SOUND


 

-what we hear-what we hear with-what we feel when we hear-

 

 

What we hear:

The vibrations of a body submerged in a fluid and, characteristically, in the air, are transmitted to the molecules of its surroundings, which spread the disturbance created via longitudinal waves or small periodic compressions of the fluid.

Sound does not exist in a vacuum. We can only receive sounds generated in the atmosphere of our planet.

Loudness:

The loudness of a sound is the energy it carries. Together with tone, it is one of the magnitudes that characterises sound.

Tone:

We perceive the frequencies of sound in different ways. Sounds of greater frequency are perceived with sharper sensations.

Timbre:

When a body produces sound, it vibrates at several frequencies. The different strengths of these frequencies form a characteristic group which we recognise as timbre. Only tuning forks vibrate at a single frequency.

An empty glass, correctly designed and made, is a three-dimensional tuning fork and so extremely sensitive to sound. The frequency at which it vibrates and its timbre vary according to the amount of liquid it contains.

Shouts and whispers:

Since we are immersed in the flux of air, we are subjected to every sound that is generated around us, and background noise, the product of countless sources of low sounds, like those of living organisms or of liquids in motion.

 

What we hear with:

Hearing is the sense and the ear the organ by which we perceive sounds.

When sounds reach the outer part of the organ, the ear flap picks them up and directs them to the middle ear where they act upon a membrane called the eardrum which, in turn, sets a chain of tiny specialised bones in motion.

The brain processes all the signals received and compares the flux with sounds previously heard, which are filed away in our memory.

Human beings are able to identify previously heard sounds and to educate the ear, like the other senses, for example the taste.

 

What we feel when we hear:

Sounds inform us about the characteristics of the world around us which cannot be captured by the other senses.

They generate complex emotions which cannot be erased from our spirit. Only music and loud noises which startle us, have an influence on us. Murmurs and whispers are ranges of low-strength, low-frequency sounds, inextricably associated with vital processes. Sound suggests and informs us about movement, from the ticking of a clock to the flowing of a river.

The pouring of wine, the slight murmur of its swirling in the glass, the whisper of the bubbles breaking on the surface of a sparkling wine are sensations we are barely aware of but which shape our mood and prepare the rest of our senses for analysis. The extreme sensitivity of our hearing and its influence on our overall perception makes it possible to state that: Tasting “in the dark” is possible but not tasting “in silence”.

In tasting, therefore, sounds are signs that sharpen our perception. This is why a complex, rich language has not been generated around them to enable us to express the sound sensations of our experiences. Music, which is the highest intellectual expression of sound, has done this job more than adequately.

 

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