~~A Circle of Sound.~~

~Dave's ramblings (3)~

Sound Beyond hearing.

Well this seems as good a place to start as any so here we go. Now in the first article I wrote I mentioned about sound being a universal language that can communicate things to us beyond the visual. So I want to describe how sound can help link us into and hopefully become more aware of our past ability and become more aware of our present too.

Think how you feel when you enter an enclosed but large (ish) sacred building. Many people get a tingle down their spine or have a feeling of “awe”. This is often triggered by sound amongst other things and is something that may well have been known to our ancestors. The sound in question here is sub sonic sound, so low in frequency that you do not consciously hear it but are aware of it on an unconscious level. When you walk into a space your footfall causes sound waves that resonate at lower frequencies. But why should this give us the feeling it does. Well…

Back in the mists of time man was not only a hunter but was also hunted. So he needed to have very keen sense’s to detect the many things we no longer have the ability to be aware of. If a large predator were creeping up on us how would we know? Smell… it may well be down wind so no luck on that one. Noise…I have a feeling it would be quite quiet. Sight…its pretty good at blending into the background.

Now think what do large cats have a habit of doing…deep low growling. When hunting or angry this can get so low we no longer hear it but just sense it. This is an ability we have largely lost but it can be made to be useful.

I did an experiment once when I still worked in theatre. We got permission to record an annoyed Tiger at Chester Zoo. This was before I had gained a proper respect for animals so I do apologise that yes, I did annoy the Tiger with a microphone on a long boom arm. I had, until recently the microphone with the teeth marks still on it to prove it! However I digress.

We listened to the tapes and looked at them with analysis equipment and found that there was a large content of sub sonic frequencies. We filtered these out and added them to a Disco sound track and a background music track.

At the next theatre party we laid things out so there was a drinks and social area and down a corridor a dance area. We started the night as per normal and people gravitated into the two rooms…some dancing and some chatting in the bar.

Then we added the sub sonic sound to the dance area and within ten minutes everyone had moved through to the bar area. We then left it for half an hour and pumped the subsonic content into the bar area. Again within ten min the room was empty and everyone was dancing. It proved possible, throughout the evening to shift people from one room to another whenever we wanted. No one could say why they wanted to move other than vague comments. Mainly to the effect that they didn’t feel right in the room they were leaving. Now this may not have been a very well planned scientific experiment but it was fun. However we didn’t repeat the experiment and we decided it was probably not a very ethical thing to do anyway. However it did mean we could clear an auditorium in a fraction of the time it took other venues to clear. 8#)

So now comes the crunch point…why am I relating all this? The answer lies in the fact that most people have ability that they are unaware of. For instance, an awareness of people’s emotional state. This awareness can be trained and make it more effective.

And here’s a thought. How can you find a hurt or scared animal to try give it comfort and show the entire human race are not ignorant savages out to harm it. Next time you feel that tingle, but your not in a building or near one, have a good look round. Delve deep into yourself and see if your feelings can locate where is the source that is causing this tingle. You may just be able to help. This could also be a possible key to being able to communicate better with some animals. Not all will be able to do it but it’s probably worth a try to see if you can.

I think all this shows that sound can be used in ways that are not usually considered nowadays but were probably known to our ancestors. So in my next article I will describe how old burial chambers may well have been structured to enhance sound and make it part of a ritual for the living to connect to other worlds.