The first text I read was “Acoustic Cyberspace,” by Erik Davis. It struck me as very abstract. There were things in it I have never heard before in my life and makes it hard to grasp, like the idea of acoustic space where it is not limited only to music but can expand to other spaces. Other topics, on the other hand, are easy to comprehend and make very great points, such as resonance and how it has the ability to break glass.

Virtual reality environments seem to be something in the much distant future, but in actuality, there are many virtual reality environments that can immerse people in something different. For example, Davis wrote of his experience on 3D audio, which emphasizes more of the listening portion of our senses rather than our overrepresented visual portion. I agree that this sort of virtual reality could give a stronger visual experience than solely a picture.

In addition, the idea of atmosphere is utilized in almost every public place today. Even in private places, sound provides ambiance and mood for the situation. This is amazing and truly one of the major powers music can have on its listeners. It seems that even sound has the ability to create a utopia and perfect world. Most of all, I believe it gives hope to people. That is why I believe the author wrote that when the radio erupted as a major thing, people thought “Now we will be able to communicate across the world, now we will be able to solve conflicts, now we will have better education, now we will have more democracy.” However, the radio of today, according to Erik Davis, is too commercialized and “mapped out” to its fullest extent in most places already. Though there are still some “indie” radio stations, such as college radio or pirate radio stations, it has become a “vast depressing wasteland.” The internet seems to be the new unexplored spectrum which can and is already becoming an acoustic dimension of electronic media. It is not immune to the same fate of radio. Music, as emphasized is a great example of something which can bring people together and organize, due in majority to resonance.

This paper was very interesting and held many ideas which I have not heard before, but ultimately is true and makes a lot of sense. The idea is to continue pushing the boundaries of acoustic space where there will always be something new to “map” out. He used the word “map” a few times, which makes me think that mapping out these spaces is important. It is critical that there will always be something new to explore. For example, the radio was something new and exciting, and now the internet seems to be doing the same thing. While writing this blog, I must confess that I was listening to music which filled up my acoustic space. It really made me think that what I am listening to is much more than just music. It is an expression of emotion and almost reaches out to you. Music causes atmosphere and ambiance to shift and move to somber, happy, or even a partying mood. There are so many possibilities to sound and its entirety as a dimension sometimes alien to our own.

In Megan Nordstrom’s E-Portfolio, she seemed to follow a Pirate theme where everything referred back somehow to Pirates. It seemed pretty clear on what assignments are expected and what is due. Her response to Response Paper 1.2 and 1.3 seemed intriguing and allowed the reader, in this case myself, to have some insight to what is expected this quarter for English 121. These tasks seem to be very interesting, and dare I say, fun to do. This overview of Nordstrom’s assignments and tasks are clear and define why we are doing these things through the expected outcomes of the paper.

Two quotes, one from each reading, each have importance in the fact that they relate how sound is so important in life, which is probably one of the reasons why this class has a major focus on audio. First, from “Acoustic Cyberspace,” Davis promotes a clear idea that “It is precisely this acoustic dimension that gives us tools, not just as individuals, but particularly as collectivities as well. It enables us to modulate and re-singularize this new environment in powerful ways—ways that the visual, the graphic, and the text-based, do not.” Clearly, this shows that Davis believes acoustic space and its dimension has the ability to shift peoples’ thinking and even alter environment to a new one. Tone here is persuasive. The purpose is to persuade the reader that this idea is true. Megan Nordstrom even stated that during her Response Paper 1.3, that “…although the visuals are an important asset to the clip, it is the sound that carries the trailer and gives the movie its unique dark comedy feel.” It was the sound which altered the mood of the film, which in this case was a dark comedy feel. Think about how movies would be without sound, let alone music. It would be so much more dull! A romance movie with a final scene where two lovers finally kiss with just the sound of background noise? No! That would create no emotion and no feeling. That is why movies today create a mix of sound and vision and allow scenes like the one mentioned to actually have the possibility of producing tears in its viewers. This, too, has a persuasive tone which uses evidence of sound in trailers and movies to create an effect. Though both quotes address different topics in sound, they connect in the same way. Simply put, sound is a powerful tool!