Sound of Frustration

I get along with my roommates most of the time but recently one has been giving me more problems. When this roommate gets frustrated or stressed they would only get worst, and no matter how much we help them they will not receive the help. Most of the time it just ends cleanly but like today my roommate only caused be more anger because they gave me attitude like a teenager fighting with their parents. 

These are the sound I heard while in the mist of my frustration. My footsteps as I walked back and forth trying to release the extra energy from being enraged. They would make soft patting sounds as I walk on the tile floor. In certain parts of the floor, sometimes they creak due to the old age of my apartment. I would make lots of sighing and growling sounds as I try to explain my other roommate my frustration without using words. My other roommate would reply with a sigh, which means she understands. This communication did not lost as long as the sound of myself pacing on the old floor. This is the sound of bottled up anger. It would look orange-red and jittering like it might spontaneously combust. 

Night Life on Campus

As I work on my SMP late at night on Saturday evening, I heard the campus coming to life. I would not describe the sound graceful or pretty, but mundane. I have been here for four years and the sound of the night life on campus sounds all the same. I could faintly hear music coming from the townhouses and people cheering within the houses. This is very common for a weekend evening near the townhouses.

The unfortunate part of living in WC is the large parking lot near the baseball field. For some reason, car alarms would scream in the middle of night along with drunk students in the lot. The sounds would cut the silence in my apartment like a white hot knife cutting through butter.  Usually these disruptive sounds would last roughly a few minutes, and the sounds of my apartment sleeping and parties in the distance would return. The active sounds of the campus last until 1 o'clock on the dot. Sometimes I would hear people walking back cooling down from their exciting evening and sometimes laughter.

Waiting for my Group

This morning I was waiting for my group in the lobby at Monty. I felt like there was no life within the building because of the lack of voices and people. Everyone that had a class in Monty was in their class at the time. One sound I kept hearing through out my wait was a ringing. The sound might have been from the elaborate lighting fixture that are near the stair cases. The ringing was low and kind of high pitched at the same time. It sounded like my ears were constantly ringing. Along with the ring, I could hear the heater rumbling. The rumbling sound of the heater lasted for roughly five minutes. It was loud and deep, which made the ringing sound of the lights less noticeable. I could also hear voices from classrooms around the lobby area. They sound more like quiet muttering, but there were some moments when one voice become audible enough for me to hear. Because of the emptiness and lack of people, the sound of the classrooms echoed throughout the lobby making it hard to tell where the voices were coming from. Sometimes I would hear some footsteps and squeaking doors coming from one of the many halls we had in the building.

The timbre of the sound is grey and simple. The soundscape of the lobby reminded me of taking a SAT in room with white cinderblock walls and white florescent lights.

Night Walk

Walking from Monty to Warning Commons was very silent. At first, I could only hear the soft sounds of my footsteps and swishing sounds of my heavy jacket rubbing together. Along with the sounds I was making as I was walking, I could hear the low rumbling motor of Schafer's heater. The three sounds stayed in hearing distance throughout the walk. 

As I walked towards the courtyard between Schafer and Goodpaster, I could her the water in the fountain pouring in the pool of water. It did not match well with the other sounds in the area. It would have been nice if the heater was off and my jacket was quiet. Then I heard my footsteps echo under the arches of Goodpaster, which made the whole soundscape of my walk more haunting. The haunting sound ended as soon as I left the arches but it was replaced with a new sound. That sound became louder as the mysterious object got closer and pass me. It was a person on a bike that sounded slightly old. It was producing a light crackling and squeaking sounds as if the joints or gears needed more oil. As I head towards the path around the track field, the soundscape of the walk became more mechanical and loud. I heard series of heaters humming and rumbling from their place near the townhouses. There were few heaters that actually turned on as I walked passed them. During this time, I could hear two people quietly running and talking on the track. As they ran past me I could also hear them playing music in a slightly high volume. As I got towards the end of my walk, I heard the runners sing a few lines from "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede, which made me giggle. I would describe the soundscape as a dark blue because it made me happy and calm. 

Walk to classes

In the beginning of my walk from WC to the Crest it is usually quiet. Sometimes I would hear echoes of maintenance talking to each other, or the loud rumble of their John Deere driving up or through WC. The maintenance faculty can sometimes sound soothing but there are some instance when someone's laugh pieces the calm quiet. These sounds are also depended on how far or close I am to the maintenance staff, and sometimes the sound is a doppler effect. I associate this to the sound a typical morning in campus so the timbre of the sound would be pastel blue and vibrant yellow, the color of morning.

The sounds of campus gets louder the closer I get to Goodpaster and Schafer. I hear the roar of people walking, and talking as they head to their next class or back home. The sound of people sometimes make me feel more motivated to be productive. It reminds me that everyone around me are most likely working hard to achieve a goal, and it makes me pump up to get to work. The roar of people sometimes fluctuate between low and loud depending on the group of people walking around. The sound last until classes start, which then makes the campusvery quiet and deserted. I guess the sound would be the color of brick because of the brick building people are entering and exiting.

