The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World

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The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World Page 31

by Trevor Cox

pipistrelle

  pitch

  perceived

  playgrounds

  pleasantness

  Pliny the Elder

  Plot, Robert

  pneumatic drill

  Point Law

  Polo, Marco

  polysyllabic echo

  Pong

  Popular Mechanics

  pororoca

  prefrontal cortex

  Presley, Elvis

  Prior, David

  prisms

  propellers

  psychology

  puffins

  pyramids, Mayan

  qanat

  Qiantang River

  quetzal bird

  Radau, Rodolphe

  radomes

  Raman, C. V.

  Rasmuson Theater

  Ratcliffe, Eleanor

  Rattle, Simon

  Rayleigh, Lord

  RCA

  recording studios

  reflections

  of clap

  of nonporous rocks

  rapidity of

  in Teufelsberg radome

  of whispers

  see also echo(es)

  reflectors

  undulating

  reflexes

  Reformation

  Regent’s Park

  Reich, Steve

  Remembrance Day

  reservoirs

  resonance, in small spaces

  resonant hum

  Resonant Spaces tour

  restaurants

  retreat

  “reverb,”

  reverberation:

  architectural acoustics and

  balance in

  in bathrooms

  in concert halls

  echo vs.

  electronic

  music enhanced by

  of reservoirs

  in sewer

  speech made inaudible by

  reverberation time:

  acoustic absorption and

  of Boston Symphony Hall

  under bridges

  in cathedrals

  of caves

  of concert halls

  of Dan Harpole Cistern

  definition of

  of Festival Hall

  of forests

  of Gol Gumbaz

  at Hamilton Mausoleum

  at Inchindown

  physical volume and

  refined measurement of

  Sabine’s equation of

  speech and

  of Taj Mahal

  of Tomba Emmanuelle

  at Wormit reservoir

  Reznikoff, Iegor

  Rhapsody in Blue (Gershwin)

  Richardson, Joseph

  Ridgeway

  Rio Araguari

  rituals

  River Clyde

  Robin, Brian

  robins

  Rochdale Canal

  rock art

  rock gong

  rock harmonicon

  rocks, reflection of

  Rodriguez

  Rolland, Rosalind

  Roman theaters

  romantic music

  Rome

  rooks

  rooms, living vs. dead

  rosewood xylophone

  Ross, Doctor

  Rossini, Gioachino

  Ross Sea

  Rouffignac Cave

  Royal Albert Hall

  Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

  Royal Festival Hall

  Royal Institute of British Architects

  Royal Navy

  Royal Northern College of Music

  rural places

  Ruskin, John

  Ryan, Lisa

  Sabine, Wallace Clement

  equation of

  St. Andrew’s Church

  St. Helens, Mount

  St. James

  St. Louis Union Station

  St. Mary-le-Bow Church

  St. Matthew Passion

  St. Nikolas

  St. Pancras

  St. Paul’s Cathedral

  St. Thomas Church

  Salford

  Salford University

  Salter, Linda-Ruth

  Salvador, Brazil

  Sampson, Captain

  Sánchez-Dehesa, José

  sand

  sand dunes, singing by

  sandstone

  San Francisco, Calif.

  San Francisco Bay Area

  Sarah

  Saturn V rocket

  Sauvageot, Pierre

  saxophone

  scatter cushions

  Schaafsma, Polly

  Schafer, Murray

  Schaffert, Martin

  Schonberg, Harold C.

  schoolchildren

  schools, open-plan

  Science Museum

  Scott, Robert Falcon

  Scroby Sands

  seals

  Sefton, Clare

  self-hypnosis

  Seljalandsfoss

  semitones

  Sempere, Eusebio

  Seneca, Lake

  Seneca guns

  sensory deprivation

  September, terrorist attacks of

  Serengeti

  Serra, Richard

  Severn Estuary

  sewers

  acoustics of

  reverberation in

  spiralling noise in

  Shackleton, Ernest

  Sharp, David

  Shazam

  Shearer, Ken

  Sheffield

  shipping noise

  shock waves

  shrimpoluminescence

  Si Applied

  Siberia

  Sicily

  Silbury Hill

  silence

  in anechoic chambers

  in arts

  in flotation tank

  retreat for

  in space

  spirituality of

  Silent World, The (Cousteau)

