Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

1/30/17 – 1:18pm – Au Bon Pain

Farthest- Chairs moving, paper and plastic food wrappers rustling

Medium- Song “One More Night” by Maroon 5, people talking

Close- My head pounding (headache), breathing

Sound Level- Medium

Sound Description- Busy

Essential Sounds- People talking, food wrappers rustling, chairs moving

1. 2/04/16, 11:30 a.m., Au Bon Pain.
2. Farthest: sound of cashier ringing people up, conversations around the seating area, 80’s pop song playing.
3. Medium: the conversation of 2 women sitting at the table next to me as well as the tapping of their keys as they type on their laptops, crunching of the food wrappers from the table behind me.
4. Closest: the sound of my keys as I type, the ice rattling in my cup as I drink my iced tea.
5. Sound level: loud. Every table is full of people having their own conversations and the music volume is quite high.
6. One word: Energetic.
7. 3 Words: talking, music, crunching.

Au Bon Pain 6 pm April 29, 2014

Sounds farthest away:

• Rain pounding on the pavement and the roof
• Door opening to the outside
• Katy Perry on the radio

Sounds at medium range:

• Sandwich ladies chatting.
• Someone being rung up at the register
• Someone getting ice from the fountain drink machine

Sounds at close range

• Couple arguing next to me
• Someone pushing past me to get to the soup

General sound level:

The room is a comfortable volume. Not as loud as it usually is, and not as crowded so it is much more tolerable than usual.

One word description:

Impatient

Three important sounds:

• Music
• Sandwich ladies
• Couple arguing

This is at Au Bon Pain on March 14, about 1:15 in the afternoon. You can hear the sounds of music in the background, the ice machine, and me trying to put the cover on my drink.

1- 2/14/2013 (Happy Valentine’s Day all!)-3:57 pm- in the middle of the food section of Au Bon Pain on campus.

2- Sounds farthest away: Hissing of what sounds like a latte machine, staff at the sandwich-making stand yelling customer’s names and orders.

3- Sounds at medium range: People shaking out plastic bags to grab food, constant low hum from the refrigerated food aisle.

4- Sounds at closest range: People chattering at various volumes, sometimes yelling very excitedly, loud laughter, the sporadic screech of shoes against the tile floor, soup lids clanking, muffled shuffling of feet walking by.

5- General sound level and amount of sound activity: Sound level is very high and tumultuous. There are no peaks and valleys, highs and lows. The sound is at a constant high chaos and there are no lulls. There is no harmony or order to the various sounds. The origins of the majority of the sounds are very near me, which could potentially make others feel claustrophobic however to me it is not at all off-putting, but rather a happy and exciting chaos.

6- One word description to the “sound environment”: Lively.

7- 3 sounds essential to the sound environment. People chattering at various volumes, muffled shuffling of feet walking by, staff at the sandwich-making stand yelling customer’s names and orders.

1. 2/2/12  Au Bon Pain, Hofstra University: 5:45 pm

2. The sounds farthest away from me are chairs scraping the floor as they are pulled out and then pushed in. Some people are talking to each other in normal voices.

3. At medium range, there are people talking as well, and their voices are louder than the people far away from me. A girl laughs noticeably and her laugh is very high pitched and startling.  A speaker is playing music on my left side.  The song playing is “I Feel Like a Woman”. The volume seems very loud for such a small area.

4. The sounds closest to me are people talking behind me. Someone is playing with a set of keys and I can hear them jingling repeatedly, almost like they are hitting something, maybe the table.

5. The general sound level is very loud and harsh. Sounds are coming from all directions except for my right because I am near the window. There is constant noise that seems to fill the room.

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

7. Three sounds essential to the sound environment are the people talking around me, the chairs scraping over the floor as people go to sit down with their food, and the music playing over the speaker.  Together these sounds are clues to the fact that the environment is a place where people can leisurely enjoy food, conversation, and music, and the atmosphere with these sounds conveys a sense of community and familiarity.

1)   4/14/11- 6 pm- Au Bon Pain

2)   There are the sounds of cars passing by outside, the sound of chefs cooking, talking in the distance, distance foot steps, the door is opening and closing making a sound.

3)   There is talking, low music in background, guy wiping the tables so there is the noise of a spray bottle and a cloth rubbing against the table, chairs moving, wrappers, movement of sodas and other items, and a door closing nearby.

4)   Guy changing the trash bag right next to me, talking from people next to me, moving of chairs next to me, vibration from phone on table, and people walking right by me.

5)   The general sound level is moderate and there is quite a bit of sound activity.

6)   Restaurant like

7)   People talking, the chefs making noise and low music in the background.

February 8th in Au Bon Pain, around 12:30 PM

You can hear lots of people talking, and a man replacing a trash bag in a trash can.