Forum: Listening to Soundscape Narratives

[benmiller314]

After completing the reading and listening portions of the homework after lesson 03, come here and record a few thoughts. What do you notice, i.e. what stands out while reading or listening? What does that suggest, or what does it make you wonder?

As always in forum posts, responding to each other is optional but encouraged: you can use the @ symbol to mention someone by name, and they'll receive a notification.

[haileytrampel]

What really stood out to me is the way different creators cut their sounds together. For example, in "Soundscape: Day In, Day Out", Funke cuts from clip to clip. It creates a sense of time passing and moving through the day which I thought was really creative. On the other hand, most other creators (such as Quaid and Barner) made it one continuous sound where it felt like you were experiencing a few short minutes in the world they created.

Additionally, some sounds were more noticeable to me. For the most part, I shockingly found familiar noises more noticeable: coffee brewing, cars honking in traffic, a door creaking, etc. Other sounds seemed to drown out in the background more--music, conversations, and so on.

I find it interesting that the noises that stood out to me were the ones I was most used to. I wonder why this is, and suspect it may be because they were what comes to mind when I read the descriptions of the soundscapes. When Funke described his daily routine, I fully expected coffee in the morning, driving at some point, etc. When Quaid describes the haunting, you expect the creepy sounds of an old house, the cheesy horror movie music, etc.

In the TV audio tracks, I felt it was more extracting a type of emotion, than impressing a scene on you. Breaking Bad brought a feeling of action and intensity, while Battlestar Galactica gave a sense of wonderment and almost anxiousness as the sounds slowly build. Yet, you could not really picture what is happening in these moments.

[JakeBaumbaugh]

In "Coffee Shop Conversations," I noticed a commentary on the lack of individuality in a world of clones, and how the creator drew a connection between that and the similarly monotonous world of retail, where the same words and phrases are repeated over and over again without character. This message was well-presented in the clip, existing without being overbearing or obvious.

In "Soundscape - Day In: Day Out," I was getting the understand of a message about life repeating, then was caught off-guard by the apparent car crash. Life can happen out of no where, and you just have to be ready for that.

"A Haunted Halt" is much more straightforward in its storytelling, but the music and sound effects are used very effectively to create the creepy atmosphere.

"Soundscape - Expedition to Planets Unknown" shows the capabilities of telling a sci-fi story with just sound. While sci-fi is usually connected with amazing visuals of weird planets or open space, this soundscape shows what can be done with audio alone.

The TV audio tracks showed the potential of what mixed audio can sound like when done by professionals. While the audio was of course higher quality than in the student soundscapes, the student projects were surprisingly high quality, and shows the potential of what we could create.

These audio clips show how much storytelling and message you can really get across through sound alone. Thinking about just audio allows you to focus in more deeply on what you're listening to than if it had been paired with video.

[MDLudwig]

Something that noticed from "Soundscape - Expedition to Planets Unknown" is the use of echoing. This is something that I hadn't considered before, and I'm now realizing how important that is. This makes me think of how far away some sounds need to be to sound natural. Obviously not everything that you hear sounds like its being recorded right next to a microphone.

For the TV examples, I feel like Breaking Bad did a better job of making me understand what I was hearing. For the Battlestar Galactica example, I feel like the audio doesn't give a lot of context to what's going on, and I was much more confused than after listening to the others. This made me realize that it's a lot easier for a listener to understand the context if it's mostly rooted in reality. Whereas with science fiction, the whole point is that it's not real, so the sounds used need to be more descriptive if the listener is going to get the same level of immersion.

[kss73]

The “Day in, Day out” stood out to me because there wasn’t a single sound that I wasn’t familiar with. Each sound set a strong setting and I knew exactly what part of the day their in. When running, typing, paper printing, I could tell they were getting to work and working all day and then there was a break in the middle with the sound of microwave showing its lunch time. I found this very interesting because although it was just small clips from sound to sound without really any transitioning it was still flowing like a story and I knew exactly what was happening.

“Haunted Halt” had a voice which sort of led us to understand the story better but I also found this to be very interesting. From just the start with the girl leaving the car and knocking on the door we knew she was outside at night alone with the outside noise. The background music started to get creepier and creepier knowing she was entering something bad. When listing to this clip I was getting chills as the the combination of sounds led to me to understand the story really well.

[hannahlangmead]

There were a few things that I noticed while listening to the audio clips that I definitely would not have considered when creating my own project. I really liked how in certain clips like "Coffeeshop Conversations" and "Haunted Halt" they took advantage of silence. I imagined my project would be similar to "Day in, Day out" how she jump cuts to each sound. But, the use of silence and cutting out background noise for a moment can also be very effective.

