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Chapter 1 Past sounds（第1页）

Chapter1Pastsounds

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Sound:13.7billio

Soundhasitsinfarbatime，notlohedisappointiBigBang.Infadwavesformedassoonastherewasamediumforthem，whichwas300，000yearsafterthebegihing，andthirteenbillioherewasaen.

Theprimordialsoundwasofaverylowfrequency，butporesent，anditformedwhentheplasmaofthenewbeditselfinpseudularpatternsthroughspace.Galaxieseventuallyformedinthedenserregions，ingtheprogenitoroftheworldweliveonandthesu.

MovingonafewbilliohefirstdaysofEarth（about4.6billio），thereweresouy，passingthroughthesolidplaanditssubsurfaceliquidareas，andboundbendingthroughitsatmosphere.Eventually，thehotlandcooled，rainsfell，andoed—osfullofsound.So，theeinwhichthefirstlivingthingsevolvedwasanacousticallyrie，whidlyaffectedtheforms，habits，aihosecreatures.

Hearing:500millio

Forus，thereisacleardistiweenheariit’saverydifferentmatterforuures:soundspassaseasilythroughtheirbodiesasvibratihours，and，infish，aredetectedbystructureseuromats，whicharedistributedovertheirbodysurface（fishhaveseveralstructurestoo）.

&shaircellssimilartothoseinourearsaheirowhinformationaboutthestrengthsaionsoflods.Theyevolvedperhaps500millio.Todeteesound，eardrumsandcochleaeareessential，andhenceevolvedonceamphibiaoizetheland，around400millio.unirobablythemainspurtotheevoluti，sindshaveadvantagesovervisualsignals:whiletheabilitytomakelightsandgecoloursexistsinsanisms，puttingonalightshowisfarmoregandnarrethanmakingnoise.Noisesaremadeeasily—aseasilyasbreathing.Inhumah-madesounds（pretrolledbyaveusthepowerofspeech.

Music:4o

Theappreusicisamysteriouspleasureandaoo:over4ohalsprobablyhadflutesaimeHomosapiensemerged，noointedcavedletewith.Itmaybethatthefirsthumanssang;perhapsevenbeforespeechevolved.Butwhy?Enjoyingmusioobviousevolutionaryadvantage.Darwinhimselfwasbaffled，butsuggestedthatatasteformusicmightarisethroughsouingrituals，ahisviewtoday.Others，however，preferthesuggestioionarypsychologistStevemusiauditoryequivalentofcheesecake，whijoyhatprefereedoura，butbeyofthesensationscheesecakeelicitsareofevolutiohemselves:thesweetnessoffruitasripenessandcreamyflavestenergy-richfats.Orperhapsmusidsus—thepresenceofwhidicatesthatorsarearound.

Harmony:2，5o

Today，soundplaysahugevarietyofrolesinourlives.Manyofouriiooitsissie，modifi，orreprodu.Butthequestofsoundisbynomeadevelopmehemostaefausistruments，andacoustieofthefirsts500bceorso，Pythagorasdiscoveredthatthesourummedstringmilywithohestrihishalved.The‘distawosoundsisanoctave，bydefinitionandbyuniversalagreemeharmoniousofallpairsofdifferentnotes.Soundsalmostasharmohestrihsbearothersimpleios:ifisone-and-a-halftimestheother，afifthisproduple.

Agtolegend，Pythagorasmadethisdiscoverywheunefulhammersfrewhereanumberofblacksmithshen（beingabuddi）heweighedthehammerstheywereusihatthosepairsleasantsouswhichweresimplemultiplesofeachother.Thefactthatthisstoryistoldtothisdayissurprisihefrequencyatwhichahammersoundsissweight.iquedhisiheihagorasusedtostudyharmonywasthemonochord—adevicewithasirihbesetbyame.

