Sound Immersion Experiment

 Starting off the school year we got to go on our first Field Experience of the year and I didn't really know what to expect. I hadn't been told what we were doing until the day of and even then I had no idea what the teachers meant by a sound experiment. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised though and am grateful I got to go on this trip with all my classmates. This is just how I would describe the things I heard and how they impacted me. 

Walking up to the huge Pritzker Pavillion, I was immediately taken by the strong taiko drums playing every couple of seconds or so. The hits were strong and played at random, it kept me at the edge of my seat not knowing when or how loud the drums were going to beat next. It made me think of one of my favorite animated movies set in a futuristic Japanese archipelago where the movie is introduced to us through a taiko drum performance. Near the end, the drums were being played into big crescendos making me think it was going to end soon.

After the drums had disappeared into a diminuendo the next piece came in with a complete mood shift. Techno-like sounds being played on synths different notes getting louder and quieter mixing together into this relaxing piece that I ended up almost falling asleep to. The people sitting next to me almost remarked right away how similar it sounded to the backtracks you hear when playing Minecraft. By about halfway in almost everyone was laying down and relaxing, but then something changed. Along with the sounds already being played these abrupt screeching robotic sounds started playing from the back speakers. It sounded like an angry robot creeping up behind about to hit me over the head. At that moment I sprang up from my spot to turn around and see that everyone was still laying down as if nothing happened.

The rest of the time I mostly worked on filling out the worksheet we were given drawing in what I visualized the last performance as in my head. The experience was over as soon as it began and we started to pack up our things. It was honestly a very pleasing experience overall and there was an added bonus of a batman movie playing in the back that we got to watch. Restrictions for school trips are still set in place but I am honestly just happy that we got to go out into the world and experience something.