Episode 40 Beeps

Thanks for Hitting Play and then listening to Hit Play. This episode: chimes, beeps, tones!

If you like what you hear and want to support the New York Neo-Futurists, subscribe to the show, consider making a donation at nynf.org, and join our Patreon. Patreon membership gives you access to bonus content like video plays! We’d really appreciate any support in these difficult times. Contributing to our Patreon helps us continue to pay our artists. 

Take care of yourself, send a letter to a long lost lover in the mail, and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

0:00, 2:27, 7:53, 10:48, 13:33 - Chimes (I - V) by Rob Neill 

3:22 - Interactions I Wish I Could Have in My New Job as a Simulated Patient by Joey Rizzolo featuring Yolanda K Wilkinson, music by Avery Rizzolo

8:16 - Audio Experiments Experiments: Experiment no.1 by Anthony Sertel Dean featuring Yael Haskal

12:30 - Audio Crime provided by Cecil Baldwin

Our logo was designed by Shelton Lindsay

Our sound is designed by Anthony Sertel Dean

Hit Play is produced by Anthony Sertel Dean, Julia Melfi, and Léah Miller

Take care!

Transcript 

Epsiode 40 Beeps

Play 1.1: Chimes (I - V) (0:00)

Rob: Chimes 1.

Sound of twinkly chimes. 

Rob (whispered): Over the last few weeks, they installed new traffic lights at my corner. And the traffic seems to be working. Working with the lights, from what I can tell. 

Show Intro

Fun bouncy electronic instrumental music plays underneath.

Julia: 40. Beeps. Hi I’m Julia Melfi—a New York Neo-Futurist. While our on-going, ever-changing, late-night show, The Infinite Wrench, is on hold for the foreseeable future, we wanted a place to keep making art for you. And so we made this podcast!  

If you’re already a fan of The New York Neo-Futurists, or any of our sibling companies, hi there! We can’t wait to sneak a bubble tea into a movie with you, and share the straw. If this is totally new to you—welcome to it!

We play by four rules: We are who we are, we’re doing what we’re doing, we are where we are, and the time is now. Simply put: we tell stories, and those stories are our own. Everything that you hear is actually happening. 

Sound of vacuum. Julia yells over the noise. 

So if we tell you we're recording this part while vacuuming our rug, we’re really recording while we're really vacuuming our rug!

Vacuuming ends. 

One last thing before we get going! So starting this weekend, we’re moving from releasing two episodes of Hit Play a weekend, to releasing one episode every weekend on Saturdays. This way we can experiment with bringing you other digital art-offerings, like our upcoming monthly livestream show, CyberWrench, starting on August 29th! Head to our socials, nynf.org, or our Patreon page to learn more about that and to get your tickets! We can’t wait to see ya there!

Julia: And now, Cecil will Run the Numbers!

Cecil: Hi, I’m Cecil Baldwin, a New York Neo-Futurist Alum. 

In this episode we’re bringing you 3 plays. Peppered throughout the show is a play by Rob Neill. The second is by Joey Rizzolo and features Yolanda K Wilkinson, with music by Avery Rizzolo. And the last is by Anthony Sertel Dean, featuring Yael Haskel. Plus, stick around after the credits for an Audio Crime, brought to you by me.

That brings us to 155 audio experiments on Hit Play. Enjoy!

Music winds down.

Play 1.2: Chimes (I - V) (2:27)

Rob: Chimes 2.

Sound of tinkly chimes

Rob (whispered): I have a lot of masks now. There's the plain grey one. The dinosaur one. The leaf one that Anne made. The cosmic one that took forever to get from the online EDM store. The one that someone just sent me that was plain black. The ones you need to tie. Oh, the ones the building I live in gave me. Three months into this, I think it's better to have so many than none, but at least have one and wear it. Wear it correctly. 

Play 2: Interactions I Wish I Could Have in My New Job (3:22)

Joey: Interactions I Wish I Could Have in My New Job as a Simulated Patient. GO!

There is a gentle, lilting music that re-sets after every 2-pop.

Yolanda: Hello! I'm Yolanda, I'm a medical student. I’ll be talking with you about what’s bothering you today.

Joey: Sure thing.

Yolanda: Can you confirm your name for me?

Joey: Matthew Rogers.

Yolanda: Shall I call you Mister Rogers?

Joey: Heh. “Mister Rogers.”

2-pop.

Yolanda: Shall I call you Mister Rogers?

Joey: Matt is fine. 

Yolanda: Okay, Matt. My note says you woke up in a puddle of your own urine?

Joey: I never said it was mine.

2-pop.

