Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

mackenzie and I and the sounds of Hammer Lab late at night

3/7/2018

3/7/2018 2:11 am Hammer Lab Hofstra University

farthest- the cars driving on the slippery and wet roads, the hum of the heater/Ac in the Hammer Lab, a student snoring in the back corner

middle- the noisy computer monitor that is clearly broken, Mackenzie off to the side with her sound project, the printers going off near us

close- my keyboard clicking, my music in my ear, my stomach grumbling

general level- almost nonexistent

1 word- ghost town

3 things- clicking keyboard, Mackenzie in the Background, The rush of the cars outside us.

1. 4/14/17-1:48AM-Hofusa
2. Farthest-Clanging of dishes or pots, a door closing, refridgerator hum, people talking
3. Medium-Cart rolling, TVs on a low volume, a person putting things in a bag, chairs moving one at a time
4. Closest-me typing on the keyboard, a newsman talking on TV, broom sweeping, a sigh from the cleaning lady
5. General Sound level and Activity are low.
6. “Renewal”
7. Woman sighing, the newsman talking on TV, broom sweeping

1. 3/10/17 2:29AM Vander Poel Hall West Side Lounge
2. Farthest – Breeze outside, air conditioning rumble, clank and rumble of elevator
3. Medium – Dice rolling, crumpling paper, a few voices talking one at a time.
4. Closest – Click of my keyboard, shuffling of puzzle pieces in a box, the ruffling of clothes, small click when puzzle pieces hit the table.
5. The sound level is low along with the sound activity
6. “Destressing”
7. 3 Sounds – Small click of puzzle pieces, air conditioning rumble, a few voices talking

Here is the field recording to go along with my sound journal in the Masquerade production meeting.

1. Lowe conference room, Thursday, April 10th, 11:15 pm.

2. Sounds furthest from me: I can hear the muffled sound people walking around in the studio next door, another late night of work.

3. Sounds at a medium range from me: Beja, Shawn and Max speak softly to each other during the meeting, discussing their own matters regarding set and lighting for Masquerade’s production of BARE. I can also hear Max typing across the room. Joanna is taping her foot against the table in a soft, rhythmic, relaxing way.

4. Sounds closest to me: Ariel, heard in my field recording, sits beside me and speaks across the table to Meagan and Geena about glow necklaces as a costume/prop for a particular scene. Jack, also next to me, types on his computer, and Marina also interjects on the conversation about costumes. Every so often, when we lean on our side of the table, it makes a slight creaking noise. The air blows from the vent above our heads.

5. The level of sound activity and general sound level: Although Ariel and Marina speak loudly, the sound activity is pretty low. However, it does feel layered with the added undertones of Beja, Max and Shawn’s low voices.

6. Word to describe sound environment: Layered.

7. Three sounds that complete sound environment:
— The boys speaking softly across the room.
— Ariel and Marina speaking somewhat loudly.
— Jack typing beside me.

1:  Saturday, February 16, 2013, 3:17 am, My Room in Alliance Hall

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

The boys two doors down the hall are having some sort of party in their room.  Their subwoofers emit a thunderous bass line that combines with the high-pitch clangor of their laughter and general horseplay to create a cacophony that precludes any sleep.  The voice of a more stentorian girl carries the most; she flirts with Matt, the louder of the two roommates, by protesting loudly (albeit unconvincingly) to whatever he is trying to do to her, with seemingly interminable iterations of “Stawwwp it!”  This ruckus persists for over an hour before either Matt or Henry turns the music off to speak with a girl at their door.  She is the girl whose single sits between the boys’ room and mine and thusly has taken the brunt of their late-night, sonic assault.  I can hear her something garbled about how it’s 3:00 am, and then the doors to respective rooms close.  Thankfully, the music stays off.

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

In an attempt to drown out the sound of the random dorm party, I am blasting the heat in my room, making use of the fuzzy sound of the hot air rushing out of the grate, as well as the hum of the unit itself.  As an additional measure, I have turned on an old, white noise machine, so that the its assertive whir blends in with the sound of my heater and provides me further aural distance from the racket.

4: Identify and list the sounds closest to you (– you can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant).

Through a set of headphones, I listen to an ASMR video on YouTube in yet another attempt to batten down my ears.  A woman whispers into a set of binaural microphones, smacking her lips and making little clicking sounds with her tongue that are very relaxing.  She slowly goes through the entire Greek alphabet, naming each letter with a thick accent.

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

The noise level is very high – even two doors down, the sounds from the party are louder than anything happening in my own room.

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

“Antagonistic”

7: Select and list 3 sounds that 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.

The sound of my ASMR video is not as important as the external sounds of the party, with which I come into conflict with my attempts to tune them out.  Thus, the warring sounds of Matt and Henry’s music (and their very loud, pitchy voices) and my heater and white noise machine are most essential to the combative mood of this sonic environment.

the noise heard is in the design studio when a few people were staying late to work on some of their projects.