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.