Sitting in the Mac room

I am sitting in the Mac room waiting for people to come by if they need help with Digital Media. There is only me and one other girl sitting here doing work. The only sound could I hear constantly is the old air conditioner. The sound of the air conditioner is low and has not stop yet. The mechanical noise slightly changes from slightly loud to slightly quiet. It then repeats these changes in volume again in a consistent fast pace. As time goes by, the other girl would make some sounds that is typical for a college student to make. I can hear her rustling paper, fidgeting in her chair, sighing or yawning, and typing on her iPhone. These sounds are very light and almost unnoticeable. They also do not last longer than a second. If I had to give this whole soundscape a representational image I would chose a spinning wheel of a bike. The appearance of a spinning wheel does not change that much. Sometimes it would jiggle or wiggle a bit because of the uneven path or debris. However, the wheel does not stop spinning until someone stops it. This soundscape has a few random sounds made by the girl in the room but the air condition is always consistently playing in the background of the inactive Mac Room.

Project 1 Assignment

As I sit on my bed, I heard sounds that I associate with the morning. My roommates were in their rooms up and ready for the day, or just waking up. They were closing and opening drawers, which sounded like a light slam or scrap. I also heard their beds and chairs creaking and squeaking as they shift on them. Along with the sounds of my awaken roommates, I heard things outside my window. There were a couple of birds sing outside but they sounded a bit distant and far away. Despite not hearing their song clearly, I thought it was the most beautiful sound I heard today. It was very soft and almost fragile like glass. It felt like the music would shatter with one loud sound. After the birds stopped sing, I heard the sound of a truck warning pedestrians that it was backing up. It was very loud high pitch beeps that happened ever second as the truck was backing up. I think the sound of the beeping truck came from the construction site of Anne Arundel hall, which means it might have been the farthest sound I heard today. I think that means that the truck was two or three miles away from me. Along with the truck, I heard cars driving by the streets around the Warning Common area and maybe on Point Lookout road. The sound of cars driving down and up the street was soft but not as soft as the birds singing. It sounded like a gust of wind. Except maybe lower and softer. I think I heard in total six cars driving around St. Mary’s College.

Other sounds I heard within the five minutes were sounds that I learned to ignore. I heard the loud beep of the scanner outside the building follow by the sound of the door unlocking. The sound of the door unlocking sounds very mechanical and it echoes in the staircase outside our apartment. I could also here the frame of the building creaking and cracking; it sounded like the building was groaning or popping stiff joints. For a minute, everything outside my room was silent. I started to notice the hum of my laptop fan cooling my computer down. It was a low and almost quiet sound, which made it the softest sound I heard during the five minutes. As I was listening to the computer, my stomach made a loud growl. It was louder compared to the other sounds I heard during the five minutes. It sounds wet and organic, which made it the ugliest sound. My stomach made that sound a couple times before it went silent during the final few minutes. The final few sounds I heard before my phone went off were one of my three roommates chuckling in her room and my legs moving against the fabric of the bedding. I heard around eight mechanical sounds and four human voices. The only thing I would change from the soundscape would be my stomach growling and the harsh beeps of the truck. Those sounds interfered with the soothing sounds of the morning.

19 hour Journey

This past Saturday, I went to New York City with my SMP advisor, two of my SMP classmates, and other artistic people to see two art museums. During our 19 hour road trip, I heard many different sounds. In the drive to New York City, I heard a conversation I was not listening, the AC warming the occupants in the van, and the van cutting through the air 50 mph. They were not particularly noticeable sounds but I guess they can all be described as loud compare to the white noise I hear in my room. These sounds change sometimes such as the conversation growing silent as the people involved comes to a conclusion or when the van slows down which made the drive more quiet. If I had to give these sounds some sort of visual appearance it would be a warm fuzzy sweater that sometimes itches. I kind of thought the sounds I heard during the drive was very comforting. The sounds that produced a warm fuzzy feeling would be the rush of the wind around the car and the AC. The sound of the conversation would be the occasional scratchy feelings because sometimes it would get very loud or not noticeable.

When we finally got to New York City, the sound of the city was dull at first because we were in the van. We heard the constant low rumble of cars driving by, and short high pitch horns notifying us the driver's displeasure.  The sound of the city becomes overwhelming as soon as we opened the van door. I could hear music from stores, the cars driving, the horn becoming higher and louder, the people walking and talking, and the constructions of many buildings. The sounds mixed together, and sometimes certain sounds becomes quiet and other sounds become louder. The sounds reminded me of water boiling; the bubbles in the boiling water ascends and pops. I think the the city produced sounds similar to the erratic and fast movement of water boiling.

The final series of sounds that was different from the first two was the sound of being in an art museums. The sound of people in the museum was like a constant roar. It never quiet down or got louder. Sometimes there were high pitch sounds of children laughing or crying, and the rumble of children running before they were stopped by their parents. The sounds in the museum was like being in a mall so it was not really a best time to look at art.