Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

Date: April 12th

Location: Psibrary

Far Sounds: Doors closing upstairs, sneakers against the tile as someone walks down the hallway, Julianna tapping on the wall, front doors of Lowe opening and closing

Medium Sounds: Someone walking up the stairs, people talking in the hallway, chair squeaking, Julianna banging on the psibrary door, Lowe 110 door opening and closing

Close Sounds: Joey and Julianna talking about cab acts, Joey laughing, Anna talking to me, typing on laptop, Julianna and Anna conversing, 

Sound Description/Level: loud, active 

One Word: Lively

Most Important Sounds: Anna and Julianna conversing, people talking in the hallway, Lowe 110 door opening and closing

Date: April 3rd, 2022, 

Location and Time: My bed, 7:57pm

Far Sounds: The dryer running, the tv going downstairs, an ambulance driving by, plane flying overhead, car honking

Medium Sounds: Housemates talking downstairs, people walking by my window talking, typing, housemate moving chair in their room

Close Sounds: Housemate laughing, the shower running upstairs, housemate slamming fridge, pouring water from a britta filter, Mishka running down the stairs, Harry Styles playing

Sound Description/Level: low, mostly quiet

One Word: comfortable

Most Important Sounds: Mishka running down the stairs, housemates laughter people walking and talking

Date: April 3rd, 2022

Location: My living room, Hempstead NY

Far Sounds: the clanging of pans upstairs, footsteps upstairs, door lock beeping, car on the street driving by, loud bang upstairs

Medium Sounds: side door being unlocked, Michelle and Avery greeting each other, clicking of laptop mouse, side door creaking shut, low hum of the fridge

Close Sounds: typing of laptop keys, Michelle whispering and running lines, laptop being set down on table, Avery yawning, Avery and Joey talking to each other, cup being set on table

Sound Description/Level: low, quiet, routine

One Word: productive

Most Important Sounds: typing of laptop keys, Michelle running lines, clicking of laptop mouse

Date: April 3, 2022

Location and time: Downstairs living room of my house, 2:00 pm

Far Sounds: Slight knocking of the water heater, electrical buzzing of refrigerator, car honking in the distance

Medium Sounds: Thudding of footsteps upstairs, closing drawers, airplane flying overhead, birds chirping

Close Sounds: Whirring of mini fridge, my typing, knocking at the door

Sound Description/ Level: Quiet, low level

One Word: Sedate

Most Important Sounds: Electrical buzzing, footsteps, typing, knocking

Date: Saturday, April 2nd

Location and Time: 2nd floor of the student center, 8:11pm 

Far Sounds: Doors opening & closing, chairs scraping the floor

Medium Sounds: Starbucks baristas making drinks, people talking below

Close Sounds:  People walking behind me, my typing, 

Sound Description/Level: Medium amount of noise, very collegiate

One Word: Late-night

Important Sounds: chairs scraping, baristas making drinks, typing

Date and Location: March 13th, 6:15pm, Living Room

Far Sounds: Anna and Andrew talking upstairs, footsteps upstairs, cupboard being closed, bag being dropped on the floor, creaking of the radiators, car driving in the street/wheels on the road

Medium Sounds: Front door being opened and closed, front door locking, someone walking up the stairs, water heater clinking, faucet in kitchen running

Close Sounds: Creaking of sliding door/wind against the door, laptop keys clacking, low hum of mini fridge, laptop whirring, Joey talking with me, laptop being closed shut

General Sound level and Atmosphere: mostly quiet; what an average evening sounds like in our house with a steady soundscape that I recognize as normal

One Word: Comfortable

Three Important Sounds: Low hum of the mini fridge, Joey talking with me, footsteps upstairs

Date: March 11, 2022

Location and Time: 6th floor of the Axinn Library, 2:37pm

Far sounds: wind wooshing, cars driving on the turnpike

Medium sounds: air conditioner running, chairs scraping the floor

Close sounds: typing, pen scratching on paper, soft breathing

Sound Level: Very quiet, library level

One word: Focused

Most important sounds: typing, pen scratching, AC running

Date: February 27, 2022

Location and Time: The Joan and Donald Schaeffer Black Box Theater, 1:50 pm 

Far Sounds: Muffled chatter of audience members sitting farther away from me, the faint pinging of a sound effect from the show, a phone falling out of someone’s pocket and hitting the ground

Medium Sounds: Clanging of seats as people were getting settled, Sigma Capella’s ICCA set playing on a phone a few rows ahead of me, Avery, Ben, and Cindy talking, someone coughing

Close Sounds: Joey speaking to me, footsteps of people approaching seats

Sound Description/Level: Light, casual pre-show chatter, not too noisy

One Word: Cheery

Most Important Sounds: People talking, accapella music, jingling of seats 

Sunday, February 27th, 2:36pm

Location: The breakfast nook at Jane Street

Far Sounds: A car speeding on the main road, The Dixie Chicks playing in Lizzy’s room, the wind making the branches creak, trash bags rustling in the wind 

Medium Sounds: The dryer going, a metal button scraping in the dryer, Tori and Arianna laughing and talking, a car with a loud muffler driving by my house, doors creaking open and close, the wind whistling up against the windows, someone listening to country in the upstairs bathroom

Close sounds: My phone playing “More Than This” by One Direction, the mesh screen hitting the window, Tori and Arianna pouring water in the kitchen, chair creaking underneath me, radiator blowing out hot air in the bathroom

 Sound Description/Level: Loud but quiet, the only constant sound is the dryer going. It is like I am trying to focus on all of these sounds at once but they all happen so quickly. Sometimes all the sounds can be heard at once, but sometimes it is only the dryer that is going

One Word Description: Sporadic

Most important sounds: The mesh screen hitting on the window, Tori and Arianna laughing, metal button scraping in the dryer, chair creaking

February 27th, 10:08 AM

Location: The couch in my bedroom, facing the open door toward the living room

Farthest: An airplane flying overhead, a car driving by, Anna playing music in her room far down the hallway behind her closed door, Anna’s metal garland pattering against her door as it swings open

Medium: Andrew’s loud footsteps as he walks between his room and the kitchen across the wood floor in the hallway, Andrew rolling a suitcase across the kitchen tiles, the low hum of the refrigerator, Anna sneezing, Andrew saying bless you

Closest: Andrew’s door slowly creaking open, his metal sign hitting the door as it closes, my stomach grumbling

General sound level: There is a low but constant noise as the baseline in this environment, especially with the music playing; it feels like there is a chaos contained to the point where it feels calm from the outside

Sound environment: Contained

Defining sounds: Andrew’s footsteps across the hallway floor, the music playing behind Anna’s closed door, the suitcase rolling over the tiles