Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

Location: NYC Subway Tunnel

Sounds Heard: You can hear the sounds of the trumpet and drummer as they’re making music in the tunnel. You can hear the sound of the music as it echos off the walls of the tunnel and bounces around. You can also hear the sound of my friend talking about Tori Kelly and giggling.

1- Saturday, March 8, 2014, 6:32pm, New York City Subway Station

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

Furthest away from me, I can hear the sounds of two gentlemen, one playing the drums and the other playing the trumpet. They’re performing in the underground subway station so you can also hear the echo of their music through the tunnel.

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

At medium range from me, I can hear the sounds of the music echo reverberate around me and the sounds of the other subway patrons as they’re waiting for the train to arrive.

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 sound of my friends voice as she’s talking about Tori Kelly and laughing.

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

The sound level in the subway is very loud. I love the sounds the music makes as it moves around the tunnel though and the musicians are very talented.

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

Bold

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.

Three sounds that are essential to the sound environment are the sounds of the drummer and the trumpet in the tunnel, the sound of the music echoing off the walls and the sound of my friends voice as she talks about one of her favorite artists.

1- 2/23/13 – 9:30 P.M. – Walking across quad in front of Bits
2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you. – Furthest away from me I can hear the noises of the fans in the stadium across California Avenue. I am not sure exactly what event was taking place at this time but there were lots of noises of cheering and screaming and the occasional announcement made over the loud-speaker. The loud-speaker was a man’s voice that was rather deep and he had a lot of inflection within his tone and seemed to have a lot of energy. 
3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you. – At a closer range to me I can hear a few kids screaming and yelling as they returned from Dunkin’ Donuts. I could specifically hear the man and woman talking back and forth and the faint noise of the ice in their drinks hitting the walls of their plastic cups. As they walked up the steps into the unispan they made harsher stomping noises as they climbed up.  
4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant). – The most interesting aspect of the sound space in which I was observing was the sound that was closest to me. At this point where I was standing, coming from my right side is a repeat of the sound that is furthest from me. The sound of the announcer’s voice was cutting through the areas between the buildings and bouncing sound waves off of the walls of bits and echoing into the quad. This noise appeared to be the loudest noise in this space and I felt as though I was standing right inside the stadium. The words were crystal clear and made a very cool effect to know the sound furthest and closest to me were from the same source. 
5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity. – Sound level was medium. The activity and feeling of all noises was very high but the amplitude of said noises were not more than a level of normal conversation. 
6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”. –  multi-directional 
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. – announcement, echo, ice rattling 

1)   3/1/11 – 4:30pm – Inside the stairwell in Enterprise.

2)   I could faintly hear some people talking but I could not distinguish which floor they were on.  I also hear a very low humming noise but could not figure out what it was so I assumed it was the laundry machines of some generator in the basement.  I could also hear doors shutting on the different floors but just barely.

3)   I could distinctly hear someone’s music they were playing in their dorm.  I could hear the door to the stair well open and close, and some one walking up the stairs.  Any noise in the stair well would always echo.  I was near a door so I could also hear the elevator when someone came out or it made the beeping noise as it goes from floor to floor.

4)   I could hear lots of different echoes.  Every movement I made and every sound I made, was amplified a lot.  I could hear my shoes squeak and my breath a little bit.  It was interesting the king of environment I was in because it felt as though you could feel the sounds go into your ears.

5)   The sound level was relatively low.  There seemed to be a lot of sound activity but it could have been all the echo too.

6)   Echo

7)   There would definitely need to be echo, foot steps from walking up stairs and just low ambient noises that echo through in the background.