The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World
Page 31
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 specialsales@wwnorton.com 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.
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