Yolanda: My note says you woke up in a puddle of your own urine?

Joey: Yep.

Yolanda: When you woke up, did you notice that you had bitten your tongue?

Joey: Are you insinuating that I did this to myself?

2-pop.

Yolanda: Did you notice that you had bitten your tongue?

Joey: No, my tongue’s fine.

Yolanda: What do you do for a living?

Joey: I’m a cop.

Yolanda: That must be stressful.

Joey: Not as stressful as being a black person in America.

Yolanda: What?

2-pop.

Yolanda: That must be stressful.

Joey: I guess so.

Yolanda: Do you struggle with depression?

Joey: I’m actually pretty good at it.

2-pop.

Yolanda: Do you struggle with depression?

Joey: Nah.

Yolanda: Any past surgeries?

Joey: I had a mole removed.

Yolanda: Where?

Joey: New Jersey.

2-pop.

Yolanda: Where?

Joey: On my back.

Yolanda: Do you have any edema?

Joey: What’s edema?

Yolanda: BITCH, I KNOW YOU GET ASKED THIS 8 TIMES A DAY. STOP PLAYING DUMB AND ANSWER THE FUCKING--

2-pop.

Joey: What’s edema?

Yolanda: Swelling.

Joey: No, no swelling.

Yolanda: Do you exercise?

Joey: Every day.

Yolanda: Haha. Really? Because your body looks like someone dropped ice cream on a hot sidewalk.

2-pop.

Joey: Every day.

Yolanda: That’s great. Any trouble with your vision?

Joey: No.

Yolanda: How about your hearing?

Joey: WHAT?

2-pop.

Yolanda: How about your hearing?

Joey: It’s fine.

Yolanda: How’s your mentation? Are you seeing or hearing things that aren’t there?

Joey: How would I know?

2-pop.

Yolanda: Do you smoke, Matt?

Joey: No.

Yolanda: Do you drink?

Joey: Not at all.

Yolanda: You don’t drink?

Joey: Nope.

Yolanda: Didn’t you say you were a cop?

Joey: Look, I didn’t write this shit.

2-pop.

Yolanda: Do you drink?

Joey: Not at all.

Yolanda: Do you use any illicit drugs?

Joey: Are YOU a fucking cop, Yolanda?

2-pop.

Yolanda: Do you use any illicit drugs?

Joey: No.

Yolanda: Okay, great. I’d like to do a physical exam now. Do you mind if I wash my hands?

Joey: ARE YOU, A MEDICAL STUDENT, SERIOUSLY GOING TO STAND HERE IN FRONT OF GOD AND EVERYBODY & ASK PERMISSION TO WASH YOUR HANDS DURING A PANDEMIC--

2-pop.

Yolanda: Before we begin the physical, is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Joey: Yes. I’d like you to be a pallbearer at my funeral.

Yolanda: A pallbearer?

Joey: Yeah, so you can let me down ONE LAST TIME.

A howling crowd acknowledges this siq burn, with DJ horns, interrupted by a 2-pop.

Yolanda: Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

Joey: No.

Yolanda: Okay. I’m going to start by looking into your eyes.

Joey: Yes, and I’m going to look into your eyes!

Yolanda: Just look straight ahead, sir.

Joey: Oh.

2-pop.

Yolanda: I’m going to listen to your heart.

Joey: Inside you will hear yearning. Love. Grief. A bottomless capacity for...

Yolanda: Please stop talking.

Joey: Oh.

2-pop.

Yolanda: I’m going to listen to your heart.

Joey: Okay.

Yolanda: Can you please remove your gown?

Joey: [coquettish modesty] Doctor!

2-pop.

Yolanda: Can you please remove your gown?

Joey: Okay.

Yolanda: Nice tattoo. Does it mean anything?

Joey: Yeah, it means I killed a med student for asking too many fuckin’ questions.

2-pop.

Yolanda: Does it mean anything?

Joey: It’s just body art.

Yolanda: Okay, your heart sounds fine. I’m going to conduct a neurological examination now. Have you ever had a neuro exam?

Joey: I’m a simulated patient. This is my seventh neuro exam just today.

2-pop.

Yolanda: Have you ever had a neuro exam?

Joey: No.

Yolanda: Can you tell me your name?

Joey: Mister Rogers. Heh. “Mister Rogers.”

2-pop.

Yolanda: Can you tell me your name?

Joey: Matthew Rogers.

Yolanda: Can you tell me the date?

Joey: Who the fuck knows the date anymo-

2-pop.

Joey: August 15th. 

Yolanda: Good. Do you know where we are?

Joey: The medical simulation center.

