35mm Photography

Sound Recording and Design

Alright, so I got behind this semester. It kind of sucks having a virus on your computer for a couple of weeks.

After hearing the complete library of recordings I was impressed with the amount of creativity that the other groups put into the different projects. Some sounds that stood out to me included the jet engine, the guitar scratch, projector, the lengthy electronic music, chimes, and a lot others. There's a wide variety of effects, voices, and ambient sounds to choose from. The design part of the assignment was very challenging because my partner and I are both brand new to FCP. Luckily I'm in a slightly better position than my partner, as I'm learning the program in another class. We got a pretty hard title to conceptualize I think: In the Land of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King. The track was constructed as just a constant wall of sound that ended up resembling your worst nightmares. We did a lot of speed reduction and acceleration, reverberation, and reverse motion. There isn't a single moment in the track where you aren't listening to at least three or four different sounds at the same time. We paid particular attention to a lot of the vocal work and ambient effects when creating the track. There is one sound that we stretched out for the entire length: the German conversation. It's that constantly vibrating low hum that you'll hear the whole time. One thing we did well, I think, is that we maintained a consistant atmosphere. For a first attempt at Sound Design and Editing it's not bad.

Sound Journals

Journal 1

The sounds in and around my apartment were quite varied. Just sitting in the living room I could not only hear the sounds of the ceiling fan, the loud hum of the air conditioner, and the refrigerator. There were also a lot of sounds coming from outside. I sat and took notes for an hour one night and this is what I heard coming from outside:

A large group of drunk college kids singing, arguing, shouting, etc. Cars screeching to stop. Knocks on doors. Loud engines. Swerving. Crashing. Running. Concerned murmurs. Sirens. Doors slamming. Footsteps up and down stairs. Shouting and banging on other side of the wall. Screaming. Glass breaking. Laughing. Cheering. Echoes. Loud music.

Journal 2

Many sounds in the library just kind of blur together as it is a very quiet place. There's a lot of humming sounds like the air conditioner, computers, the display at the coffee shop, the soft voices of people working, and a few places silence. There's a sense of emptiness in any of the private study rooms. It's very quiet unless you're sitting next to a vent or window. It's kind of odd when people don't think you can hear them as well. I was working with a partner from another class when I heard and became all too aware of the fact that there was a group of people staring at us giggling and whispering. When you go downstairs you can hear all kinds of soft murmurring, assorted beeps (cells phones, check out desk, etc.), computers, printers, footsteps, people sitting down, standing up, and opening doors, etc.

Journal 3

There are kinds of interesting opportunities for sound recording and observations in Trask. One of the best places to do so is in the pool. I went while the swimming and diving teams were practicing. There's a lot of splashing, of course, as the swimmers and divers do their drills. One thing about the pool area is that there is a lot of echoing, almost as much as the racquet ball room. Every time the coaches yell or the diving board bounces you can hear it all about five times over. I refer to the library as a soft blur. Trask is the exact opposite. Whether you're watching the basketball or swim teams practice or walking through the locker room you will hear a resounding loud echoe in every room. Except the offices, which sound more like the library.