Today, I had a chance to try making the foleys with other classmates with Pro Tools. We mainly recorded the footsteps and cloth sounds from “We need to talk about Kevin”. It is surprisingly easy to focus on what sound we are looking for to record when we are into the observation.
In the lesson, Jessica asked us if we have chosen any films for the assignment. Unfortunately, I have no idea yet.
Strikes over, and finally, I am starting my semester (oh wait, it’s called “block” here)!
Today we had a brief introduction about the course, and it was the first time I met all my classmates in person. During the second half of the lesson, we did some recordings at the Sy Mary’s Churchyard Playground near the LCC campus. Each of us had a Zoom H5 recorder and recorded the sounds around us.
Research revealed that a person hears 20,000 to 30,000 words every day. With other sounds included, we are surrounded by millions of noises, music and sounds within 24 hours. Although we hear a lot from time to time, we usually neglect them as we are used to seeing more than hearing. Whenever we describe a place, we would mention how the scenery is instead of how it sounds. Isn’t it?
So, my focus in this lesson would be: What sounds make this place a park? How can I prove I am at a park by the sounds around me?
And so I started to record the sounds around and sort them into different sounds that built this place. I mainly sorted them into 3 kinds of sounds:
Organic Sounds
Organic Sounds are the sounds that are caused or made by nature. To me, these are the main sounds that shape the environment of a park, as a park contains more objects from nature, like trees and leaves. In another way, places
Leaves and grasses blown by the wind
Leaves and grasses are on the grass area of the park.
Bird flapping their wings
There were a group of birds behind me, and I recorded the sounds of them flapping their wings. It was quite difficult as they would easily fly away if I approached them aggressively.
Mixed Sounds
Mixed Sounds are objects from nature that generate sounds from artificial objects. I think these are the sounds that combines the nature and the city.
Footsteps on the leaves and grasses
Unless you are really drunk, you probably would not walk on grass except when you are in the countryside or in parks. Here’s a recording of me walking in the park. You can also hear that there are some rock pebbles that suggest this is not a rock-solid brick road:
Non-organic Sounds
Non-organic sounds are the sounds that are generated by artificial objects
Construction sites’ noise
There are several construction sites around the LCC campus (I heard that one of them will be the new campus of LCC) so I heard some noiese
Vehicles’ engine and horn noises
Elephant and Castle is a pretty busy place at all times as it is close to Central London and there are many vehicles travelling around.
There are some audio features that tell and prove that I am located in a park. Jessica, our tutor, mentioned that when recording sounds, try to think about the distance, frequency and angle of the source of the sound. Based on this, I have 2 reasons to prove that I am in a park:
1. The sounds of construction and vehicles are quite far away from where I am located. In terms of the distance, I am not in a busy place. Here is another recording of me staying in the park. Although the noises might be loud, the noises from the vehicle are audible and it sounds far.
2. I found that people in the park generally speak softer and more relaxed (except for the kids enjoying the facilities in the park). This results in them talking in a lower tone of voice. I assume this is because the park is a place to chill and I felt the same the longer I stayed there.