The Father of Acoustic Ecology

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

We also have louder sounds. Nothing in nature would be dangerous to your hearing. I tell my students that God was the first great acoustical engineer. He knew, or she knew, how to produce organisms so that the sounds of, say, thunder and lightning wouldn't do you any damage; it's a loud sound, but it happens infrequently, and you can listen to a sound of 100 decibels once in a while. But if you're listening to 100 decibels all day long, you're going to destroy your hearing. Humans produce the destructive sounds, and we use them as weapons too.

You mean the way the military uses psyops?

The Army is using them in Iraq. Before they go in and root out insurgents, they'll play heavy metal music for 24 hours at 150 decibels or more just to drive people crazy. Even in ancient times, armies used to make a lot of noise when they went into battle to frighten the enemy. They beat their swords against they shields and they chanted. It's been used all through history. Noise can frighten. Noise can destroy.

You've referred to cities as "sonic sewers." Why?

By "sonic sewer," I mean an overpopulation of sounds. Instead of a hi-fi soundscape -- one in which everything is clear and you can hear all the different sounds, the soft ones as well as the loud ones -- in the city you tend to get a low-frequency soundscape. There's just too much happening, and you can't sort out all the details: cars going by, the helicopter overhead, people shouting, music pouring out of a shop.

Another thing that's been lost in cities is what I call long-distance hearing. When you're in the city, practically everything you're listening to is within 10 feet; otherwise, it's going to be smothered by something that is within 10 feet.

In the past, distant sounds were important because they brought information. The postman blew a whole cycle of codes on his horn to tell you whether he was bringing express mail or local mail, whether he was bringing two passengers who wanted to get off for lunch, whether he wanted a change of horses. All that would be signaled ahead from several miles away.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print