Yolanda: Mmhm. And can you tell me who the president is? 

Joey: What the fuck is wrong with you?

2-pop.

Yolanda: Can you tell me who the president is?

Joey: The president of what, Yolanda?? THE PRESIDENT OF W-

2-pop.

Yolanda: Can you tell me who the president is?

Joey: Can you please just ask me this again in three months?

2-pop.

Yolanda: Let’s test the strength in your upper extremities. I’m going to hold your hand now. Can you squeeze my hand? Sir? Sir? Can you squeeze my hand?

Joey: Yes.

Yolanda: Go ahead. Squeeze.

Joey: I’m afraid if I do, we’ll stop holding hands.

Music swells and fades into the sound of ocean surf.

Play 1.3: Chimes (I - V) (7:53)

Rob: Chimes 3. 

Sound of bigger chimes

Rob: I ate a nectarine. It was very sweet. I had cut it into 4 pieces, because I wanted to give you one. But you weren't there. 

Play 3: Audio Experiments Experiments: Experiment no.1 (8:16)

Anthony: Audio Experiments Experiments: Experiment no.1. GO!

A sine wave

Anthony: a sine wave. a pure tone. Fluctuating four hundred times a second. 

Yael: Quickly up, quickly down, quickly up, quickly down. We tend to be a bit more complex than a pure tone.

Wave becomes complex

Anthony: We can shift faster than four hundred times a second

Tone raises pitch

Yael: And we can go slower

Tone lowers

Anthony: How fast is your heart right now?

Yael: About 80 beats per minute.

Anthony: Mine’s about one beat per second

New higher tone enters

Anthony: and also a thousand

The two tones meet in the middle

Anthony: What’s the closest you’ve felt to a person?

Yael: Lying face to face with my left side on his right side, so our hearts met in the middle.

Anthony: Have you ever felt so close that that closeness started to push against itself?

Yael: Almost always. When I think about it too much.

The two tones separate to establish a beat

Anthony: When two tones are close enough, a beating occurs. An aural artifact of that nearness. These waves, these tones, rejoicing in their proximity. But also a declaration of difference. Proof that they are not wholly aligned. Keying us to the separation in its parts. 

Tones bring out new beats as they move apart

Yael: Anthony, do you feel like one of the tones?

Anthony: Probably just sitting in the beating. You?

Yael: Yeah. Maybe somewhere right in the middle.

Tones morph back to one complex tone, then back to a sine wave, then a filter sweep out

Play 1.4: Chimes (I - V) (10:48)

Rob: Chimes 4. 

Sound of wooden chimes

Rob: Shhhhh. Shhhh. It is scary. But for now, (sigh) I don't know. 

Show Outro

Groovy electronic instrumental music plays underneath.

Julia: Thanks for Hitting Play and then listening to Hit Play. If you liked what you heard, subscribe to the show and tell a friend! If you want to support the New York Neo-Futurists in other ways, consider making a donation at nynf.org, or joining our Patreon–Patreon.com/NYNF. Patreon membership gives you access to bonus content like video plays and upcoming livestreams. And if this episode gets over 1,000 downloads, we'll order one of our Patreon supporters a pizza on us. We’d really appreciate any support in these difficult times. Contributing to our Patreon helps us continue to pay our artists. 

Take care of yourself, send a letter to a long lost lover in the mail, and share it with us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

This episode featured work by: Rob Neill, Joey Rizzolo featuring Yolanda Kay Wilkinson, with music by Avery Rizzolo. And Anthony Sertel Dean, featuring Yael Haskel. Our logo was designed by Shelton Lindsay. And our sound is designed by Anthony Sertel Dean. Hit Play is produced by Anthony Sertel Dean, Léah Miller, and me, Julia Melfi. Take Care!

Music fades out!

Audio Crime with Cecil Baldwin (12:30)

Cecil: Audio Crime. GO!

Sound effect of camera zooming in and focusing. 

Cecil: Thirty seconds of crime. In real time. Jeff (bleep). Copyright infringement. 

Sound of typing and sighs. Muttering to self. "I don't know about this one. That's the one." Sniff. "Okay, yeah, 1 2 3 there we go, okay alright."

Cecil: Why did you do it? 

Someone: I'm recording an audiobook of a popular young adult fantasy series that I don't have the rights to. It's not Harry Potter. 

Sound effect of camera zooming in and focusing. 

Play 1.5: Chimes (I - V) (13:33)

Rob: Chimes 5. 

Sound of resonant chimes

Rob: It rained so much, so unexpectedly. And my shoes got so wet. But I enjoyed the squishy squish squish as I walked walked down the hall. Shh. Shh.