The perceived sonic environment

Matt Jackson

Introduction

‘The great celestial bodies of the universe are so great in number and in size, are moving with so rapid a motion, how should they not produce a sound immensely great?’ (1993 p.39)

‘The sound is in our ears from the very moment of birth and is thus indistinguishable from its contrary silence, since sound and silence are discriminated by mutual contrast.’ (1993 p.39)

-Aristotle

Introduction

What is the subjective perception of sonic environment?

How does aural perception respond to changes in sonic environment?

Subjective aural perception

The ability to hear a sound is no more hearing than looking is seeing.

‘We don’t hear sounds, in the sense of recognizing them, until shortly after we have perceived them’(Chion, 1990 p.13)

‘Clap your hands sharply and listen to the resulting sound. Hearing - namely the synthesized apprehension of a small fragment of the auditory event, consigned to memory - will follow the event very closely, it will not be totally simultaneous with it’(Chion, 1990 p.13)

Subjective aural perception

Sound that makes it past the eardrum is analysed in short retrospect and this requires a certain level of mental attention, or it will not be consciously heard.

A sound must move the ear drum and be consciously analysed to be consciously heard.

Perceived sonic environment is built from that which is consciously heard.

Subjective aural perception

What Determines whether we pay attention to a sound?

• Dynamic contrast (Addition, removal, transients)

• Context (Juxtaposition, expectation)

• Mental state (Listening, preoccupation, sensitivity)

Subjective aural perception

How does being born into a particular sonic environment affect these requirements?

EXPECTATION SENSITIVITY

MENTAL STATE CONTEXT

DYNAMIC RANGE

Examining the impact of the contemporary sonic environment may help in finding an answer.

Industrial Revolution

• Introducing sounds of industry, circa 1820• Contrasts with nature, disturbs

• Balance swings away from nature circa 1900

• Futurism• Marinetti, Russolo + Intonarumori

• New aesthetic and creative material• Excitement, intrigue

(2008 p.34)

Industrial revolution• For the futurists, this fresh palette of sounds were

new and exciting.

• For those born into it, it was mundane.

• Therefore there is less excitement to counterbalance the negative attributes of industrial noise.

• ‘Ultimately the throb of machine began to intoxicate man everywhere with its incessant vibrations’

(Schafer, 2008 p.31)

Industrial Revolution

As more people are born into the sonic environment, it:

• Draws attention

• Provides excitement and creative material

• Begins to become mundane

• Begins to irritate

Noise Pollution

That irritation is now referred to as noise pollution

Up to 20% of EU citizens may be at risk due to noise pollution, caused by physical damage, disturbance of sleep or stress (DEFRA, 2008)

Why do we accept it?

DesensitisationReynolds’ noise-music desensitization:

Traditional music subconsciously implies that any tragedy or sadness is resolved, whereas noise - music only concerns grief, terror and horror. We subsequently associate unpleasing sounds with negative feeling and through being exposed to noise-music we become accustomed to that level of ‘noise/horror’. (2008 p.57)

‘The problem is that, as with any drug or intoxicant, tolerance builds up rapidly.’ (Reynolds, 2008 p.57)

We can apply Reynolds theory to our everyday sonic environment

This leads us to the potential that we become accustomed to the level of noise pollution around us and it ceases to disturb us, or at least has less impact on our senses

Desensitisation

Becoming less sensitive to volume, in terms of subjective perception, effectively reduces the dynamic range of the sonic environment.

This means a sound needs to be louder to enter into our perceived sonic environment.

We can potentially cease to hear certain sounds.

SensitizationSenses adjust to the sonic environment.

Anechoic chambers are a good example.

‘Silence is a truly rare things. All reverberation is removed… all sounds that aren’t coming from your own body disappear. After a few moments in the anechoic chamber, you’ll begin to feel a touch jumpy. Hearing your heartbeat, your blood pulse, the sounds of your own ear buzzing and your body functioning like you’ve never heard before has a tendency to be a bit unnerving.’ (Middlemiss, 2007)

Musica Human

A term coined by Pythagoras to describe the sound made by the functioning of a human organism.(1993 p.31)

The very fact this can be heard shows we attune to the dynamic range of our sonic environment and perhaps other qualities of the sonic environment.

Post Industrialism

Shift in economical structure

Less manufacturing, more administration and services.

Fewer factories, fewer noisy machines.

More pre-fabrication, less construction noise.

Digital era

Mechanical objects replaces with digital ones.

Hum of fans..

Buzz of electrical current..

Ever-present, low level noise pollution.

Evident in contemporary music with aesthetic and tools.

Comparing perception

Sounds of the industrial age:

• Drew attention• Provided excitement, inspiration and creative

material• Grew familiar and mundane• Grew irritating and threatening• Caused desensitisation• Became frequently excluded from perceived sonic

environment

Comparing perception

Post industrial and digital age:

• Drew our attention.• Became exciting, providing artistic material.• Has been recognised as a pollution.• We are desensitised to it.• Its removal is unnerving, we find its presence relaxing.

Example 1 Example 2

Conclusion

Aristotle was correct in believing that it is possible to become so accustomed to a sound that we no longer distinguish it from silence.

The sonic environment is not the same as the perceived sonic environment.

There are several stages of reaction to a new sonic environment that have the potential to be anticipated and accounted for, within noise policing and sonic art.