Notes on Camp, WBEZ: (contributors) Adam Davidson, Julie Snyder 1998This is a series of stories about different summer camps and it's "going ons" with autobiographical perspectives told by camp members or by an observer. The harmonica music and occasional guitar chords that are heard in the background and sometimes the foreground of the story, reverberate the feeling of a summer camp. The personal stories and memories that follow the narration really pulls the listener into the story, from the silly fun games of a boy trying to kiss a girl, to a tone of seriousness, tension, and danger brought by a camp lesson that tests the camp members' faith involving machine guns. The stories are different but very memorable and definitely played a big part in the lives of those interviewed.
I can feel the camaraderie that the camp members felt as they told their stories through the tone and excitation in their voices, from the camp competitions to the hilarious story of "Steve White and the Seven Dwarves." I can also empathize with their mixed emotions mostly of sadness of a good thing that is about to end as their camp days are closing to an end...the feeling of leaving such a warm comfort zone into another world of school with different alien rules. The flow of the narration was smooth, linked together by the narrators voice and harmonica music, and it ended with a nice lighthearted tone of, "It's very funny that is all, it's not for anything it's just for the funny." How camp should be :D
Her Long Black Hair, Janet Cardiff 2004
This is to be listened to as one walks through Central Park and the woman talking into your ears through your headphones relay information and a story that tethers between fact and fiction. The woman talks to you as if you are there with her as she explains the sights, sound, and other sensory perceptions during the 19th century. Good headphones are ideal when hearing these recordings as sensory sounds can be heard in the background, enhancing the sensory submersion, from footsteps that cascade from your right ear to your left ear to the numerous background voices of people. The woman mostly talks but sometimes there are firsthand accounts told by other individuals, whisking the listener more into the environment.
When listening to the recordings, my mind focuses me into Central Park...I've been there, I've walked it's paths, so I have somewhat of a blueprint or imagination of where I am walking as I'm hearing the recordings in my room, my eyes closed, next to my desktop and computer. I wonder also that if I am really in Central Park hearing these sound clips, what I see may not be there or may be very different. I wonder If I walk down a path and stop to focus myself as I tune into the voices, the animals, the people, the city...that is encapsulated within my headphones that I'd probably look really odd walking and stopping for a few moments by the passersby and joggers of the Central Park, but eh, I think I'll fit in just fine, it is New York. Her use of stream of consciousness narration with the sensory sounds really draws the listener in, and listening to this in Central Park could be a good time.
Dreams - Telephone Series 2008-10, Cardiff and Miller
This one has no sound clips to listen to but I can imagine how the vintage telephones with Cardiff's voice recounting a dream can go. I imagine the same voice from "Her Long Black Hair" narration with the same flow of thought as she talks to you. Unlike the previous recording that uses headphones, this one only lets the individual listen through one ear. It is somewhat eerie to pick up a phone and just hear a woman immediately tell a story of a dream. If someone did that to you at your home...if someone called and you pick up the phone and you hear someone just talking about a dream that you did not ask to be told, would you stay on the line? Something I ponder about when thinking about this series of works Cardiff did with the telephone.
She was a visitor, Robert Ashley 1930
I think it's about a woman who was a visitor. In seriousness, it's a repeated audio clip of "she was a visitor" but the background noise and sound is what changes. The repeated sound clip already gives a scary, goosebump-inducing vibe and when paired with the eerie sound that is used in most horror movies, it takes the sound clip to another level of scary. It makes me wonder if my mind is programmed inherently to think that the sound I'm hearing is eerie or if I have gotten that feeling from watching horror movies with almost the same scary sounds that foretell a frightening scene. I really don't want to push the replay button but I will and I did. The starting background hum into an almost ghastly chorus slowly takes the listener into an excited state of sound sensory awareness. I'm pretty sure different images will pop out in any listeners' mind as they listen to this.
Excerpt from Silence, John Cage 1969
This recording I had to replay at least three times to encapsulate what John Cage hopefully is stating. He talks about Americans being of the avarice sort, portrayed as a parasite on the world and its resources as he remarked about deep drilling at a slight angle underneath someone else's property, possibly referring to America siphoning or stealing oil from other countries. I wonder if he is reading this from a planned document he created or if he is talking in a stream of consciousness like Cardiff. He talks in a lot of symbolism that begs to be deciphered by the listener...it really feels like each sentence was carefully planned and cryptic.
War of the Worlds -Mercury Theatre Original Radio Broadcast, Orson Welles October 30, 1938
I'm quite delighted that Morgan Freeman is narrating the introduction of War of the Worlds. The introduction has background sound of chilling and suspenseful music that make the listener get ready for a movie. The introduction is quite different with the original recording, in that the original has more of a raw storytelling that frightened people when it was broadcasted in the radio, tricking many into thinking that aliens are actually attacking the earth. The combination of "normal sounding" radio broadcasting voices at that time with intervals of supposedly regularly scheduled music and then with the sudden news reports, I can imagine how this broadcast has caused that funny commotion among its listeners. Wonderful voice acting, well timed sound effects, perfect intervals of silence, and great storytelling.
