{"id":1769,"date":"2019-04-10T18:05:59","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T18:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wri-101k-s19.andrewrippeon.com\/blog\/?p=1769"},"modified":"2019-04-23T16:48:18","modified_gmt":"2019-04-23T16:48:18","slug":"the-language-behind-the-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wri-101k-s19.andrewrippeon.com\/blog\/writing-project-3\/the-language-behind-the-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"The Language Behind the Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Abstract:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cThe Davidson Soundscape\u201d, I uncovered the language barriers experienced by non-athletes within Davidson\u2019s Varsity weight room. As an athlete on Davidson\u2019s campus, I have had the opportunity to experience first-hand the sounds within a weight room and the significance they carry. However, the non-athletes (\u201cnonners\u201d) will never fully comprehend the aural culture in the Doe Weight Room, especially that created by the Men\u2019s Soccer team. I captured the soundscapes present in the warmup, intense lower-body lift, cycling portion, and post-lift of the Men’s Soccer team. Throughout this essay I will show the progressions of the lift through the recordings and contextualize them with terms conceived by R. Murray Schafer. I will then further develop the cultural implications of the weight room\u2019s language barrier by using texts by Emily Thompson and Michael Bull. The purpose of this project is to observe the everyday noises produced in the weight room, created by the presence of the athletes, which develops a cultural language barrier that stands between athletes and nonners.  <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Doe Weight Room, a prominent location for all student-athletes on Davidson\u2019s campus, possess a soundscape unique only to the Davidson athletes and coaching staffs. As a student-athlete at Davidson, I have been able to analyze the soundscape within the weight room by participating in the lifts and have determined that there is a language developed through lifting. As one sits, closes their eyes, and listens to the sounds in the Doe Weight Room, the noises created will range from the laughter of teammates entering the space to the intense screams of their\u00a0coaching staffs. These specific noises are unwanted sound, as the athlete is attempting to complete his or her lift and does not want any distractions. Between these keynotes comes uplifting and motivational music constantly being played which provides positive energy to the athletes. Keynotes are sounds that are typically overlooked within a space due to their common nature. The music genres will range from classical music to modern R&B; however,\u00a0the blaring music minimizes the athlete’s language in the weight room.\u00a0The athlete’s “language” is nonverbal, but a language composed by coded set of sounds. So, when one focusses on the entirety of the weight room and the sounds composed, they will catch noises primarily hidden. As R. Murray Schafer says, \u201cnoises are the sounds we have learned to ignore\u201d (Schafer 95). The noises go unnoticed to a certain extent during the lift, but\u00a0the language is present and misunderstood by\u00a0nonners.\u00a0While I can translate these sounds for you, I cannot translate the experience and cultural implications they possess.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The atmosphere developed in a weight room is crucial for the success of any athletic program. The soundscape can determine the motivation and work ethic demonstrated by a team. The Doe Weight Room possesses a soundscape like no other on Davidson\u2019s campus. Emily Thompson explains that a soundscape is like an aural landscape, as \u201ca soundscape is simultaneously a physical environment and a way of perceiving that environment; it is both a world and a culture constructed to make sense of that world\u201d (Thompson 117). Through observation and experience, I determined that the culture in the Doe Weight Room is intense, significant, and a step on the way to a team’s unification. Along with the noises produced by the athletes, comes the initial overwhelming music being circulated throughout the entire gym. It is a leading factor for the success of an athlete within the gym as the music has \u201ctransported [us] from one cognitive and physical space to another through the dominant organizing potential of privatized sound\u201d (Bull 198). Michael Bull highlights the power of music, as one can mentally tune out all the distractions in his or her life and focus solely on what’s important. Music has the ability to lift one’s spirits and get individuals through intense lifts with ease. Bull emphasizes the significance of music within one’s daily life, as music \u201ccreates a privatized sound world, which is in harmony with their mood, orientation and surroundings, enabling them to re-spatialise urban experience through a process of solipsistic aestheticization\u201d (Bull 199). The privatized world is similar to the language generated by athletes, as it is both exclusive and meaningful to the athlete. The atmosphere of the Doe Weight Room is unique in itself, but the language created by the athletes and their movements develops a language based off of noise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On one Thursday mid-afternoon in the Doe Weight Room, the gym was occupied by the Men\u2019s Soccer team. From my seat, I could hear rap music<\/strong> flooding into the space, specifically songs from Meek Mill\u2019s album, Dreams and Nightmares<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n