The Day in the Life of a College Student: Converse Style
By Lindsay Chaplin
Hearing is an ability that we all take advantage of; we consider the slight rumbling of trucks and mechanical hums of a heater to be a nuisance, when in fact they’re a blessing in disguise. Within Sound and Society, various texts such as “The Voice of the Grain” by Barthes, and “Open Ears” by Schafer have open my eyes (and ears) to how sound has impacted my daily life. In fact, my perspective now has caused me to become more appreciative of all vibrations. With this new-found perspective, my classmates and I have the task to record ten prominent sounds here at the university and explain not only the significance of the sound, but also to contextualize it with our readings from class.
Waking up in the frigid rooms of Converse, nothing sounds more appealing than a nice hot shower. Just by reading the word “shower,” you can already imagine the sound of the hissing water panging against the floor. Similarly, the tapping of footsteps, a creak and lock of a door and the murmuring of voices in a library are all something that we are familiar with; it’s just a matter of how much we pay attention to it. In Hudspeth’s “The Energetic Ear” he states: “Moreover, like many manmade feedback systems, the active process exhibits gain control: it can be turned up or down as circumstances dictate,” (Hudspeth, p. 50). This leads to the idea that despite the ability to focus on particular sounds, we won’t always have the ability to isolate ourselves from sound. As I write this paper I can hear people locking their doors, the bass of music through the floors, and murmuring voices in the background all at once. Yes, it can be an annoyance, but without those sounds my life would be filed with unbearable silence. We all have to face it: we all want what we can’t have. There will always be a constant battle between what is considered to be “noise” or “sound,” and it all has to do with how you decide to perceive it.
In the piece, “Senses of Vibrations: A History of the Pleasure and Pain of Sound,” Shelly Trower discusses the idea that hearing is not just one sense, but a full body experience for individuals. Looking from this perspective, many vibrations can be a pleasant experience. For an example, listening to ringing of the phone until a loved one answers is a comforting moment as they greet us with a warm “hello.” A particular song can also cause a swelling of emotions, whether that is of happiness or sadness. Within my Podcast that I created, I used the theme song from Scrubs because, although it is short, it brings me joy knowing that I can relax and unwind to a great comedy. In addition to this, “The Grain of the Voice,” by Roland Barthes, the idea of “the grain” illustrates the presence (or lack thereof) technicality, uniqueness, and mind and soul of the performer in their piece; each individual can experience a sense of pleasure or emptiness towards music, it is just a matter of having a connection. The song “Hello, I’m in Delaware,” by City and Colour, is a song that I would consider to have “the grain” regardless of when or where I listen to it due to the numerous emotions it evokes.; it grabs my attention, the singer relaxes me with his soothing voice, but yet my mind wanders from a distance thinking about my past in relation to the lyrics.
Each of the examples that I have presented all hold value to me, regardless of how small the sounds are. Similar to Schafer’s ideas in terms of how our history has been influenced by both opened and closed ears, as students at University of Vermont, we have the power to not only change how we view vibrations as a whole, but impact how our peers view campus sounds.
Citations
Trower, Shelly. “Introduction: Hearing Vibrations.” Senses of Vibration: A History of the Pleasure and Pain of Sound. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 1-12. Print.
Hudspeth, A. J. The Energetic Ear. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 50. Print.
Scrubs the Complete Season Seven. ABC, 2007.
Barthes, Roland. The Grain of the Voice. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
City and Colour. Hello, I’m in Delaware. 2005. MP3.
I agreed with your insight in the beginning of the essay about how ever since you started taking this class, you have gained a deeper appreciation for the sounds that you hear on a regular basis. I feel like I am a lot more conscious of the sounds that I hear on a day to day basis as a result of taking this course. I also enjoyed your use of Trower’s article because it definitely showed the reader that sounds that we are accustomed to hearing still give us pleasure. Finally, I found your discussion of music to be interesting. This is a topic that I discussed in my audiography. I think we both clearly agree that music has its therapeutic qualities, which feeds even more into the Trower reference. You did an amazing job!
You hit the nail on the head in your imagery of the word “shower.” As I read that sentence, I was listening to your shower clip. Each of your soundbites were loud and clear, and I really got a sense of noise while listening to them, which was very enjoyable. I especially liked the the particularly noisy recording of waiting at the crosswalk. I could hear wind, cars, and the electronic voice indicating when to cross/not cross. These sounds, I feel, come together to illustrate an accurate picture of daily life in society. Excellent job referring to texts.
Thank you so much! And I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to when you say the shower goes on for four minutes. It ends at just over a minute for me when I play it through.
My favorite thing that you did in your writing was use adjectives to describe the sounds within your podcast. This is something that I didn’t do. Instead, I discussed only the signifigance of the sounds I used, but not their actual tones or sounds. I liked when discussing noises, you said, “Yes, it can be an annoyance, but without those sounds my life would be filed with unbearable silence.” This struck me as pretty important to the idea of this assignment. I can definitely agree that silence would be more frustrating than these many constant noises that you hear.
The only critique I have is I am a little confused on how many sounds you used. It seems like each one goes on for awhile, but they definitely blend together, so it is hard to decipher one from another.If you keep listening, the shower sound keeps repeating into minute 4, so I am just a little confused on your organization and structure of your podcast.