Listening Exercise

The first place I chose to sit and listen to was kind of a strange choice, because most of the time when I am there I feel there is a lack of noise, or silence. This place was the on the stairs in front of Day Hall, specifically at two or three a.m. Focusing on the sounds of this environment made me realize that it isn’t very silent at all. Though loud or acknowledgeable sounds are rare, such as people, cars, buses, etc, the subtle noise is intriguing once I listened to it. The farthest sounds were resigning sirens and similar commotions of downtown Syracuse. More audible was the surrounding natural ambiance which acted as a middle sound, including the wind or trees. The loudest or most pervasive sounds were the few exceptions of subtly such as a bus [which is painfully loud underneath the overhang actually], or the horn of said bus, or the slam of a car door.

The second location I chose for the listening exercise was the dining hall [Graham]. I purposely went there at the busiest time of day which I have found to be around 6:30 p.m. When you focus on the diversity of the miscellaneous noises generated by the process of hundreds of students dining, it’s a little overwhelming. It was hard to pick out specific sounds, except those that were right in front of me such as the sounds of my own silverware, plate, and glass, and the closest voices and movement. After getting past those, I noticed the strangest sound which is a collaboration of each student and therefore is a constant incoherent mumble, fluctuating in volume and tone. It was kind of creepy when I listened to it for too long and began to sound demonic, as simultaneous voices combined to create a layer of voices, similar to that of many exorcism movies.

My final destination for this assignment was at the College Place bus stop. The outcome of my audible observations, was similar, yet very different, to my expectations. I was anticipating many loud sounds of transportation such as the passing buses, cars, trucks, etc, which obviously existed here. However, I was also expecting a lot of layering of student voices, similar but less overwhelming as those at the dining hall. Contrary to this assumption, voices were quiet, if even existent at points which is probably due to the students anticipation for the arrival of their bus to get where they need to go, and halts a lot of conversation that would normally be going on. Therefore, the noise environment was dominated by the sounds of transportation : wheels rolling at different speeds, opening and closing of bus and car doors [which are very different], horns, and motors.