Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

3/9/13 Outside the Netherlands

Cars, Wind, Rain running off buildings

1) 2/20/13, 8:30pm, John Cranford Adams Playhouse

2) Extremely loud and overwhelming sounds from the wind outside- the wind whistling through the crack under the stage door, something knocking against the building, the garage door at the back of the stage rattling loudly

3) Enobarbus talking and pacing, Kolb giving notes, Codee’s pencil scratching

4) Phil flipping through his book, my computer fan whirring

5) The sound level is loud, and there is a large amount of activity, especially from outside.

6) Violent

7) The wind sounds- The whistling of the wind, the knocking, and the rattling. All very loud and seemingly from an astoundingly powerful wind.

1- 2/17/13 – 1:09 AM – On bench in front of Hofstra Hall
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. – Furthest away from me I can hear the occasional and very faint tone of a car passing by on the Turnpike. Every noise is quick and is a fast swoosh past the University due to the Doppler effect of where I was sitting in relation to the cars that were zooming past. A little bit closer but still pretty far from me on the other side of me I can hear the noises of the few maintenance guys working on the building behind me. They are generating a series of clicking and clanging noises as they move equipment from their car to the building
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – A little closer than these noises I can hear the flags on the flag pole whipping in the wind and cracking like a whip with every large gust of wind. Whenever the wind dies down the tension on the cable was released and the clip on the flag would briefly clang into the pole just before another large gust came and pulled the flag away again. To the left of me I can hear the distinct noise of the two posters hung on the light posts clinging onto the pole for dear life. The paper was whipping so hard I thought it could rip off at any moment. 
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – Closest to me I can hear a few dry leaves scootch across the concrete and create a very distinct noise i associate with late fall. Just behind me I can hear needles of the evergreen trees cling create friction with the wind sailing around them. Against my ears I can hear the whistle as the wind goes through the fibers of my hat- effectively muting almost every noise I have listed above. 
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – All around me the noises are very intense and there is a plethora of noises around me mostly being influenced by the wind that is whipping through the air. The interesting thing is that the noise of the wind through my hat is that it lessens the intensity of every noise around me. 
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. –  Exposed
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. – Wind in my ears, Flag pole, leaves scootching

Location: Walking to class, from my house on Duncan Road to Emily Lowe Hall.
Sounds heard in the clip: The very satisfying sound of crunching a light layer of snow under my snow boots. The tempo is pretty fast and consistent and it is a constant sound in the clip. A car beep and a car starting are more specific sounds that follow, as well as occasional spurts of wind toward the end.

1- 2/9/13 – 2:05 AM – My dorm room
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. – As I laid down on my bed the furthest noise from me that I could hear an identify was the sound of the elevator cables pulling the few night owls back up to their rooms in Enterprise hall. It was a deep and mechanical noise that did not fluctuate in tone or intensity but varied in length. It is a sound I hear often. A little bit closer to me but still outside of my room I could hear the sound of someone in the bathroom taking a shower. The high-pitched noise of water running through the plumbing was traveling through our walls and very faintly and sporadically I could hear the sound of water falling and splattering on the shower floor. 
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you.  – Within my room but at the far corner from me I could hear the deep breathing of my roommate who was fast asleep with his computer on his lap. It was a sound of normal breathing and not snoring but was much deeper than a normal breath. It is a noise of breathing that people very easily can identify with sleep. Just hard enough to imply that he was tired and unbothered by the other activity around us.
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – Closest to me on my left side is the whistling and humming of the wind from the Nor’easter against my window pane. It was a very random and sporadic pace of wind that seemed to be blowing in all directions. Every so often I would hear tiny ice pebbles plow into my window and make the sound similar to that of a rainstick when it is turned upside down. Occasionally the wind would get very deep and powerful and at other times it would seem high-pitched as if it was blowing quickly and parallel to my window pane.   
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – the loudest noise to me from my location was the sound of the wind. It was rather noisy and powerful. The rest of the noises were only loud enough to hear if you were paying attention otherwise they would simply blend into the background and become ambient noise as I drifted off to sleep.
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. – Harmonious 
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. – Wind, Snoring, Ice pebbles against window

It was January 31st and very windy. This is how loud and whistle-y the wind was outside my dorm window.

So the sound is wind

The location is my dorm room

1:  Thursday, January 31, 2012, 12:17 pm, 714 Alliance Hall

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

There’s the distant, tinny beep of a truck backing up somewhere in the sprawl of adjacent parking lots.  There’s also the hissing sound of the wind rioting at upwards of 35 miles an hour, lashing the side of the building and making faint screaming sounds against the seams of my windows.

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

The boys two doors down have rigged their deadbolt to not lock automatically, so that they don’t have to pay for their misplaced keys.  But they must have left a window open, because their door keeps opening and closing with the tide of air pressure, the now impotent locking mechanism making fluid, metallic clicks as it slides out of its place before the door swishes open and then shut with a heavy thud.  The Resident Assistant on next door in the other direction asks someone on the phone about his “reservation.”

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

My fingers tap percussively on my keyboard; the keys are shallow and make clicks as soft as the exoskeletons of wayward insects, throwing their bodies against a light in a dark room.  My heating unit pushes out air with a constant, fuzzy hum.  I can also hear air hitting the inside of my nose as I inhale sporadically.

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

There is a lot of varied sound outside my room, but none so loud or close that the most minute of sounds cannot be heard in my own room.

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

1. January 31, 7:10 pm, Dorm room
2. Farthest: Turnpike traffic, trees blowing, cars in the parking lot
3. Medium: Voices from down the hall, doors opening and closing, wind outside building
4. Closest: Hum from refrigerator, creak of chair back, chewing
5. Not much activity, low level
6. Stillness
7. Wind, traffic, refrigerator

Location: Oak Street

Sounds heard: You can hear me walking, the wind, and cars whizzing by for a while, then you hear birds chirping. Finally an airplane flies overhead, you can hear the low sound and the whistling noise it makes as it goes directly over me.

Location: Outside Lowe early in the morning

Sounds Heard: Birds chirping, The trees doing that thing that they do with the breezes. Squirrels that are indigenous to the Hofstra community by subsisting on seeds, nuts, insects and even small vertebrates. Etc.