/19/12   6:58 pm   LIRR, Ronkonkoma Line

Sounds heard: Constant ringing/whistling noise of the train as it moves, people talking behind me, the chugging sounds of the train as it slows down, the announcer saying what station it is and what stop is next (Deer Park and Wyandanch), train doors closing, loud beeping