The food court lunch crowd at 10 Dundas East.
This location is notable for two things: its proximity to Ryerson University that has it dominated by students for most of the day, and the huge expanses of concrete and glass that accompanies absolutely no effort at sound abatement. It's loud. Very, very loud.
This recording is the first one that I've really edited. Chair scrapes and other sharp noises have been cut out, as have many of the recognizable words. A few still remain, stopping this from being a complete "walla" track, but catching the occasional snippet of conversation is more realistic for this location.
The mics were pointing upwards in order to avoid local sources and include more of the ceiling bounce. The low-cut filter was engaged at 75hz to deal with the overwhelming, but uninteresting, HVAC system. This resulted in an unoppressive and accessible recording, so I duplicated the audio, switched the stereo orientation, reversed it, and layered it back in. This second track had its levels compressed to create a more consistent sound and was then normalized to -6dB, while the main track was pulled up to -3dB.
The manipulated end results better reflect the scene as I experienced it – which is yet another way that phonography and photography are similar.
