Soundlist
What is a "soundlist?" Is it really just a list of sounds?
Almost, but not quite.
Our assignment was this:
You will collect sound items from the Internet, embed them in a soundlist posting, and then write around them with explanations and/or reflections.
For this assignment, you should use a mix of audio materials. You can use musical selections, natural or human sounds, interviews, sounds from popular culture, or any other sonic sample that can be embedded into a Web page. Be sure to use a variety of kinds of sounds."
So now what?
Pick a character (any character!) and then identify his or her main traits. I chose to do Hamlet from, you guessed it, Hamlet.
This is the original soundlist:
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark
Having returned from university to the royal palace in Elsinore, Denmark, the young prince Hamlet, impacted by his father's recent death, devotes himself to avenging him and making the murderer-his uncle and now step-father-pay. However, because he is both philosophical and contemplative, he hesitates and soon appears enter a state of deep melancholy and questionable madness that persists throughout the duration of the play.
An Ominous Beginning
The play opens on an icy night in Denmark. One guard, Bernardo, has come to relieve Fransisco of his watch of the royal Danish palace for the night. The two are soon joined by two other men, Horatio and Marcellus. Bernardo and Marcellus soon begin to talk of having seen the ghost of the former King of Denmark, Old Hamlet, clad in armor. Horatio initially expresses doubt but soon the ghost appears. After trying (and failing) to speak with it, Old Hamlet disappears just as quickly. Soon after this disappearance, Marcellus asks about recent movement of the Danish forces in preparation for war and the ghost appears again (in full armor). This time, Horatio does speak to the ghost and just as it appears the former king is going to reply, a rooster crows and scares him off. The sound of howling wind sets up the ambiance, mystery, and even confusion for the rest of the play. The pitches and pauses mimic Hamlet's tendencies toward insanity but also his moments of complete sobriety and cunning whilst on the road for justice for his father's murder.
Loss
Hamlet is utterly distraught by his late father's death and, as a result, does not take the remarriage of his mother to his uncle well. I chose a funeral dirge to reflect his angst and sadness because both are what drives his actions for the rest of the play.
The repetitive and prominent sounds reflect his erratic and what everyone considers to be sane behavior. While grief inflicted insanity is what is initially seen, Hamlet is hiding something. Just like Beethoven's "Silence," there is something just below the surface of Hamlet that is being drowned out by first impressions.
Pain
Insanity
The ghost of his father is very central to the character of Hamlet. It drives him to [feigned?] madness and deliria as well as drives his actions. But most of all his actions are driven by revenge. After speaking with his late father he learns that it was his uncle, Claudius. that murdered him. Haunted, much like Hamlet, this moan embodies the deep and dark sadness that possesses him. Very up and down, this sound is inconsistent and ends abruptly as does the end of his story.
Delusion
One of [what I think to be] the most interesting lines in the entire play is "Words, words, words" (2.2.192). This is Hamlet's response to Polonius asking him what it is he's reading. One specific portrayal of how pivotal this line can be is by Sir Kenneth Branaugh in his version of Hamlet.
The way Branagh states the first, then emphasizes the second, and completely messes with the third "word" is a reflection of the deterioration of the mental state of Hamlet. He very well may have begun this play only mildly distraught but, as the play progresses Hamlet becomes more unstable as does the social scene around him (it begins to decay).
An Erratic End
At the end of the play, everyone dies. Hamlet himself murders Claudius after having been poisoned by Laertes at Claudius's instruction. This is also after his mother, Gertrude, drinks from the poisoned wine goblet (that was meant for Hamlet) and Claudius does nothing to stop her. This sound mimics the build up of tension and every action to the moment where Hamlet realizes he is poisoned and has limited time to act. The loud and abrupt end symbolizes Hamlet's decision to act and finally kill Claudius. He drives the poisoned fencing blade into his stomach and forces him to drink the poison that killed his mother. After doing this, Hamlet tells Horatio to tell his story and then he dies. This shrill sort of sound could also reflect the chaos in Hamlet's life that all of a sudden ends with his murder and the entrance of Fortinbras who then orders him honored as a soldier in his funeral rites.
I had tried to choose traits that I thought fit best and sounds that I believed would complement these traits. After everything was all said and done, we were presented with the challenge of revising it. We were supposed to make it better. Ok, but how?
Well, like this:
Here's the revised version:
An Ominous Beginning
The play opens on an icy night in Denmark. One guard, Bernardo, has come to relieve Fransisco of his watch of the royal Danish palace for the night. The two are soon joined by two other men, Horatio and Marcellus. Bernardo and Marcellus soon begin to talk of having seen the ghost of the former King of Denmark, Old Hamlet, clad in armor. Horatio initially expresses doubt but soon the ghost appears. After trying (and failing) to speak with it, Old Hamlet disappears just as quickly. Soon after this disappearance, Marcellus asks about recent movement of the Danish forces in preparation for war and the ghost appears again (in full armor). This time, Horatio does speak to the ghost and just as it appears the former king is going to reply, a rooster crows and scares him off. The sound of howling wind sets up the ambiance, mystery, and even confusion for the rest of the play. The pitches and variations mimic Hamlet's tendencies toward insanity but also his moments of complete sobriety and cunning whilst searching for justice for his father's murder.
Loss
Hamlet takes the loss of his father very seriously. He mourns through his mother's remarriage and often speaks of how long it has been (or rather hasn't been) since his father's death and the inappropriately speedy remarriage of his mother. His does not attempt to hide his sadness or his disapproval.
Obviously, Hamlet is sad. On the outside he is full-out mourning the loss of his father and the slow sounds of Beethoven reflect that. The softness in this song is directly contrasted by the harsh tempo of the Sound of Madness by Shinedown. I chose this to symbolize Hamlet's exterior and Shinedown to symbolize Hamlet's interior.
Pain
Insanity
The ghost of his father is very central to the character of Hamlet. It drives him to [feigned?] madness and deliria as well as drives his actions. But most of all his actions are driven by revenge. After speaking with his late father he learns that it was his uncle, Claudius. that murdered him. Haunted, much like Hamlet, this moan embodies the deep and dark sadness that possesses him. Also like his father, the tyrannosaurus is dead so this works.
Delusion
One of [what I think to be] the most interesting lines in the entire play is "Words, words, words" (2.2.192). This is Hamlet's response to Polonius asking him what it is he's reading. One specific portrayal of how pivotal this line can be is by Sir Kenneth Branaugh in his version of Hamlet:
The way Branagh states the first, then emphasizes the second, and completely messes with the third "word" is a reflection of the deterioration of the mental state of Hamlet. He very well may have begun this play only mildly distraught but, as the play progresses Hamlet becomes more unstable as does the social scene around him (it begins to decay).
An Erratic End
At the end of the play, everyone dies. Hamlet himself murders Claudius after having been poisoned by Laertes at Claudius's instruction. This is also after his mother, Gertrude, drinks from the poisoned wine goblet (that was meant for Hamlet) and Claudius does nothing to stop her. This sound mimics the build up of tension and every action to the moment where Hamlet realizes he is poisoned and has limited time to act. The loud and abrupt end symbolizes Hamlet's decision to act and finally kill Claudius. He drives the poisoned fencing blade into his stomach and forces him to drink the poison that killed his mother. After doing this, Hamlet tells Horatio to tell his story and then he dies. This shrill sort of sound could also reflect the chaos in Hamlet's life that all of a sudden ends with his murder and the entrance of Fortinbras who then orders him honored as a soldier in his funeral rites.
(I left this one as is because I felt pretty good about it also Soundcloud be lacking in the screeching violin department.)
So there you have it. A lovely little literary soundlist.
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