Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

1. The Drama Lounge, Thursday, February 20, 2014, 9:26 pm.

2. Identify sounds farthest from me: The outermost door to Emily Lowe makes a raucous slam as students go home for the night.

3. Identify sounds at medium range: Dance Teachers speak softly as they enter the building and go up to their offices. The sound of their footsteps grows fainter as they get further away from the drounge.

4. Identify sounds closest to me: Jess High types swiftly on her Mac and her nails make a soft tapping on the keys. Pedro is beside me, biting into an apple; he is consciously trying to be as inconspicuous with each bite as possible, as he intently watches League of Legends on his iPad. On my right side, Maya, Kristin and Jack are rehearsing a scene for Speech class in standard stage, making sure they’re off-book. Maya says one part of the dialogue, and Jack and Kristin say the other part in unison (probably because they both need to know that part), and they sound like the girls from The Shining.

5. General sound level and activity: It’s noisy in here, as always, with actors acting, others playing on their computer, watching videos, typing away as they do their homework.

6. Word to describe sound environment: Hectic.

7. Three sounds that complete the sound environment:
— The sound of Maya, Kristin and Jack rehearsing lines.
— Pedro’s League of Legends video and his apple.
— The soft tapping of the keys on Jess’s keyboard.