  silt

  silvereye

  Simmons-Duffin, David

  Simpsons, The

  Singh, Simon

  singing, by sand dunes

  Singing Fool, The

  sirens

  Skyscape

  Slabbekoorn, Hans

  slapback echo

  slate

  sléndro scale

  smart phones

  smell

  Smith, Peter

  Smithsonian Institution

  Smoo Cave

  Snake

  snapping shrimp

  sneakers

  snowy tree cricket

  social bonding

  sodar

  soft fascination

  sonar

  songbirds, see birdsong

  sonic booms

  sonic crystals

  SonicWonders.org

  sound(s):

  annoying

  as artistic medium

  beautiful

  color and

  designers of

  iconic

  interference with

  natural, see natural sounds

  speed of

  transportation

  unnatural

  world records in

  sound artwork

  sound effects

  soundmarks

  Soundscape, The (Schafer)

  soundwalks

  sound waves

  source broadening

  Southern Ocean

  Southey, Robert

  South London

  Soviet Union

  space, silence of

  space telescopes

  spacewalk

  Spector, Phil

  spectrogram

  speech

  made inaudible by reverberations

  reverberation time and

  spherical rooms

  see also Mapparium

  Spiegelei (Finer)

  Spire of Dublin

  spirituality

  Sprinkle, Leland W.

  spruce trees


  Squeaky Beach

  Staffa

  staircases

  “Stairway to Heaven,”

  stalactites

  Star Ferry

  startle response

  Star Trek

  Star Wars

  Statue of Liberty

  Stefanova, Dessislava

  Stirling Prize

  Stockhausen, Karlheinz

  stone circles

  Stonehenge

  Stoppani, George

  stress

  stridulation

  Strokkur

  Subterranea Britannica

  Süleymaniye Mosque

  Sung Dynasty

  Sun Records

  Superstition Mountains

  Suzuki, Akio

  Svalbard archipelago

  Svartifoss

  swallowtails

  Symphony Hall (Boston)

  Syracuse

  tadpoles

  Taj Mahal

  tamarisk

  targeted illumination

  Tatton Park

  tautological echo

  Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

  Teatro La Fenice

  TEDx event

  telephones

  “Tennessee Waltz,”

  terracing, vineyard

  Tess of the d’Urbervilles (Hardy)

  Teufelsberg

  theaters

  Theory of Sound, The (Rayleigh)

  Thomaskirche

  Thorpe Marsh Power Station

  Through the Ages Magazine

  thunder

  tidal forces

  Tidoni, Davide

  tiles

  Till, Rupert

  Times (London)

  tinnitus

  Titan

  Titanic

  Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Bach)

  Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space

  Tomba Emmanuelle

  touch

  traffic

  trains

  train stations

  tranquillity index

  transportation noises

  Treasure, Julian

  trees, wind in

  Trevor-Jones, David

  trombone

  Tschiffely, Aimé

  tunnels

  turbulence

  Turkey

  Turmstrasse

  Turrell, James

  Twain, Mark

  Twilight Prisoner, The (Marsh)

  2001: A Space Odyssey

  tympanic membranes

  Typhoon jet fighters

  Ulrich, Roger

  ultrasound

  Umnova, Olga

  Underground Overlays from the Cistern Chapel

  Under the Greenwood Tree (Hardy)

  underwater

  undulating reflectors

  United Kingdom, noise in

  United States, noise in

  unnatural sounds

  urban noise

  urban planning

  urban settings

  Vancouver

  van der Schoot, Arjen

  vases

  Venezuela

  Venice

  Venice Beach, Calif.

  Venus

  Verne, Jules

  Versluis, Michel

  vibrancy

  vibrations

  Victoria, Queen of England

  video games

  videos, software for distorted soundtracks of

  Viennese Music Association

  Vigeland, Emanuel

  Viipuri Library

  Villa Simonetta

  vineyard terracing

  violins

  Virgil

  vision:

  danger and

  underwater

  visual:

  active vs. passive

  dominance of

  Vitruvius

  Vittala Temple

  vocal folds

  vocal sac

  volcanoes

  Vriend, Nathalie

  Vyrnwy, Lake

  Wagner, Richard

  Wainwright, Martin

  Wales

  Waller, Steven

  Wallis, James

  warbling

  Ward, Mel

  water

  water boatmen

  waterfalls

  Watson, Chris

  Watts, Greg

  Wayland’s Smithy

  Wellington bombers

  Westerkamp, Hildegard

  western movies

  Westminster Chimes

  Wetherill, Ewart

  whales

  whip

  whipbirds

  whispering arches

  whispering dishes

  whispering dome, of Capitol

  whispering galleries

  whispering wall

  whispers:

