I'm sitting by candlelight in my bed thinking of how well i'm going to sleep tonight. The candle's dim glowing and warm tone make my bed seem so comfy and inviting, leaving the far wall and doorway hidden in the darkness.  there are hard shadows cast on my little fake flower arrangement as it hovers over the flickering light. looking at all of my random objects that share the table with the small candle I am really interested in how the cups and bottles fade to black at the bottom and only small areas are lit enough to show the color and a vague contour of it's shape. it is very subtle but it's also calming.  peaceful and serene. the ominous glow from my computer screen is pretty much all that's keeping me awake...

Proj 1a

I enjoyed working on this project, I had a really good group, and it really opened my ears to all the sounds out there.  A lot of things that I do now, what are pretty simple tasks like washing dishes or cooking or anything, I hear all the sounds that I make and wish that I could have recorded those for this proj too.  The thought of recording sound knowing it's one things and hearing how it changes or is unfamiliar if it's not played with the action that created it, made me think of all the possibilities with the second part of this proj.  I was fortunate to have Joselyn and Brandon as my group member. Joselyn was really fun and creative, we knocked out the sound recording part, and thankfully for Brandon's skills in final cut that part wasn't too bad either. I'm looking forward to working on proj b and seeing what the class comes up with. 

Sound Journals

Sleeping with Cicadas

Waking up to the sound of my alarm this morning, I quickly hit snooze.  My bed is up against the huge window in my room and all I can hear are cicadas humming and buzzing outside.  I feel like they are a choir chanting to me "getttt uppppppp, gettttt UPPPPP, GETTTTTT UPPPP emily!" They're acoustics are dynamic in the way it lowers in sync and then gradually gets louder in an estimated tempo. Like an orchestra opening a concert, buhhhhhhHHH BUHHHHHHHHHZZZ, and then it just fades back out for a second before peaking again. Eventhough they're sound is so dominating, I've become so immune to it. And with the comfort of my bed and the insects' consistent humming outside I easily fall back to sleep. 

Starbuxxxx

I am back at starbucks to do my sound log, and it is much more lively this afternoon than last night.  I am undercover this time, I don't want to be arrested for writing about the way starbucks sounds on my blog. The primary audio in the cafe is smooth jazz music over the speakers.  It is very soothing lounge music that makes me want to catch up with an old friend over a cup of joe on a nice afternoon.  Behind the counter I can here the blinder churning, over powering the cooler humming hard to keep the goodies inside fresh and tasty. Some customers are cheerfully greeted by the staff, regulars are a common thing and the barista's work their charm. I can over hear a meeting-style conversation at another table, and I think what an  appropriate and professional locale, the local starbuxx. As I'm eaves dropping across the room, I can hear a paper bag rustling as a danish fills it, and the cooler door slam, again to keep the rest of the goodies cold and the flys out. A customer exclaims, "thanks again" as he departs the local coffee house, a peaceful oasis from the burning heat outdoors. This is my local starbucks and I typically come here at least once a day, but I've never really sat down to slow down and take the environment in.  Cash registers open and slam shut, seemingly in sync with the more upbeat jazz tune that is now playing. The espresso machine makes kind of a churning noise, creating steam, sounds like chuuhhhhhhhh with a muffled tone. It is definitely hard to distinguish all the sounds that various kitchen installations and utensils are making as the barista's carryout their duties. I hope the corporate head of starbuxx nation doesn't read my blog and sue me.