Machine vs. Nature

I recorded the sound of the heater/air conditioner near the entrance of the Boat House at the Waterfront. When the professor asked us to listen to sounds that are not something we hear often or want to hear, I thought of the loud rumbling sound the boathouse produce. It's so loud that I could not hear the birds singing, and the water crashing against the dock. I think its kind of funny that one of the most peaceful and beautiful place on campus has a building that produces a horrible sound. I don’t know if the building makes that sound all the time so maybe it can be a beautiful place to sit and listen.

Lifeless Sound of the Evening

The sound of the evening back home is very different from school. The amount of sounds the house produces is significantly smaller than my apartment. There are no loud metallic clanks of the door unlocking and the sounds of the air conditioners/heaters are much more quieter. The sounds outside is less active. There are no music from parties from distance townhouses or the sounds of drunk students walking behind the building. There are no signs of life outside my house except for the very faint sounds of cars on the highway miles away. My home is so quiet that I can faintly hear my dad snoring down the hall. Even though I sleep better when it is quiet, I find that the lack of the sound effects is a little unsettling. It feels like the whole world froze and I am the only being still moving. Fortunately, the faint sounds of my dad snoring helps break the silence and remind me there is life in this house. Sometimes my cats would break the silence further more by meowing. Their call is so loud and sharp that it takes away the feeling of sleep each time they meow. Eventually they will stop on their own or until my parents or me do something about it. In general, the sound of the evening at home is like a void because of the lack of life and the unsettling feeling it creates.

Sound 3

For my third sound recording, I was sitting by the bell tower around 6 o’clock in the evening. I captured sounds of people walking by me and further away from me. I wanted to see if I could get their voices to stand out more. In this sound, you can hear the sound of people walking and talking gradually become louder. From increasing the sound of voice, I also increased the sound of their pants rubbing against each other or their feet scrapping against the brick path. This sound also relates to the first two sounds because it is also part of the soundscape of SMCM.

Sound 2

This sound was recorded from my room as I was working on homework. I placed my phone on my desk and sat on my bed so I could record the sound of typing from a distance. This is another sound I associate with SMCM, which is the sound of typing. We are always typing on our computers either for academic or personal reasons. If we are not typing there are people around us typing on their computers. The sound of fingers tapping on the keyboard is a sound that I hear a lot. For this recording, I raised the volume of the typing from the original recording and lowered all the other sounds.

Sound 1

I recorded at the courtyard between Schafer and Monty. The sound that I recorded is the sound of people getting out of their classes and heading of home, or doing the opposite. When I ediedt the sound I tried to focus on the sound of the gravel being stepped on, and the one bike that was ringing its bell. I also tried to get rid of the loud sound of the wind so that we can hear the people walking and biking. The reason I want the sound to focus on the people around me is because this is one of the sounds I associated to SMCM.