Greetings All,
I have made more than one attempt at recording (Ambisonically, of course!) a
steam whistle and its resulting echo in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
Wind has been the foe, but it is interesting to hear first-hand how atmospheric
conditions affect sound. In addition to wind noise masking the echo, sound
appears to travel up-hill (attenuation) when traveling opposite to wind
direction. Furthermore, isotherms (layers of cold and warm in the canyons)
appear to change the way sound travels.
Although yesterday's attempt at sound recording weren’t successful, I took time
to visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum (also in the Superstition Mountain
Range). Despite high winds, the arboretum was somewhat isolated from an ongoing
desert dust storm. The arboretum's many flowers and plants attract a lot of
birds, so it’s a potentially great place to record bird sounds. (Side: Why am I
the only person in the mountains with a mic? Normal people have cameras.)
While I was enjoying the scent of roses and honeysuckle blossoms during my
visit, the thought of electronically “recording” scents and odors came to mind
(not exactly a new idea). After all, we have multiple methods of electronically
recording images and sounds. It then made me think about sensation, perception,
and how “reality” travels across/thru various medium. The amusing thought of an
older Warner Bros/Bugs Bunny cartoon that referred to “smell-a-vision” also
surfaced.
Although I don’t believe scents and odors would enhance movie-goers experiences
(didn’t director John Waters already try this?), it does elicit thoughts of
vials of elements and compounds being electronically mixed to produce odorants.
Or, as with other implantable prostheses, what (and how) would be “recorded” to
produce the sensations of olfaction and gestation via their respective cranial
nerves? Sound travels on a medium (typically air for audition), as does light
on an aether (ok, Michelson and Morley proved light doesn’t travel on such a
medium). This could elicit discussion regarding the various schools of
psychology and perception (Gestalt theorists, etc.) and how the
sensation-evoking stimuli reach us (not to be confused with how they’re
detected). Ecological psychology, for example, addresses vision and hearing,
but these are sensations evoked by events that disturb or propagate through a
medium. Touch, taste, and smell have no such
medium, though many animals rely heavily on olfaction for survival and can
determine the direction of a scent’s source (air current direction?). Certain
schools of thought lean heavily on just a couple of sensations, not sensation
as a whole. This is why I don't ascribe to any single school of thought
regarding perception.
As I digress (and meander in my thoughts), the definitions of media and medium
come to mind. Just one week ago, a Sursound reader/contributor, Mark, kindly
asked whether I had heard of Marshall McLuhan. I have since downloaded a couple
of books by (and about) McLuhan. As I understood (via Mark’s email), McLuhan
received funding from IBM to launch a research project on various types and
combinations of sensory inputs. Because of differences among scientists,
McLuhan's research ran into problems. McLuhan is also the person who coined the
phrase “the medium is the message.” Depending on our definition, we could say
“the medium (e.g. air) carries the message.” I guess that’s being a bit too
pedantic, but then touch carries a strong message without need for a medium or
media. And regardless of the best audio-video recording gear in the world, I
wouldn’t be able to capture or convey my experience at the Boyce Thompson
Arboretum without the
elusive smellavision.
As the title of this post indicates, I’m meandering. But the medium, message,
and enjoyment of music and other sounds change in the presence of other
stimuli. Surround sound also changes (and generally enhances) our listening
experience, at least compared to mono or stereo. As humankind strives to move
forward, I’m curious what the next “medium” may be, and how surround sound will
be shaped by paradigm shifts. For now, I'm just meandering about the message...
Best,
Eric C.
PS--I understand that a nibble (capital N or lower-case n?) consist of 4 bites
(or half a byte).
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