I also really liked how different each project was in the way they chose to tell a story. I realized that you can tell a story without using words just as easily as you can by utilizing them. I was surprised at some noises that really painted a picture for me, specifically the elevator sound from Cathy in "Day in, Day out". It really made me think about how much dialogue is actually needed to convey something to an audience.

One thing that I decided I did not want to do after hearing the clips was unnecessary noises. I know that you may add things in for extra layers, but there were certain sound effects that you normally wouldn't hear in your day to day. For example in "Haunted Halt", I don't know anyone who keeps their ringer turned on on their phone so you can hear the typing noises. So I will definitely be aware of that.

[lumiio]

I noticed that the background music really sets the mood of the sound clips, especially since the these clips are limited to sound only so we're forced to focus on the depth and layers of sound. Especially within A Haunted Halt, there is a variety in both background music but also the volume of music to build suspense and increase the stakes of the situation. Similarly, in Coffee Shop Conversations, the slow fade away of the piano in the background at the part where one of the girls (Maya?) is talking about how great it would be to be alone further bring out the feeling of isolation.

The level of the volume also allows for the track to display depth and distance without the aid of visuals. This allows for depth perception but can also be a display of time passing. Volume with the combination of the ambient sounds allows for a scene to display various levels of drama (as seen in A Haunted Halt). The biggest thing I've noticed is that variance is key to keeping things not only dramatic, but also interesting.

[Tomasco16]

What stood out to me in "Expedition to Planets Unknown" was the way Thomas was able to change his voice. He was able to make it Echo, sound close, or even far away. This could be important for dialogues between two characters who may be getting father away as they depart or closer together as they say hello. This paired with the launch and background noises of a "serene space" painted a picture for me although nothing was there.

Watching the demo in class made me realize that each one of these sounds is independent and played on different tracks. With that experience the audio clip seemed much more vibrant as I could picture every unique sound as they played separate in Audacity. These audio clips gave me ideas for what I am going to do in my project and how to work in different voices/ background sounds.

[emmawooten12]

"Coffee Cart Conversations" made me feel like I was actually in a coffee shop with all the different sounds happening at once. I liked the choice to drown out the rest of the background noise when one of the characters is talking about being alone - it really emphasized the idea being presented.

"Day In: Day Out" creates a really intense imagery by using familiar sounds. I really enjoyed this one because every sound creates a visual that is specific to each listener, depending on how they relate to each activity. The repetition of each day serves a greater purpose in a suspenseful buildup to the end. I had no idea that was coming due to the routine noises occurring prior to the sound of a crash and ambulance sirens.

"Expedition to Planets Unknown" reminds me of the start to a movie. It is very recognizable as a narrative, and I could definitely see this being a script. The score helps intensify the science fictional approach, as it is super recognizable from other science fiction movies.

These were super helpful in getting my ideas flowing for this project!

[ktdemay]

The piece that stood out to me the most was "Day In: Day Out". It perfectly captured the sounds of the daily life of the creator. I could put myself in their shoes and clearly see what they do on a day-by-day basis and the sounds that come with it. The entire sound sequence seems like it could be cut straight from a movie where the main character goes through the same daily routine a couple times and then something (car crash) happens that changes it and leads to the plot of the rest of the movie. I also really like how they didn't overdue it. They could've added in a bunch of additional sounds but I am glad they didn't. It was very well made without dragging on or being too much to take in.

When I work on my project, I am definitely going to take into account all the elements from these examples that make them good. My biggest takeaway from these is to not overdue it and think quality over quantity.

[katmiller10]

There were technical certain aspects in each piece that stood out to me. In "Coffee Cart Conversations" I liked how the creator was really conscience of the volume and lowered it when she was speaking to the one person about being in space and everything being quiet. I think it was really beneficial that the creator lowered the volume on the background sounds and stretched out her speaking vocals. I also really liked how well it flowed in terms of a narrative. Even though things were being repeated, it was a different conversation each time, and overall I felt like this one was the most appealing piece to listen to.

I thought that "A Haunting Halt" was a really cool piece because of how it built a story. I found the background music in the beginning particularly important to the piece and allowed the listeners to know it was a horror story. The various sounds associated with scary feelings such as a rocking chair rocking and the creaking of an old door added to the dramatic and uneasiness feeling that the piece created.

Overall, I hope to be strategic in my own project of composing sounds and finding music that adds to my narrative. Without these technical elements, a clear story would be lost entirely.

[jerols4]

Something that really stood out to me and that others had mentioned is that ambiance is a really important part of setting the place of these soundscapes. As we demoed in class, taking out something as basic as white noise and people chattering from a soundscape makes it feel really jarring, as if it is solely made as a recording.

