ambient noise
i’ve been thinking more and more recently about the impact that the buzzing and whirring and ringing and clacking of the electronic world are potentially having on our mental health. i mean, we all know that tinnitis makes people crazy, right? but we think we just tune out the refrigerator and the lights and the computer? i’m not so sure. i mean, of course we get used to background noise, and i’m not complaining about a lack of absolute silence. traffic noise and stuff is another mattter. i’m talking specifically about the high-frequency emissions that our electronic devices make, because i think we just didn’t think about it much when there were only a handful of such devices, and now they are all around us and we have forgotten to notice unless they are Really loud. a lot of people can’t really hear some of the highest frequencies anyway, so i think a lot of times we don’t even notice all that’s out there, but i’ve been sitting and listening more closely lately? and it’s insane. it would make anyone a couple notches crankier. and well, i think it just might do exactly that.
so what if we made technology that sings instead of whines? i think that’s an interesting thought.
or maybe my apartment just needs a new light. :)
August 4th, 2007 at 8:07 am
When you start noticing the buzz of appliances, you’ve been unemployed too long. :) Soon birds will begin singing in Greek.
Note the inclusion of a smiley to indicate that I’m making a joke.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:25 am
Hm. I think it was on TAL, but maybe it was somewhere else, that Anami was telling me about a musician who made this very observation a few years ago. ISTR that he said that there was a printer in his office that produced exactly the right tones and overtones to match a chord that midieval composers had decided was reserved for inducing depression and panic. He now works as a consultant, “tuning” peoples’ workspaces.
If you’re interested, I can talk to Anami about it and try to find a reference for you.