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The role of sound in communication
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Sound a Sign of Life
Five year old John nervously roams around the crowded store scanning for his mom. He shouts for her but gets no response. After 15 seconds he hears that familiar voice that he has heard all throughout his life, and gets the sense of hope and relief. The story Auscultation by Steven Church connects scenes of trapped miners communicating with rescuers by sound. As well as scenes of stethoscopes functioning on humans listening for the sound of life. Sound is a form of communication between one another which helps identifying and perceiving the condition of life. In severe times such as the six miners missing by the Cave in at the Crandall Canyon coal mine in Utah, sound is an effective way to know the existence of the miners.
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“They pound and pound, but background noise on the surface interferes... The men write notes to family members, seal them in a metal lunch box, and wait to die” (Steven Church 240-245/14). When you can't be heard you get the sense of death. Although when you hear sound and are heard, people get the sense of life. “He listens, his hands on the machine, until he finally hears or feels the rhythmic noise of the trapped men hammering at the steel. Above them, on the outside, the expectant wives and mothers rejoice” (Steven Church 264-269/15). The operator hears the fair sound of steel getting hammered on and realizes that it was the alive trapped miners. The miners pounding on the steel gave hope to the drill operator and the miners families that the miners were still alive. If the miners did not pound on the steel, the possibility of them getting saved would be low because the people on the surface would know if the miners were even alive. Therefore, sound being used as a form of communication to know the condition of life is
This may happen unconsciously, as is usually the case with soft background noise such as the whoosh of air through heating ducts or the distant murmur of an electric clothes dryer. Sometimes hearing is done semi-consciously; for instance, the roar of a piece of construction equipment might momentarily draw one's attention. Conscious hearing, or listening, involves a nearly full degree of mental concentration. A familiar instance in which listening takes place would be a casual conversation with a friend or colleague. In such cases, the sound waves entering the ear are transferred to the brain, which then
Let Me Hear Your Voice is about a woman who has a daughter named Anne-Marie. Anne-Marie seems to be developing normally. Slowly the little girl begins to withdraw and perform repetitive tasks. Worried that something is seriously wrong with her two year old daughter, Catherine takes her to several different doctors, starting with her pediatrician. This doctor recommends that Catherine take Anne-Marie to a specialist, who diagnoses her with “Infantile Autism.” Several other professionals agree with this conclusion. After doing a great deal of research, Catherine decides to start a home based program for her daughter. Anne-Marie goes through a series of different therapies and eventually “recovers.” During this time period, Catherine becomes pregnant and has a happy baby boy. His name is Michel. Again, around the age of one and a half, Michel begins to decrease his talking and to throw severe temper tantrums. Catherine, now being able to relate to some of the symptoms, take Michel to the specialists. Several of them agree o...
The human ability to perceive sound is often taken for granted and is erroneously considered, by most, to be secondary in importance to sight. It is true that our primary understanding of the world develops through sight, but sound is responsible for our ability to communicate with one another through both concrete and abstract means, as well as for defining the nuances that shape our surroundings. Without sound, humans would be alienated in their own uncertainty; unable to express the fears and aspirations which are common to our condition. Sound has the unique ability to transcend boundaries, cultures, and ideologies through speech, music, and the noises which we distinguish categorically through memory and experience. It is this transcendental quality of sound which Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck chose as a central theme in the film “The Lives of Others”. The film expresses beautifully the effect that music and language have upon our ability to feel empathy and compassion. The use of sound in the film explores the human potential for change and transformation from our basest instincts toward nobler causes.
Tanner, D.C. (2003). Chapter 6: Hearing Loss and Deafness. In Exploring communication disorders: A 21st century introduction through literature and media (2nd ed., p.192). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.