For example, the piece "Day In: Day Out" is almost exclusively ambient noise that appropriately places the setting for each distinct scene. The listener is immediately placed in a familiar soundscape through the use of simple background noise, all without the use of dialog, music, or abundant sound effects.

Another example is that of Battlestar Galactica wherein the ambiance is even able to convince the listener of a soundscape that is unfamiliar to them. Although the listener has no idea what life is like in outer space, the ambient sounds used are able to give a feeling of what it would be like. The long echoes and mysterious creaks put you in a place that you never even have been to or probably will ever be to in your lifetime.

For that reason, I feel that one of the most important aspects I should focus on is not what is going on in the foreground, but what is going on behind the scenes instead.

[angelinepeng]

The point that @haileytrampel mentioned was very interesting -- the way that the creators cut their sound clips can really create a sense of how time passes.

From Funke, listeners can tell that we are moving with Funke throughout his day, through various settings every clip. However, with audio like Coffee Shop Conversations, the background music really ties the piece together, providing us with the sense that only a couple of minutes have passed, and we are still sitting in the same place.

The sounds that stood out to me were all recognizable in my everyday life -- coffee brewing, keyboard clicking, even one of Cathy's elevator. The sounds that I tended to tune out were the white noise of conversations in the back. However, as we demoed in class, without the white noise and background noise, the clip would not be the same or even be able to tell a story anymore.

This is important for me to note: whenever I begin my project, the background noise is equally as important as my main point of focus, and it is definitely not something I should neglect or leave out.

[onewport23]

The biggest thing that stood out to me from listening to the different sound clips is the ability of sound alone to tell a complete narrative. For example, in “Soundscape - Day In: Day Out," there is no dialogue discussing work, getting ready for bed, cooking, etc., but the sounds used were able to clearly describe these activities in a way that they could be distinguished without any other information. This suggests to me the ability of sound to enhance a message in other media forms (i.e. news reels, advertisements, etc.).

I found it valuable to include a couple opening credits from popular TV shows because I think that whether we are aware of it or not, we tend to acquire a strong connection to our favorite shows' opening soundtracks, which suggests the importance of making a really good one. The fact that I could hum the opening music of shows that I watched 10 years ago implies that sound can have a lasting impact in the back of our memories.

[sydneymasterson]

What I noticed most while listening to the soundscapes, was the different goals of the clips. Some of them created a sense of setting or atmosphere, such as "Coffee Shop Conversations." This soundscape combined mundane background noises that we hear every day, with casual conversations of the "characters" in the setting - a coffee shop. These are things we experience almost all of the time but by isolating the situation to only what we can hear, we notice the small, somewhat minuscule sounds way more than we normally would.

"A Haunted Halt" utilized sounds to create feeling in the listener. In this case, we felt anxiety and/or fear. Normally, we hear similar hair-raising noises in horror movies, combined with the visual medium. However, this soundscape was isolated to the spectrum of audio. Still, it was able to provoke the same emotions as, possible even stronger than, the movies we normally associate these sounds with.

I believe that my own project will have a similar goal to "Day In: Day Out." That is, to tell a story. In this soundscape, everyday sounds were cut together in order to tell the story of a day in the life of a "normal" person. All of the sounds used in the clip plainly represented a certain part of the day - taking a shower, waiting in traffic, being in the office, etc..

[anngx]

For the audio recordings made by students, I noticed that there are not a lot of long, complete pauses of noise amongst the recordings. This keeps the sound narrative moving along, and suggests a linear movement through time. I also noticed music being used in many of the clips, in order to set the tone for the scene or to create a sense of place. This makes me wonder where and how they found and incorporated these music clips, because I think it would be interesting to integrate some into my own project.

Something that I noticed about the sound clips from the TV dramas is that there is an auditory illusion of movement being created through manipulations of sound. For example, certain sounds becoming gradually louder suggest a situation in which things are moving closer toward the listener. Moreover, specifically for the Battlestar Galactica audio track, I noticed that many of the sounds were menacing, which for me evoked fear and anxiety. The inclusion of these sounds suggests a perhaps looming tone to the rest of the series.

[mjb-123]

I really liked the "Coffee Cart Conversations". It was real; it sounded and felt like I was actually sitting there in the coffee shop. Little things that you don't even realize you're hearing like milk being steamed or dishes being picked up. In real life all of those things are happening, but you tend to ignore them when your having conversations with your friends.

Even though I noticed every little thing in it, none of the noises are distracting. It is almost relaxing listening to the mundane sounds that come from coffee shops. I really enjoyed it and want to do something similar and real like this for our upcoming project.