As part of today’s class we each recorded the sound in the buildings we have chosen to focus on. For me this is Building 20. Apart from being asked if I was lost when I was with other classmates, my experience was very quiet and uneventful.

I decided to set myself up in one of the corridors outside the offices and courtrooms inside the building. I sat on the bench and recorded continuously for 25 minutes. While I recorded I tried to be as quiet as possible so that I wouldn’t interfere with the sounds around me. In the corridor I could hear the traffic noise from La Trobe street as well as some louder voices of people walking along the footpath.

Listening back to the recording I can hear the traffic noise, but not the voices. The recorder picked up the footsteps of people walking past, as well as the footsteps of people in adjoining corridors (particularly the sound of heeled shoes on concrete flooring). The recording captured one short conversation between myself and Jackie as well as snippets of talking between people in their offices. However the recording is mostly silence and white noise, with the frequent sound of cars accelerating up the road.

While my recording didn’t yield many interesting sounds, and makes for very boring listening, the exercise did get me thinking. As I sat in the corridor, I hardly noticed the traffic noise after a while; it just became part of the silence. However, listening to the recording, I feel as if I am forced to hear the traffic noise. The fact that I am listening to a recording makes me listen harder. I feel as if there is something important to be heard, even when I know that there is not.

I do feel that my recording quite accurately portrays the feel and mood of Building 20. It is silent, and any noise is almost jarring. When you walk through the building, you are very aware of the noise of your footsteps, of how loud your breathing is and especially how loud you might be talking. These sounds, when listened to on the recording, seem out of place, which I believe effectively captures the feeling of not belonging that is strong in Building 20.