Enveloped in Sound

When I was growing up, I listened to music in stereo. And I'm sure many of you did too. Stereo was something so simple, yet so amazing. It accurately represented sound so much better than Mono. It made sense, too. You have two ears, you should hear music from two sources simultaneously. I also watched movies in stereo. From a young age, I realized that something was missing. When I went to the movie theatre, I felt different. Even if I was seeing a kid-friendly rated G film with my parents I can remember feeling more interest in the movie then if I watched the same thing on VHS on our family television.

What may not be so apparent is that movies, and music of course, should be heard; more importantly felt. Felt as in actual vibrations. Those sonic pulses are what differentiated the action scene from its oncoming slow concerto.

There also lies feeling in the directionality of the sound. If something were to happen behind you, wouldn't you expect to hear it coming from behind you? If anyone has had the pleasure of being seated in a premium movie theatre, or a well made home theatre system, the viewer is being made to feel as if he were viewing the action first hand.

That said, proper use of sound can enhance a movie. Overuse of this technique, however, can make an otherwise decent movie seem like a confused mess. Whether listening in Dolby Digital or DTS, it is clearly evident which sound engineer has two connected hemispheres, or if his temporal lobe has undergone a lobotomy.

Because many of you may still listen to music in stereo, or worse, through those integrated 10-Watt speakers, you are missing out more of the movie than you would not watching it in 24p. But I digress.

It may seem then that sound is the defining factor in a film . However, it is exactly the inverse; lack of sound makes the movie. Ever see No Country for Old Men? If you watch it again (and again, and again) you will notice the absence of a soundtrack. All that is encoded are things that would really make a sound. Doors opening around you, an explosion to your right, and footsteps coming toward you from behind. When the protagonist and his nemesis draw their arms, you feel as if you were really standing betwixt their gunfire.

This experience is an investment. It either requires going to the movie theatre and paying till the moths fly out from whatever was used to store money. This option sucks. Alternatively, one could invest in a home theatre system of his own. The latter option, sadly, is often avoided. Obviously reasons quickly come to mind. Expensive. Expensive. Expensive. This is not necessarily true. While any real investment in a HT system does cost a decent chunk of change, it doesn't necessarily have to break the bank.

That being said, the first thing one can do is buy a HT system in box. Anyone that has gone to Best Buy knows exactly the scenario. An amplifier and speakers bundled together in one cardboard container. Other than having the worst 5.1 surround system possible and wasting an unnecessarily small, yet still significant, sum of money, you have made yourself look like an idiot to whoever sold you the product. They key here is that Home Theatre should be made, not bought.

More often than not, a proper surround sound will take a year, at minimum, to complete. What this means is many visits to Craigslist, eBay, and garage sales as well as the occasional dumpster dive. When you are done, however, you know that no amount of money can replace what you had currently built. Although it may be worth less than your flatscreen TV, you know that it is the best sounding way to listen to music and watch movies. Your friends will agree. And maybe it will look something like this:

Stop drooling and start building.

He Said, Finally Dead

I've been throwing the idea of internet blogging around for sometime. Blogging seriously, I mean. I remember being in high school and having one such account. I can't even remember the name of the website, but my postings soon devolved into senseless teen angst not worthy of any readership. So I deleted it.

Then there were my "He Said" articles of my college heydays at Fairfield University. I'd like to think that venture went well, but I know for certain no one quite got the picture I was trying to paint. Like any art, writing, even when done well, is not meant for everyone. What do I mean? Take the recent on goings concerning the column this year. Accusations of rape, misogyny. Pretty average if you ask me, but with a twist: people are actually upset this time. And not upset in the, "Oh, Dan Stanczyk is such a woman-hater/pimp/chauvinist pig" kind of way. Try upset in the tear up copies of The Mirror kind of way.

Do I care that Chris Shurette has, as many do believe, crossed the line? No, Stanczyk's articles were far more derogatory on a weekly basis. Do I care that Fairfield's student body is finally wising up to social issues on campus? No, it's about time. Do I care that the He Said/She Said column is now, truly dead? Yes, well yes I do.

It is my distinct conviction that now, the He Said/She Said articles will be nothing more than a skid-mark on my alma mater's student run newspaper. Because of one overboard column, articles once carefully designed to incite controversy and conversation will be reduced to every other college newspaper's He Said-esque copycats: bland, lame, and overlooked. This, to me, is unfortunate.

Last year I tried something different. A kind of weekly blog, if you will, only published in a small collegiate newspaper. Each article tracked my own journey through my senior year of college. There were articles about one night stands, crazy parties and things that women do that piss men off to no end. But within those "bland" and "unoffensive" columns there were sentiments about maturity, loneliness, and vocation at a time in all college senior's lives where everything that we had come to know and love would one day dissolve into a necessary connection between our present mind state and our memories of the past.

I write this blog now from an apartment in Derby, only 20 minutes North of Fairfield. I don't live on my parent's couch and am comfortable paying rent and getting by on my Research Assistant salary at Connecticut Mental Health Center through Yale University. I saved up money all summer while I was interviewing working electrical construction.

It's nice to move on from the column, but at the same time it's something that will stay with me forever. I'll be forever known as the hipster that tried to kill 'He Said' by making it more challenging for people to read and attacking the ubiquitous wealth that surrounds the normal kids who depended on financial aid and grants to attend Fairfield for an education, as well as a social life.

It is my hope that the column will go on, being as genuine as possible within the appendix of restrictions that will now be placed on a forum designed for free speech. But, these things happen when that freedom is taken advantage of. And for what? I just don't know anymore.

I plan on using this new forum as an opportunity to write, reflect, and collaborate on my post-graduate journey. If you are interested in reading any of my collegiate columns, or read up on the current controversy, please visit The Mirror's Website here.