DMS Blog #12

Hola,

This is my last of the two posts that are for my Buffalo landscape tour project. First of all, this is my second year here at UB, and before I went to school here I had never been to Buffalo before in my life. So, honestly everything was new to me.

Before I went to school here I had never been to a big city before in my life. So, everything here is so much different than what I am used to. One thing I am not really used to is the subway and bus system (Metro Station). Yes, I have been on a subway train and a bus before but this is a lot different. I have never really seen the station, where you get the tickets and where you get on the train, before.

I guess my reaction to this place is awe. It is just a simple place. It looks so small on the outside, but when you go to the inside and out to the bus stop area you realize just how big it really is. Also, I think it is weird how the train goes under ground and above ground. Usually when you think of a subway you think it is under ground, and when you think of an above ground train you think of a trolley car system. I also think it is weird that you do not have to pay to go on the above ground part, but you do have to pay to go on the under ground part. Honestly, I think it is the lazy way of getting from one end of down town to the other when you could just walk a couple extra blocks. I guess I just feel it is a strange train system yet very useful.
The Metro has so many things  to interact with because that is what it was made  for. The whole place is just a network of communication and interaction. People-to-people, people-to-machine, machine-to-machine, etc. Personally my interaction with the space is as such, I interact with the machines (getting a ticket, walking down the escalators, viewing the signs, and getting on the train). Then, I sometimes am with friends so I would interact with people on the train. Or, sometimes either a stranger or a worker checking tickets will talk to you briefly. More times than none you will talk to someone in the station. Yes, I will use the blind reference one more time (hopefully no one is taking offense to this, I am sorry). If a blind person were to go to the Metro Station for the first time he/she would be able to know what it was by the sounds of the cars, etc. Also, he/she would be able to navigate their way through the space because you can tell when the train stops, when it starts, and which stop it is at because the driver announces the name of every stop.

Honestly, I know that the subway and buses are great for getting around, but personally I prefer to walk or drive alone. It is just too crowed and busy for my liking.

Signed,
AMT

DMS Blog #11

Hello,

This will be my first of two posts that are for my Buffalo landscape tour project. First of all, this is my second year here at UB, and before I went to school here I had never been to Buffalo before in my life. So, honestly everything was new to me.

I have been to Niagara Falls before though, when I was a lot younger. However, going there recently it seemed a lot different to me. When I went there the first time I was on the American side, but when I went there the second time I was on the Canadian side. On the American side it is a lot darker and open, it looks more like a park than the other side does. On the Canadian side there are the lights that light up both sides of the falls at night, the fireworks are set off from the Canadian side, and there are so many more stores and attractions surrounding the falls than there are on the American side.

I realized that going to Niagara Falls just to “sight see” is much more exciting when you’re a young child or an elderly person. Also, the falls just seem bigger and more exciting when you’re a kid. I remember going on the Maid of the Mist when I was younger and it seems like you go right next to the falls, but then when you see the boat from above it doesn’t even go close to where the falls are. I guess it just amazes me at how this landmark can be so majestic and simple, yet display so many illusions. Each angle you see the falls from looks different.

My reaction to the falls is mostly a good feeling; even though it doesn’t excite me as much as it did when I was younger it still gives me a warm feeling inside. Once you’ve seen Niagara Falls once the excitement is gone, and it just becomes a nice place to go with family and friends to marvel at nature and the beautiful, little things in life.

As far as interacting with Niagara Falls, there’s not much you can do. When you are near it you just take in the sight. When you go on the Maid of the mist you get to hear, see, and feel the power of the water, it really is a beautiful thing. Imagine you were a blind person going to the falls for the first time (which I am not hating on blind people so don’t turn this around and get angry at me). You wouldn’t be able to see the falls physically, however you would be able to hear the roaring of the water and feel the mist against your skin and you would picture this giant wall of water in front of you. That’s the beauty of it you don’t need to see it to know its beauty.

I think if I go again I’d like to go in the winter so I can see it covered in ice. All in all, Niagara Falls is a beautiful place and a great place to visit if you’re ever near Buffalo.

Signed,

A to the T

DMS Blog #10

One more entry before fall break,

According to Pauline Oliveros, deep listening is a philosophy that differentiates the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the voluntary selective nature of listening. As a result of this people appreciate sounds on a higher level and increasing interaction with their environment, technology, and performance within music and arts. Deep listening gives artists, musicians, and audiences a chance to grow. In my own opinion, she talks about ‘deep listening’ in regards to hearing but not listening. I think by this she means that we tune out certain sounds even though we hear the music we are not listening for the out of place sounds (makes sense hopefully).

She says that the first recorded sound she listened to started her philosophy of deep listening. She recorded sound in her apartment and when listening to it heard sounds that she didn’t normally hear, thus she gave herself a meditation, “Listen to everything all the time and remind yourself when you are not listening.” This is what helped her to understand her environment because now she listens to everything; she listens for every little detail.

She has made much collaboration and shows her collaborations in many places. She encourages people to use deep listening with their own creative interest and professions.

I think that her ideas would apply to my projects in DMS as well as other things. I agree with her idea of deep listening. I feel that a lot of the time I am hearing things but I am not ‘listening’ to them, so I do not understand the things I am hearing. I feel that I did use ‘deep listening’ in my audio project for DMS 121 because I kept playing each audio piece over and over again trying to get the best sound. Even after I was done, listening to it in class I found more sounds I didn’t hear before. Yet, I think I could use this idea outside of class as well. For example, if I wanted to make a CD or sound track/song, etc. I would have to consider how it would sound to different people played in different places.

On another note, I think I just found the inspiration for my final project. I think that ‘awareness’ of the things around us, ‘deep listening’, or whatever you want to call it is really what music and art are all about. A lot of art deals with reality or peoples’ perception of reality, so if each person sees/hears the world a different way than the art is going to be different. Deep listening essentially just allows the artist/musician to get in touch with their surroundings and use that for inspiration.

Okay, now I’m going to say something off topic (well it might be off topic because I could have answered the questions wrong). I like how she talks about her time as a professor. I think it’s interesting that she focused on listening to teach music as opposed to reading and writing music. Although, I feel that this quality might make her a perfectionist when it comes so the sound of the music, nonetheless it’s an interesting way to teach music. Also, I do agree that listening is an important skill to learn and it is undervalued in school, I applaud her for giving it the appropriate attention.

Signed for the last time before fall break,

Yours Truly

DMS Blog # 9

Hello Again,

Wow seems like I was blogging everyother day and now it has been awhile. Anyway, here is my second video, hope you like it...

Well, thanks for watching.

Ta Ta For Now,

What's My Name