Hofstra Drama 20 – Sound for the Theatre

2/23/24 – 11:00 – My Room

2 (Farthest sound) : Distant chatter from roommates, distant footsteps, Sound of kitches appliances

3  (Medium sound) : Footsteps from stairs, Creaks from doors

4 (Closest) : Ringing in ears, sound of creaks in my desk and bed, sound of wind from outside

5 (General Activity) : Not any sound that are of notice except the voices being heard, otherwise it would be a rather quiest house with only the nature to give it any noise

6 (One word description) : Hubub

7 : Voices/Laughter, banging of feet, Refrigerator doors

Date: 2/9 6:51, my upstairs living room

Farthest away from me: My downstairs housemates talking in their kitchen

Medium range: My refrigerator humming in the kitchen and my upstairs housemate’s desk chair creaking a few times per minute 

Closest to me: My keyboard clacking as I type and my occasional sniffling. My other housemate typing on her phone and clearing her throat 

The sound level is very quiet. My other 2 housemates are out of the house and everyone is sort of decompressing from the day on their own in different parts of the house. 

One word: Mundane 

3 essential sounds: Chatter of the downstairs housemates, the fridge, and my housemate’s nails as she types her phone. 

Journal Entry 1

1. 2/8, 6:26PM, my living room
2. Farthest away from me: the sound of the refrigerator running, footsteps in the hallway
3. Medium range: My housemate sniffling and pouring her drink
4. Closest to me: The sound of the fan in my laptop, my keyboard as I type, and the sound of my own breathing
5. It’s generally very quiet – everyone just got home from class and we’re passing around my phone putting in our Doordash orders so no one is really making much noise
6. One word: comfortable
7. 3 essential sounds: the sound of my breath, the footsteps, the refrigerator. These sounds together represent the idea of comfortable silence for me.

1. Location: Living Room of my house, 4:14 pm 2/24/23
2. Sounds furthest away: Planes flying overhead, Cars driving down the turnpike behind me, wind in the distance, cars revving, horns honking
3. Sounds at Medium range: Cars driving past my house and down the street, The sound of my storm door banging against the porch railing due to wind, my roommate typing down the hall, sound of garbage being thrown in the dumpster of Popeyes, woman talking on the phone on the sidewalk.
4. Sounds closest to me: Me typing on the computer, the sound of me sipping my tea, phone buzz notification, me breathing, my knees popping, the chair shifting under my weight.
5. Around me in the house, the sound is very quiet. There is, however, a lot of loud sounds in the distance, mainly due to the cars and busy roads. By the time those sounds get to my ear, they are dampened and muffled.
6. “Secluded”
7. Cars going by on the turnpike, me breathing, me sipping tea

Date: April 3, 2022

Location and time: Downstairs living room of my house, 2:00 pm

Far Sounds: Slight knocking of the water heater, electrical buzzing of refrigerator, car honking in the distance

Medium Sounds: Thudding of footsteps upstairs, closing drawers, airplane flying overhead, birds chirping

Close Sounds: Whirring of mini fridge, my typing, knocking at the door

Sound Description/ Level: Quiet, low level

One Word: Sedate

Most Important Sounds: Electrical buzzing, footsteps, typing, knocking

Date and Location: March 13th, 6:15pm, Living Room

Far Sounds: Anna and Andrew talking upstairs, footsteps upstairs, cupboard being closed, bag being dropped on the floor, creaking of the radiators, car driving in the street/wheels on the road

Medium Sounds: Front door being opened and closed, front door locking, someone walking up the stairs, water heater clinking, faucet in kitchen running

Close Sounds: Creaking of sliding door/wind against the door, laptop keys clacking, low hum of mini fridge, laptop whirring, Joey talking with me, laptop being closed shut

General Sound level and Atmosphere: mostly quiet; what an average evening sounds like in our house with a steady soundscape that I recognize as normal

One Word: Comfortable

Three Important Sounds: Low hum of the mini fridge, Joey talking with me, footsteps upstairs

February 11th, 3:24 PM

Location: My house’s upstairs living room, on the couch facing the front of the house

Farthest: Car engines revving, a slow siren, a motorcycle revving, a car horn 

Medium: Downstairs washing machine spinning and clanking (getting louder, speeding up, then stopping, repeatedly), cars driving past the window in front of me, kids shouting in front of the house, the downstairs’ door keypad being entered, the door opening and hitting the wall, a person downstairs walking into the kitchen and then turning on the kitchen sink

Closest: My phone vibrating against the couch, my Fitbit vibrating, the refrigerator humming loudly for spurts of time

General sound level: The environment feels cyclical, with bursts of sound coming in and out, before coming back into a stillness, and then repeating

Sound environment: Unsettled

Defining sounds: The washing machine clanking, the refrigerator humming loudly, and the cars driving by the front window

1. Date: 4/17/20 – Time: 5:30pm – Location: My Living Room

2. Farthest from me, I can hear noises coming from the television in my parents’ bedroom upstairs, as well as water rapidly filling up the bathtub in my bathroom upstairs.

3. In a medium range, I can hear noises coming from the oven as it is being used to cook food.  Also, I can hear the toilet being flushed and water coming out of the faucet in the bathroom on the first floor.

4. Closest to me, I hear noises coming from the television in the living room and a constant sound coming from my phone to alert me with notifications.  Moreover, I can hear myself laughing at the content on the television.

5. The general sound level is very noisy due to there being a great amount of sound activity happening throughout my house.

6. One word to describe the “sound environment” is “bustling”.

7. Three sounds that are essential to the “sound environment” are the water filling up the bathtub, the noises coming from the television in my parents’ bedroom, and my phone constantly alerting me.

1- Happy Pi Day!

03/14/2013-12:03 AM-The living room of my house.

2- Sounds farthest away from you: The tinny sound of a housemate drying her hair upstairs.

3-Medium range: The opening and slamming of the refrigerator door, cars occasionally driving by outside; I can imagine the different sizes of the cars based on the different pitches they emanate. A low and deep sound reminds me of a large jeep, a higher thinner sound of a smaller vehicle like a Camry.  Someone washing dishes in the sink, dumping out water from cups.

4- Sounds closest to you: Five lively housemates talking and eating pie.  Sounds vary from loud talking and laughter, sometimes whispering for emphasis, my typing on the computer.

5- General sound level and amount of sound activity: Very high sound level and amount of sound activity but not in an intimidating or aggravating way. Sounds are coming in from all directions at all different volumes but it is a warm and welcoming envelopment.

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

7- 3 sounds essential to the sound environment: Talking, laughter, hair dryer.