You can listen to a related recording “The Cafe, Mudd, 2:35pm on Monday” here.

This soundscape sample was recorded at The Cafe in Shanahan Center at Harvey Mudd College. It was around 1:05, which is for most people in between lunch and their 1:15 pm class. The recording device was placed on one of the tables close to the counter, toward which the recorder’s two mics were facing.

There were only about 3-4 people (who were making noise/sound anyway) at the location, probably because it was right after lunch hours. Most of the sound is generated from the background music, various machines in the kitchen, and a small group of students discussing their work. The background music seems to be the keynote here. Although its volume is not small, one may be able to notice from its muffled sound and slight reverb that it is in fact played in the background throughout the entire space for the purpose of creating an ambience. Combining the sound of music with the machine (or clinging metal) noise, one may also consider this soundscape to be an archetype of a modern day cafe (at the beginning, we also hear a male voice ordering a drink). If you listen closely to the conversation between three male students, you may be able to figure out they are working on some kind of a math/science assignment (a word “complex conjugate” at 20.5 s is pretty audible). At 23 s, you hear a male voice saying “thank you.” Knowing the sample was recorded in a cafe, one may consider this to be a signal that the guy who ordered his drink in the beginning of the recording had just received his drink.