Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

March 1st, Intramural Fields

Farthest: car door being slammed, screaming

Medium: car driving by, Disc hitting the ground, giggling

Closest: talking, cleats being hit together

Sound Level: Medium

One word: active

Three essential sounds: disc hitting ground, cleats being hit together, talking

Identify the location of the clip – This recording was taken as I was walking from the student center to my room during the torrential downpour

Identify the sounds heard in the clip – This clip starts out with me holding my phone up in the wire frame of my umbrella in the middle of a torrential spring downpour. Shortly after the clip begins one can hear the sound of a very loud and deep thunder clap across the campus as I walked into the unispann. From here you can hear a bunch of voices murmuring of all the people that are waiting out the storm. Their voices have a small echo to them and fill the space as I walk through it. From here you can hear me shake out my umbrella of all the excess water and begin to walk across the unispann. The rest of the clip is of me walking across the unispann and passing different groups of people as they discover the storm outside. 

1- 3/13/13 – 9:22 – JCA Playhouse
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. –  Furthest from me I can hear faint clangs and rumbles of items and actors moving around backstage and hitting different props and tings as the lumber around. 
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – At a medium range from me I can hear the noises of the actors projecting their lines our into the audience and the occasional clang or their swords or the sturdy plastic noises of their armor hitting other objects. The loudest noises are coming from the actors as they recite their lines and kill themselves on stage. 
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – The sounds that are closest to me is an array of different high-pitched beeps and rhythmic clicks of shutters as each camera snapped off hundreds of photographs. In total there were four cameras all clicking and snapping photos at different times. If I shut my eyes I was able to pinpoint the exact spot of where each photographer is sitting in the audience and how far away each of them were from me. 
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – The loudest and most bold noise in this space is the sound of the actors on stage and moving around as they project their lines to the audience. Oddly enough the most overwhelming noises in the space are the noises of the clicks of the camera. I found it very difficult to block out these noises as they were never at a constant pace and seemed to just be an annoying noise that I could never tune out. 
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. –  Active
7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment. Note: you need to try to 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. – Camera click, Actor movement, and camera beep

1- 1/30/13-6:35-Adams Playhouse House Left, Midway back
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. – Furthest away from me I can hear the fans blowing faintly through the space and the sound of brooms across the masonite floor
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – Closer to me I can hear the clang of instruments and rattle of musicians running into the hallow maestro stand. Sporadically, I can hear performers and musicians in excitement passing through the pit doors.
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – Closest to me I can hear the smacking of the director’s food as she eats a burrito from the student center and the sound of tictacs being poured into the lighting designer’s hand after she returns from a smoke break. I can hear the distinct action of her clicking the container open carelessly tipping it over into her hand and then grasping two mints. I can then hear her tipping the container back upright and all of the excess tictacs falling back into the container as she places it back on the table. Even closer than this I can faintly hear the white noise coming through my right ear on my headset. It is filled with irregular small clicks and a faint static noise. 
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – Considering all of the sound there is in the space, nothing is too loud or overly dominant. There are many actions going on around in the theater all in preparation of the start of the dress rehearsal but everyone is calm. All sounds are coming at me from all directions but softly and calmly; in an equal balance. 
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. – Operational 
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. – Clanging of instruments, Tictac container, brooms swishing