  in Cathedral of Girgenti

  reflections of

  white-crowned sparrows

  Whitehaven Beach

  Whitehouse, Andrew

  white noise

  Whitney, Heather

  Whitsunday Island

  Wilde, Oscar

  “William Tell Overture” (Rossini)

  wind, in trees

  wind chimes

  wind instruments

  Windows

  wine bottles

  wineglasses

  Wonders of Acoustics (Radau)

  wood pigeons

  World War I

  World War II

  Wormit water reservoir

  Wren, Christopher

  Wright, Matthew

  X Factor

  xylophone:

  ice

  rosewood

  Yorkshire Sculpture Park

  Yosemite Falls

  Young, Thomas

  Yuan

  Zadar

  Zempoala

  zone plates

  More Praise for

  The Sound Book

  “[Cox] lets his ears guide him on an adventure to track down quirky, extreme and historically venerated phenomena of our sonic universe. . . . [Y]ou do not need to be an acoustic engineer . . . to be awed. . . . The most lasting impact of Mr. Cox’s book is a gentle reminder to pay attention to—and value—everyday sounds.”

  —Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times

  “This small encyclopedia of strange sounds reveals how much art there is in the act of listening. Reading it made my ears more mindful.”

  —Adam Gopnik

  “[A] fun but thoroughly detailed scientific tour through some of the world’s aural gems. Sounds like music to our ears.”

  —New Scientist

  “Captivating. . . . This book does not call for quiet, but for good sound over bad. . . . Reading this revelatory book, it is impossible not to be converted to his cause.”

  —Sunday Times

  “[Cox’s] knowledge is unimpeachable yet worn lightly, [his] language is vivid yet without indulgence.”

  —Observer

  “A must-read for musicians, producers, sound engineers and nerds of all kinds.”

  —Lauren Laverne, DJ at BBC6 Music

  “In this riveting ear-opener, Trevor Cox describes in lyrical detail a range of sonic events and new ways of listening that can only brighten our experience of the acoustic world around us. A must-read for sound-lovers of all stripes.”

  —Bernie Krause, author of The Great Animal Orchestra

  “A technological travelogue conducted by an expert tour guide, bursting with aural arcana that adds just the right amount of tech-savvy detail, The Sound Book brings into relief a world often obscured in our image-heavy existence. . . . [A] real rush.”

  —Greg Milner, author of Perfecting Sound Forever

  “In a world dominated by the visual, the book inspires readers to attune their ears with the diverse sounds of everyday life.”

  —Marian Sandberg, Studio Live Design

  “From its first page to its last, The Sound Book invites readers to close their
eyes and open their ears to the sounds, both normal and peculiar, that surround us all.”

  —Sid Perkins, Science News Magazine

  Copyright © 2014 by Trevor Cox

  First American Edition 2014

  First published as a Norton paperback 2015

  Published in Great Britain by The Bodley Head under the title Sonic Wonderland: A Scientific Odyssey of Sound

  Illustration credits: Unless otherwise stated, images are drawn by Trevor and Nathan Cox. Richard Deane took the Aeolus photograph (Figure 4.1). The cat piano image (Figure 5.1) is courtesy of CNUM, Conservatoire Numérique des Arts et Métiers, http://cnum.cnam.fr, La Nature, 1883, p. 320. The satellite image of clouds showing airflow around Alejandro Selkirk Island (Figure 8.7) is © NASA ­Goddard Photo and Video’s photo stream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5638320696/in/photostream, accessed January 9, 2013.

  All rights reserved

  For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at [email protected] or 800-233-4830

  Book design by Chris Welch

  Production manager: Devon Zahn

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

  Cox, Trevor J.

  The sound book : the science of the sonic wonders of the world /

  Trevor Cox. — First American edition.

  pages cm

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 978-0-393-23979-9 (hardcover)

  1. Sounds—Popular works. 2. Noise—Popular works. I. Title.

  QC225.3.C69 2014

  550.1′534—dc23

  2013034491

  ISBN 978-0-393-24282-9 (e-book)

  ISBN 978-0-393-35058-6 pbk.

  W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

  500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

  www.wwnorton.com

  W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

  Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

 

 

 


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