Author Archives: Ruby Epstein

SCIAC S&D Championship 2020

Loading map...

Loading

Location: Brenda Villa Aquatic Center, Commerce, CA

Recording setup: This sound was pulled from a video taken on an iPhone at the meet.

About the Soundscape: While this soundscape recording is very short, it is incredibly representative. First, this set of sounds in very archetypal for this location, as it is mainly used as a competition pool and the PP team only goes to this pool for this specific meet. Second, this is almost exactly the same set of sounds heard before/during every single race that occurs during this meet. Every race starts with the official, then the beep, and usually teams will cheer after the start of the race. This was taken during a high-stakes relay during finals, so there are a lot of people in close proximity of the recording. Brenda Villa is also the only indoor pool that PP competes in throughout the season, and thus the soundscape is vastly different from that which is heard at most meets during the season since the acoustics are drastically different.

Rain in Durango, CO on 5/12/20

Location: North Valley in Durango, Colorado (Glacier Club)

Recording setup: Voice Memos app on iPhone; thin cloth around phone to block some wind

About the Soundscape: Durango, Colorado is currently under a red flag warning, meaning that fire danger in the area is high due to warm weather, dry conditions, and high wind. This audio was recorded off a balcony/deck overlooking the golf course. When it is sunny, there is usually the noise of golf carts and maintenance carts on the course, trucks and cars on the road, and sometimes the distant voices of people walking or golfing. Due to the rain, however, there were no other sounds and no one was out. The only significant events in this recording are the noises of water collecting and falling off the roof. There is one area that collects a bit of water, before it becomes heavy and drops to the ground below. On a normal day, there are also lots of birds and other animals crunching through the leaves and making noises around the house but in the rain, all was quiet.

PP vs CMS swim and dive 12/7/19

 

Location: Haldeman Pool (Pomona College, Claremont, CA)

Recording setup: audio taken from iPhone video

About the Soundscape: This soundscape was pulled off of a video taken from the stands at Pomona’s Haldeman Pool during a swim and dive meet in November, 2019. From where the person was sitting, you can hear the swimming portion of the meet happening on one side of the pool, and the diving happening on the other side. Since there were races going on, you can hear various names being yelled throughout, and can hear a sort of constant cheering through the whole clip. Most of these sounds would not be heard when walking past Haldeman on a normal day, but it is fairly typical of a Saturday when the team has meets. It is interesting to consider which sounds are heard day to day. For the athletes, the physical actions that they are doing are the same as in daily practice, so the actual sounds of the actions (like the diving board bouncing up and down, or the diver hitting the water) are frequently heard. The other sounds, like much of the cheering and spectators, are not present in everyday practice (at least, to the same extent). I spend much of my time at the pool diving, so this is a particularly significant location for me though the perspective of the spectator is not one I often have.