Author Archives: Dalton Sherman

Augie’s Coffee, 6:00 pm, Feb. 24

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grid-pomona-AugiesCoffee-2017-Feb28

Location: Augie’s Coffee

Augie’s Coffee house is a charming coffee spot across the street from the Claremont packing house. I would depict the coffee house as a quaint, transparent, cute, and timeless canvas that is definitely worth taking up some space in anybody’s photo gallery. Along with being photogenic, the business is also extremely skilled at making delicious coffee.

Recording Setup. The TASCAM DR-40 Linear PCM was placed on one of the counters along the wall to the right side (looking from the front door) facing out towards the middle of the space.

About the Soundscape. The recording was at 6:00 on a Friday evening. This seemed like a busy evening for the coffee house, but as customers received their beverages and decided whether to stay or leave, those who decided to stay did not engage in much conversation. The recording illustrates this anomaly in the beginning. It is not until the crescendo of a musical song led by the playing of guitar that you start to hear inklings of dialogue being exchanged between customers. As I listened to the recording I found this sequence of events most fascinating because we are able to observe how sound, specifically musical sound, prompts one to engage in discussion with another–or at least lighten the mood of people within close proximity of this sound. Moreover, I would say that the keynote of this place that may not have been heard in the recording would be the sounds of customers making orders. Additionally, I believe that the customers’ conversations, typing of laptop keyboards, music , and coffee being made would all contribute to the soundscape of Augie’s Coffee House. Lastly, the archetype of Augie’s Coffee House encompasses the use of various machines to complete the customers’ orders, the constant arranging and occasional dropping of cups by employees in midst of fulfilling orders, and music being played at high volumes over the PA system within the cafe.

Acoustic Space: ITS Elevator

Location. This recording was taken inside the elevator of the ITS building across from Edmunds Hall , Pomona College.

Description of the Space. To the left of the fronts doors of the ITS building is the elevator. The is an enclosed cubic space the could fit approximately 2-3 people. The walls facing those who would stand in the were metallic, but once the elevator doors closed there be no opening for the sound to escape. The floor was not metallic, it was actually tiles that were plastic in texture.

Recording Setup. The TASCAM DR-40 sound recorder was held ~3-4 feet off of the ground with its mics (covered by a windscreen) facing the balloon ~5-6 feet away (the balloon was held in one corner of the elevator diagonally from the recorder which was in the opposite corner).

Reverberation Time.

Max Intensity: ~74.82 dB

30 dB drop: 0.21 seconds

50 dB drop: ~0.55 seconds

60 dB drop: 1.024 seconds

Minimum Intensity: ~12.98 dB @ ~2.31 seconds

Back to ambient: ~12.5 dB @ 1.34 seconds

Acoustic Description. The space’s facing walls are all metallic and enclosing not allowing for much sound to escape the elevator with only a change in texture present on the floor. As a result of the enclosing metallic walls of the elevator, there was not much reverb to be heard which is why we are provided with a clapping/popping sound of the balloon. This also visible in the spectrogram.

reverb-pomona-ITSelevator-spectrogram

Big Bridges, 5:56 pm, Feb. 24

Location: Big Bridges

This recording took place on the steps in front of Big Bridges. Marston Quad is in front the steps of Big Bridge which are outside the front of the auditorium. In between Marston Quad the steps is a wide walkway that leads to south campus which most students pass along in order to get to their intended destination on campus.

Recording Setup. The TASCAM DR-40 Linear PCM was placed on one of the steps on a tripod with a windscreen facing the wide walkway.

About the Soundscape. The recording was made at 5:56 on a Friday evening. There were a number of students walking past the steps of Big Bridges participating in relatively loud conversations throughout the recording. Because these steps are near streets where cars pass, you may hear a couple of engines coming into the soundscape and quickly fading away. Also towards the end of the recording there is brief, but distinct sound of an airplane flying a over the campus as if it were passing through which may not be a definite characteristic of this soundscape, but it was an interesting note to acknowledge. Sounds that you may not have heard in the recording but are characteristic of this soundscape are; the rustling of the trees in Marston Quad from the breeze, the faint sound train horn filling in the background, and birds chirping as they fly past. The keynotes of this soundscape could be the rustling trees of Marston Quad and cars that drive past on the streets of Pomona. The soundmark of this soundscape consists of the people who walk past and carry on in diverse conversations and their discord of footsteps. Lastly I believe the rustling of the trees in Marston Quad from the breeze, the faint sound train horn filling in the background, and birds chirping as they fly past, and the people who walk past and carry on in diverse conversations are characteristics of the archetype of the soundscape of Big Bridges.