Faculty Mentor
Maureen McCluskey, EdD
Faculty Mentor Department
English & World Languages
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Abstract
When I set out to create this piece, my goal was to build the entire soundscape from scratch. I wanted to capture the atmosphere of a late-night, ominous encounter with the ghost in Act I, Scene V. To do that, I chose one longer line from the Ghost of King Hamlet and one from Hamlet that I felt captured the heart of the scene. The soundscape is mostly musical, with those two spoken parts and a few minimal sound effects.
I included the sound of leaves crunching underfoot to show the scene takes place outdoors, which I made with fabric and a plastic bag. I also added the sound of Hamlet writing, which is mentioned in his lines. It's a small detail, but leaving it out felt like a missed opportunity.
The most unique part is the sung melody between the two spoken parts: "Nearer, My God, to Thee," by Lowell Mason and Sarah F. Adams (1997). I sang it in G minor to deepen the haunting mood right after the Ghost delivers his foreboding message. The whole soundscape is in G minor. I picked the key on instinct: I woke up one morning convinced the piece needed it to sound both somber and eerie.
I played all the music on my Yamaha P-55 electric piano, switching between sound settings for variety. During the spoken sections, I matched the volume and intensity of the music to the words of the Ghost and Hamlet. I voiced both characters myself, and for the Ghost I layered two recordings of my voice to make him sound otherworldly.
I recorded everything, including the piano and sound effects, with the default recording app on my Pixel 9, then edited the clips together in Microsoft Clipchamp. Because every sound in it was made by me, I believe the soundscape is 100% self-made and captures what I set out to create.
Recommended Citation
Pena Ross, John M.
(2026)
"Hamlet, Act I, Scene V Soundscape,"
PANDION: The Osprey Journal of Research and Ideas: Vol. 7:
No.
1, Article 11.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/pandion_unf/vol7/iss1/11
Included in
Audio Arts and Acoustics Commons, Composition Commons, Music Performance Commons, Other Music Commons
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