The Sound of Solitude

Over the years, the pandemic has caused us to experience vastly different realities than the ones we found ourselves too comfortable in. I worked with my classmate Adam Ben David under the supervision of professor Matt Rogalsky to create a sound installation that reflects these alternate realities.

In 2020, the students of MUSC 255: Electroacoustic composition recorded their nearby indoor and outdoor surroundings with durations spanning 20 to 30 minutes. These recordings were reflective of their new life on any given day during the first two weeks of the lockdown. The juxtaposition of the indoor and outdoor submissions was clear: the outdoor recordings eerily stripped of any human interaction, allowing nature’s sounds to pervade; and the indoor recordings containing a variety of sound artifacts including music, television and dialogue.

To create this piece we blended these sounds together to create an atmosphere that proves to be an amalgamation of familiarity, brought together by inevitable feelings of isolation and ultimately, an excerpt of history in the making. Throughout the ambient soundscape, a 3D microphone captures the sound of rain falling from speakers installed into the ceiling and is a sustained theme throughout the piece. Four speakers surround the microphone which records the remaining sporadic elements of the varied incoming sounds: conversations among family members, walks around empty streets, televisions entertaining stay-at-home students. Finally, a subtle drone, designed from the sound of a spoon falling to the floor (and subsequently modulated by other effects) creates a 360° panning effect, rotating around the listener.