Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

2/23/2024, 10:17 PM ET, Hempstead Turnpike/California Avenue

The sound furthest away from me is the rumble of cars much further down the road, just loud enough to be noticeable, getting louder as they come towards the red light.

A sound a bit closer to me is the incessant chirping of the birds that sit in the trees and on the powerlines en masse above California Avenue. It’s a fast, high-pitched trilling that verges on being scary.

The sound closest to me is that of a car passing by about 2 feet to my right. It’s a quiet car, not one with a loud engine, so most of the sound comes from the soft rumble of its tires on the ground and the woosh of the wind as it passes me.

The sound level isn’t extremely loud, there not being many cars at this very moment while the cars going straight on the highway have the red light.

The word I would use to describe the sound environment is puttering.

Three sounds essential to the sound environment are the sound of a car braking, the high-pitched screech of a bird, and wind wooshing.

February 23rd, 8:55 pm, Roti on the Run (Trini restaurant)

The closest sound to me is the woman making the food (the sound of the metal spoon hitting the metal tray) and the sounds of people talking.

The furthest sounds are the cars outside and the train passing overhead.

The medium sounds are the soca music and the fans in the place.

The level of sounds is high consistently with overlapping sounds throughout.

One Word: Home. Three sounds important to the environment is the clanking of Metal, the sounds of people talking, and Soca Music.

1. Spiegel Theater, Friday February 23. 11:56 am
2. Furthest away from me- distant fan in the Spiegel, Caitlyn and Katie’s scripts crinkling/ pages turning, Caitlyn and Katie sharing their lines, Omar speaking
3. Medium Range- pens from my classmates clicking, occasional coughing, Jess’s keyboard tapping
4. Closest to me- my own breath, my chair creaking
5. Sound level- l0w. There aren’t lots of overlapping sounds
6. One word description- Academic
7. Essential sounds- Spiegel fan, Omar’s voice, pages turning

February 22, 1:40. Psibrary.

The sounds that are furthest away from me: Voices from classrooms nearby, drumming from a dance class
The sounds that are a medium distance from me: Sniffling and quiet chatter from the drounge, door opening and closing
The sounds that are closest to me: My computer fan, the hum of the building (maybe the heater?)
The sound level of the space: Low, with occasional louder moments.
One word description: Cozy
Three sounds that are most important to the environment: Drumming, chatter, and the heater humming.

2/22/24 – 12:51PM – The Student Center

Sounds farthest from me: People talking at different volumes across the Student Center, the workers making drinks, kitchen noises from other food places.

Sounds at a medium range from me: The music playing from the speakers, chairs moving, wrappers crinkling.

Closest to me: My friends’ conversation, keyboard clacking, my friend’s jewelry clanking as she writes.

Sound level: The sound level is medium to high – there is a lot of high volume volumes happening around. There are a lot of people at the Student Center at common hour all talking loudly. The metal dishes at Starbucks are loud as well.

Sound activity: There is a lot of sound activity. There is a lot of people talking and a lot of general physical activity happening that creates a lot of noise.

One work description for the sound environment: Noisy

Three sounds that are essential to the sound environment: Starbucks noises, my friends talking, music playing in Starbucks.

1. 2/21/23, 4:00 pm, Emily Lowe
2. the heater in 216
3. someone working at the desk behind me
4. music playing in my headphones (Teach Me To Fight – YONAKA) and two solar monkeys clicking on the window sill
5. the sound level is low
6. calm
7. music, air, clicking, shuffling

1. 02/21/2024 – 4:28pm – My House.
2. Farthest Sounds: the cars on the turnpike, occasional honking, a very faint police siren.
3. Medium Range Sounds: somebody doing lawn work next door, cars driving by, birds chirping, occasional indiscernible talking.
4. Closest Sounds: one of my housemates’ playing videos on their phone, one of my housemates cooking in the kitchen, the buzz of our security system, the occasional readjusting of blankets or pillows on the couch that I’m sitting on.
5. I would describe the general sound level as quiet and static, and the general sound activity as frequent but unpredictable.
6. Description: cozy.
7. Essential Sounds: cars, cooking, and phone videos.

Location: Kitchen in my house

Sounds: Ice cubes going into a glass from a fridge ice maker and then being gently shaken.

Location: My Living Room

Sounds: Children’s songs (Super Simple Songs mix of humpty dumpty), My little brother playing with his blocks, then crashing his T-Rex into said blocks; he also has a cactus toy that can replay any sound it picks up and play it back at a higher pitch and speed (much to my chagrin), My little sister cooing and making small noises in the background.

Location: My Room

Sounds: movie, cat purring, air conditioner