conversation
This is a sound recording of a simulated conversation between a young adult Indian female immigrant patient and an American male medical student in the lobby of the Duke Student Wellness Center (conversation based on exact real-life experience). In this recording, the immigrant patient, whose native language is Telugu, is attempting to explain her illness and nature of her pain to the medical student, who is trying to help her by suggesting different English descriptive words for pain. However, due to the patient’s lack of English proficiency (her lack of knowledge regarding the right English words to exactly capture her pain), she is slipping into her native language, and the medical student is unable to understand what she is saying. This recording captures the discomfort, embarrassment, and frustration faced by immigrant patients who cannot express their medical stories and feelings in English, and it also depicts the confusion and helplessness of medical providers when they simply cannot understand their patients. As a nation with many immigrants whose first language is not English, the US healthcare system has many incidents where language is the barrier to communication and the establishment of a close and trusting relationship between patients and physicians.
Recorded with a Zoom H6 and a Rode NTG2 shotgun condenser microphone, the sound is that of a running lawnmower on the Proctor Creek Greenway alongside the faint conversation of other students present. The lawnmower adds to the welcoming culture of the PCG by ensuring visitors that the trail is always well maintained for the comfort and visual pleasure of those walking through.
This is a recording of the soundscape of the study space above the entrance and main lobby of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons. This was recorded at mid-day on a Friday. Sounds of people walking and talking on the floor below can be heard. It was recorded with a Samsung Galaxy S8+.
Recording of scurrying footsteps, slam of locking building door, constant noise of the coffee stand's refrigerator case, and distant sounds of conversation and air conditioning.
The 3rd floor of West Village by the Starbucks. The low murmur of students' voices as they study and socialize and music played by Starbucks. Sharp sound of chair being pulled out followed by an opening and closing door as a student leaves. Recoded on IPhone 6 microphone.
Sound recording of a passing adult male saying goodbye to someone on the phone and exiting the Brightleaf Square shopping center. Recorded on a Zoom H4N.
Excerpt of a conversation where the uploader is teaching a friend the basic everyday language of the Lebanese dialect of Arabic. Recorded on a Zoom H4n.
A thirty second recording of piano playing on a Monday afternoon in the Brown Residence common room on East Campus, at Duke University. A track with a main focus on a casual amateur piano improvisation, running parallel to the general noise of a busy, shared, closed college environment. Recorded on an iPhone 5s, which was placed on the right side of the piano player throughout the duration of the recording.
This is an experiment testing how people change their levels of volume according to the environment that they are in. Here, we discover how people subscribe to a certain set of generally-accepted social guidelines regarding appropriate noise level of a given location. This recording is one example of how sound is incorporated into cultural and social norms. The recording begins on the Duke University C1 bus and ends on the East Campus quad.
Sound recording of girls laughing while talking. Recorded on an iPhone 5.