Since 4000 B.C, sound lights and magnets has been considered one of the most powerful universal forces. Egyptians Pyramids, Greek Asclepian temples, and the Gothic styles of cathedrals and churches has been built near sea or river, which contains relaxing, therapeutic sounds. Some say these were our first hospitals and recovery centers, with priests and priestesses serving as medical staff (Mandara Cromwell). Dating back to 40,000 years ago, the first people known to use the sounds for healing rituals were known as didgeridoo. For an individual that attracted a disease would potentially jeopardize their group’s chance of survival by slowing the group’s advancement. Therefore, it was imperative for the afflicted individual to return to adequate
In Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, sound is used as an effect to scare people and create a “spooky” feeling. They used the sounds of a storm with rain and thunder, the sound of footsteps coming up from behind people, and other noises like creaky stairs, floors, and doors. This created that “haunted” or “spooky” feeling that would be used over and over again in horror films for decades. When they used sound effects, it was to emphasize that something was either happening or about to happen.
At a young age, Bell started to recreate the sound of the human voice, “At the age of 16, he built a talking machine from rubber and strips of tin. He could make the device’s tin strips vibrate and produce bl...
Published in 2005, Jonathan Foer's fiction novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close takes it's readers on an intriguing journey into the life of a boy named Oskar Schell. The novel follows the nine-year old as he travels around all of New York City in search of secrets behind a mysterious key and the connection it has to his father, Thomas Schell, who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. On his journey, Oskar accumulates many friends who aid Oskar’s grief as he aids them with theirs. As Oskar’s story blossoms, so do those of his Grandfather and Grandmother, who co-narrate the story with their grandson. These three narrations come together to introduce and develop a theme of grief. All characters within the novel grieve over something. They grieve of the loss of a father, a son, a sister; they are grieving over a marriage that lacks love; they are grieving for solutions that can never be resolved. Foer uses an assortment of characters to acknowledge a theme of grief that is slowly eliminated by Oskar’s uplifting spirit.
The cacophony of differently pitched screams, screeches and yelps are piercing through my eardrums, like the Tower of Babel. However, not all of what I can hear is beastly. The cheeky giggles of children an...
...11). Sound Upon Sound: The Conversation. [Online] Available from Sound on Sight: http://www.soundonsight.org/sound-upon-sound-the-conversation/ [Accessed 05 February 2012]
When a sound is made a vibration is sent through the air. The vibrations are let off by the source, and this leads to something such as an ear to pick up the noise. Once the detector has picked up the wave, the wave must be ...
What distinguishes sound waves from most other waves is that humans easily can perceive the frequency and amplitude of the wave. The frequency governs the pitch of the note produced, while the amplitude relates to the sound le...
Suddenly I awake at the noise of sirens and people yelling my name. Where am I? Those words radiate out my thoughts but never touching my lips. Panic engulfs me, but I am restricted to the stretcher. “Are you ok?” said the paramedic. I am dazed, confused, and barely aware of my surroundings. Again “Yes, I am fine” races from my thoughts down to my mouth, but nothing was heard. Then, there was darkness.
She slammed the door behind her. Her face was hot as she grabbed her new perfume and flung it forcefully against the wall. That was the perfume that he had bought for her. She didn't want it anymore. His voice coaxed from the other side of the door. She shouted at him to get away. Throwing herself on the bed and covering her face with one of his shirts, she cried. His voice coaxed constantly, saying Carol, let me in. Let me explain.' She shouted out no!' Then cried some more. Time passed with each sob she made. When she caught herself, there was no sound on the other side of the door. A long silence stood between her and the door. Maybe she had been too hard on him, she thought. Maybe he really had a good explanation. She hesitated before she walked toward the door and twisted the handle. Her heart was crying out to her at this moment. He wasn't there. She called out his name. "Thomas!" Her cries were interrupted by the revving of an engine in the garage. She made it to the window in time to see his Volvo back out the yard. "Thomas! Thomas....wait!" Her cries vanished into thin air as the Volvo disappeared around the bend. Carol grew really angry all of a sudden. How could he leave? He'll sleep on the couch when he gets back. Those were her thoughts.
These simple forms of music expanded and the need to invent new instruments were created through knowledge of sounds. Modern science tells us that sound is simply energy created by vibrations from various medium. However in early human history, sound was believed to have mysterious power. These new instruments created forms of music that did not rely heavily on human voices.