When I first read the instructions for the audiography, my first instinct was to think “eh… I’ll do that later” because I had absolutely no idea where to start. There are so many sounds I hear throughout my day that I do not even think twice about, so how can 10 of these sounds hold any importance or value to me? A few days passed by and the assignment was still looming over my head. I realized that any time I would try and think about this project, I would distract myself by walking away from my desk to a more comfortable space. That is when it dawned on me that my audiography had to be centered on the theme of comfort.
No matter how upset or angry I may be, I will always dance and rap along to some of my favorite songs; it is the only stimuli that can instantly change my mood. For this reason, the first sound in my audiography is a recording of Meek Mill and Drake’s song “RICO”, which I use as the alarm on my phone to wake myself up every morning. Provided that I grew up just outside of Philadelphia, hip-hop has always been a big part of my life. Listening to rap music definitely reminds me of home and helps wake me up in the morning.
After I get up from bed, I make my way down the hall towards the showers. The white noise of the water quickly rushing out of the shower head and eventually hitting my body provides the perfect environment for me to clear my mind and forget about anything that is stressing me out.
Although I love music and showers, my morning would not be complete without a cup of coffee. The sound of my Keurig making coffee is included in the audiography because it represents the true start of my day. Without coffee, my brain is mush.
Coffee in hand, I make my way over to the bus stop. The next sound is a recording from the inside of the Redstone Express. Listening to people talk on the bus and hearing the squeaks and creeks of the busses reminds me of taking the bus to school every day back at home, which is definitely a comforting reminder of life in PA.
When I am all finished with my classes, I make my way back to Redstone via the Ankle Express (walking). When I make it out of the tunnel by the Davis Center, I am met with a long stretch of quiet, lonely land. This absence of sound is important to me because it is one of the only times throughout my day where I can get some time away from people and noise for a little.
I inevitably end up snacking when I get home from a long day of school, so I included the sound of a wrapper crackling in my audiography. Of course, food is an extremely comforting substance that everyone enjoys. As a result, it is obvious why I included it in a recording of comforting sounds.
Once I am done with my snack, there is nothing I want to do more than to just sit back and hang out with my friends. For this reason, I decided to include the sounds of video games playing because that is typically where we all migrate to in order to forget about the day.
When I was younger, I was always taught the importance of eating dinner together as a family. Similarly at UVM, I always make sure to bring my friends with me to dinner so we can all eat and talk together. The loud chatter of students in Simpson certainly reminds me of my family talking around the dinner table back at home.
Once dinner is finished, the worst part of the day pulls around: homework time. I always listen to music while doing homework because, as i mentioned earlier, hip-hop music is extremely comforting to me because of the memories that are tied to the songs and culture. As a result, my second to last sound is the scratching of my pen against paper as I am doing homework. Young Thug’s “Check” is also playing in the background.
The last sound that I decided to include in my audiography is the click of my bedside lamp as I turn it off for the night. When I hear this noise, I instantly calm down knowing that the day is finally over and that I can get some rest.
Similar to Barthes’ analysis of “The Grain”, or the idea that people are heavily influenced by music, I feel like there is a grain to everyday life. Sure, not all sounds contain words that can be interpreted/ understood, but they nevertheless change our feelings and perception of the world around us. I believe that the comforting sounds I chose for my audiography are a fair and accurate representation of what I believe my grain in life is at UVM.
Works Cited:
Barthes, Roland. “The Grain of the Voice.” (1997): 179-89.
Williams, Robert Rihmeek, and Aubrey Drake Graham. R.I.C.O. Meek Mill Ft. Drake. Vinylz, 2015. Youtube. Web. 4 Oct. 2015.
Williams, Jeffrey Lamar. Check. Young Thug. London on Da Track, 2015. Youtube. Web. 5 Oct. 2015.
Sounds:
- RICO by Meek Mill ft. Drake
- Shower
- Keurig Machine
- Redstone Express
- Quiet walk back to Redstone
- Sound of plastic wrapper crackling
- Playing video games
- Dinner at Simpson
- Check by Young Thug plays while I’m writing in Sharpie on paper (hw, start at 2:17)
- Sound of me turning off my light next to my bed
I liked the comfort thing as everyone else said and how it becomes a reason to procrastinate because you just wanna chill and hang and not have all this stuff going on. Using music as an escape was a fun idea as I think we all do that almost daily. Taking the “grain” idea out of music was cool as well
I loved all the sounds within your podcast. I thought the idea of connecting both music, sounds, and comfort all together made for a really great podcast. I agree with the idea that the “grain” is in relation to music and comfort. There are really no words to describe how or why music or certain sounds are able to comfort us, this coincides with the Barthes’ idea of the “grain.” As well i liked how you talked about the sounds and how the interpretation of sound through one sense lets it transcend to the others making one feel comforted. This was brought up with the shower and the white noise of the water. Back to the “grain” idea do you believe you would be able to describe the feeling you get from music when it comforts you? Or do you believe that is impossible? Overall very interesting and intriguing podcast.
I love how you centered your essay on comfort. This is exactly what i thought of when I was doing the assignment. I also liked how you related everyday sounds to “the grain”. I had never thought of it like that. I enjoyed reading about your love for hip-hop because that isn’t something I know too much about. Well done.
I think using the theme of comfort tied all of your ideas together really well. I can definitely relate to the comfort of music and I too have a love for hip-hop. I also think talking about the absence of sound was a really cool idea and I liked your ankle express joke. Talking about the grain of everyday life was an interesting perspective on Barthe’s idea.
I thought that this was a very comprehensive list of sounds that reflect many of the comforts of daily life, obviously some being unique to you. I always find it fascinating to see the types of music that people enjoy, and learning about your love of hip-hop is interesting. I also think its super interesting that you’re able to do music while listening to such intense music. I can really only do music to very soft music, but to each his own. Including Barthe as an argument that doesn’t apply to music was a risky move but it paid off. I would never had considered using the concept of the grain to everyday life but you executed it well. Overall I really enjoyed your essay and your podcast. Nicely done.
This was a really cool setlist. I did not get to listen to it because it wouldn’t play for me. I did read your essay too, and could relate to a lot of the noises you included. My favorite part that you included was your idea of grain. The Barthes reading was definitely one of my favorites, so it was really cool to see what your idea of grain was, as most people have different ideas and relationships to the grain. It is cool that you included the noises of some of your traditions in your family, like eating dinner. This, even though it is not music, could also be a grain since it is a deeply personal experience and could also have a soulful feeling.