Early Risers or Night Owls? Who would have thought sound could answer this question about students at Davidson College? I explored Vail Commons to search for the answer to this question. After some close listening to the soundscape (and a “pizza?” on the way), I encountered some revelations about the culture and student body. Sound can tell a lot about a particular space, especially one that people visit every day. The proof was in the Commons pudding.
The Davidson soundscape is a unique one. From a stadium of 4,000 people cheering on a basketball game to the stressed, quiet chatting of the first floor of the library, there is a ton to explore. With the abundance of artificial and natural soundscapes, I chose to select one that I visit everyday. Vail Commons is the singular dining hall on Davidson’s campus. I thought about the influence Commons has on every single student at the school and realized my curiosity wanted me to push to find meaning and importance of this particular soundscape. What do the sounds inside commons at various times tell us about students at Davidson? How does the sound add or subtract from the space itself? What changes in the soundscape throughout the day? These were all questions I aimed to answer in my investigation and submersion into the space. Analyzing the sounds of Vail Commons and answering these questions revealed interesting parts of the culture of Davidson, parts I have never thought about until I dove into its soundscape.
Audio from Vail Commons at Breakfast
Close listening in Commons was a new experience for me. Instead of focusing on the sound coming from someone I am talking to, I focused on the soundscape as a whole. At breakfast time, there is no indication of anyone being there when you first walk in. There are no voices or sounds of people eating until you begin to walk down the stairs. Then, you can finally hear the sound of conversations or the silverware clanging as the workers put it away. I sat down in the middle of the room and tried to discern certain sounds. I could clearly understand some conversations, even at a distance. Along with this, the sounds of their forks and knives hitting their plates were audible as well. The ice machine was used intermittently and the creak of the door opening found its way into the soundscape. Whenever an interspersed student arrived, the sound of them pulling out their chair interrupted the easily audible, distant sounds and conversations. Breakfast time at Commons revealed a diverse, interesting soundscape.
Audio from Vail Commons at Lunch
Lunch was different. Instead, when walking through the front door, there is a clear indication that people are there. The voices are audible even from the upper level, drowning out any of the quieter sounds that are present during breakfast. Once again, I sat down in the middle of the room and could still hear most of the same sounds, but this time, the meaning of the sounds changed. Although I could still hear people talking, only the conversations at an even closer distance were distinguishable. However, conversations were indistinguishable at a further distance, but not overpowering. They seemed like a normal, necessary part of the soundscape, making them a keynote. Although not as strong, the other sounds like a fork hitting a plate, someone using the soda machine, or a worker putting away the baskets of silverware were still audible and were weak soundmarks. Already, a pattern was forming. Most of the sounds remain there, but the volume of voices either add or take away from other sounds.
Audio from Commons Dinner
Dinner was the opposite extreme from breakfast. Now when I walked in, the sounds of voices clearly and loudly reverbated off the walls and the ceiling to my ears. Even sitting within a close distance of other groups of people yielded no audible conversations. I could no longer hear the quieter soundmarks that gave some diversity to the soundscape. All I could hear was the constant, loud droning of muffled conversation. The voices themselves turned from a signal or a keynote to noise that distracted negatively from any other sound within the soundscape. These observations lead to me some conclusions about the space itself.
The physical building had an interesting effect on the soundscape as a whole. The sounds reverberate off the walls and ceiling and fill the room with noise. To me, this takes away from the space at certain times, especially at dinner when it makes it difficult to hear others at the same table. At other times, it could add to the space. During lunch or breakfast when there are less people, the amplification of sounds gives a livelier atmosphere. This space is similar to that of Quaker Meetinghouses. Instead of following suit with some traditional church designs that had acoustics that focused sound from the pulpit on the audience, Quaker Meetinghouses used flat walls and ceiling panels in order to show that everyone can be the preacher. Instead of sound being gathered and focused on one area, sound from anywhere within the building was amplified and spread throughout the room. The building was designed with an acoustic purpose. However, in cities with a lot of sound pollution, this created issues because any sound outside was amplified once it reached inside the Meetinghouse (Rath 137). Commons has a similar issue to this. When there is not much noise, the building is perfect because it helps people project their voice further. However, once dinner time hits and there are hundreds of people talking at once, the noise created from the flat, paneled walls, ceilings, and windows can be overwhelming. This indicates that the building was created with acoustics designed to assist conversation, but they did not take into account the sheer number of people that could be in there at any one time. Once people realized the flaws of the Meetinghouses, they redesigned the acoustics to better focus the sound inside as to not amplify unwanted noise too much. Eventually when a new dining hall is built, this should be taken into account because dinner time revealed Commons’ design takes away from the soundscape and the intended use of the building. Acoustics of a building have a major effect on the soundscape itself.
Along with revealing aspects of the building itself, the sound within Commons also revealed certain aspects of the College’s culture and student body. Comparing the differences of sounds present during each meal time is direct evidence of the perceived culture of Davidson. Davidson is known to be extremely rigorous academically and the silence in the morning is a result of this. This silence indicates that students are in fact staying up late at night and do not make it to breakfast in the morning. The increased volume of sounds at lunch shows that students are taking a break from difficult classes to socialize with friends. Dinner almost seems like a celebration that the day is finally over, with everyone congregating to meet up and eat with friends. In addition to helping show the culture of Davidson, the sound also reveals what the space is used for. The loud volume during lunch and dinner means students are not doing work while they eat, but rather as a vessel to finally take a break from their hard work. Although the loudness and overwhelming sound of talking can be described as an unwanted noise, Schafer’s definition of a signal could also apply. According to him, signals are sounds that must be consciously listened to in order to pull out the information (Schafer 101). When I consciously listened to the sounds around me in Commons for the first time, I began to respect what I once regarded as the “unwanted noise.” Although it can take away somewhat from its purpose, I finally understood the meaning behind the sounds and that they are an offspring from the difficult and stressful Davidson academics. Like many people, I do not find myself going to breakfast very often which my observations support as being an effect of the stress. And like everyone else, I enjoy spending time eating and socializing with my friends at lunch and dinner. The Commons’ soundscape has a lot to reveal about Davidson and although the building itself does not always cope well with its use, this is an important indicator of the stress and difficulties the Davidson student body goes through daily.
I never thought everyday sounds could show so much about a specific culture or community until I sat down in Vail Commons and attuned my listening to every particular sound in that moment. The sounds I heard validated my preconceived notions of Davidson College and the student body. The hard work we are put through is not easily maintainable and sometimes we need a break. I learned that Commons is primarily a place to relax and forget about the other stressors in students’ lives. Although the acoustic design of Commons is not perfect for the way students use it, it reveals to anyone entering the building at peak dinner time the cultural meaning behind the building. There are flaws that could be fixed to better accommodate the needs of the students, but for now it achieves its main purpose. In Rath’s “No Corner for the Devil to Hide,” he explains that Americans made soundscapes more manageable by diminishing the importance of sound, but observing the Commons’ soundscape showed me that this is the wrong way to deal with the issue of unwanted noise (Rath 138). Sound has meaning and is a necessary part of life. It can tell us so much about a culture or a community and the diversity of the sound at Davidson College is an important part of student life.
Bibliography
Rath, Richard. “No Corner for the Devil to Hide.” The Sound Studies Reader, edited by Jonathan Sterne, 2012, pp. 130-40.
Schafer, R. Murray. “The Soundscape.” The Sound Studies Reader, edited by Jonathan Sterne, 2012, pp. 95-103.