ToPythagoras，thefactthatthepleasantnessofsouhroughwhole-iossuggestedthathekeytotheuniverse.‘All’，soheissupposedtohavesaid，‘isoday’sstistswouldagree，and，initsimpastifiatics，musig，andacoustics，hisdisaybeobreakthroughsofall.

Althoughanyonelaysastrirumentknowsthattension，aswellasleheriherwisetururumentswouldn’twork），thiswasnotquahe16thturybyVinzoGalileo，fatherofthestist，whoshoitcreaseswiththesquarerootofthetension.thatitalsodepering’sthiddensity.

TheGreekswereihepracticalitiesofsound，thankstotheirkeeinmakingtheirvoicesheard:plays，oratioioes，songs，dprosabouheirgreatestacousticstructureisthetheatreofEpidaurus，builtiurybce.Thedistaagetretothebackrowisabout60metres，yetabeheardclearlyfromanyofthe1，400seats:fifty-fiverowsintotal.Itisithetheatre’sacousticsecretlies:thelimestoneofwhichtheyaremade，theircatedsurfadthespacesbetweenthemalltributetsub-500Hzfrequendrefleghigheroeningurandenhanaively.

ButtherearedisadvaoopenairspeeinEpidaurus.Withothesoubeveryloudindeed，whiotbutalsotendstorobthevoiceofitssubtlety.（Despitelegerary，theGreekslackedmegaphones，whiotihe1670s—simultaneouslybyAthanasiusKirGermanyandSamuelMorlandinEngland.）Baoisebeoreihoughiresperformancedayswouldhavebee，siyofthelocalpopulatioheatre.

Indoorpublicspacessolvedtheseproblemsbutintrodues:edreverberation.Foraobeamustbeheardmorethanabout120ofasedafterthesounditself.Ifheardbeforethat，theearrespondsasiftoasingle，louder，sound.Thus120sedistheauditoryequivalenttothe15ofasedthatoureyesoseeagthingastwes.（Hencameraframesmovefasterthaheillusionofflowihis‘persistenceofvision’iswhatmakesusseetherapidsequeillimagesthatmakeupaemafilmasasmoothlygimage.）

Sinesou10metresin120seslargerthanthis（inanydimension）areeberswaitingtohappen.Luckilyebereducedbyghardsurfaceswithsoft，fabric-coveredobjects，suchasaudiencemembers.

Thereisoforetosoundthaertai.Evenwordlesssouedwithmeaning，muchofwhichrehistorictimes.Thelonelyhowlofthewind，ashogscreamofpain，thejoyoussongsofbirds，thehappinesshter:intheseandmanyothercases，evolutiedunbreakableliweensouheseemotionalattatshavebeeedbyussiimes:warple，havelongbeeochillthebloodoftheeouniteaheceoftheattackers.

Themodernworld:acoustidmore

Followingtheworkofthealeresearthenatureofsoundwascarriedoutuhtury，wheHookeprovedbysimpledemonstrationsthatfrequendpitked.AlthoughIsaasuggestedaioyofsound，itwasi，andanaccurateversionwasonlyderivedbyPierreSimonLapla

1816.Laplaceshowedthat，toaapproximatioyofsounddependsoyayofthemediumthroughwhichitpasses（Box1）.

Box1

&ioelectroacousticdevithemid-19thturyledtorevolutionsiandirolofsound:themie，telephone，andloudspeakerappearedinquicksu，spurringrapiddevelopmentsinresearerdthearts.

&hdelegiher，withtheiiohefirstrectifier，usedinitiallyfordetegradiosignals）in1903ariode（thefirstamplifier）in1906.Thedevelopmeronicswasgreatlyacceleratedbythehichalsoledtothebirthofuicsresearchthroughiinsubmarinedete.

&heexistendswithfrequeoohightohearhadoallybeehe19thtury，theywereoedioftheupperfrequenanhearihoughsudsadeeasilybysparks，whistles，airjets，orpiezoelectriccrystals，theyremaileiilhenitwasrealizedthattheymightbepressedintoserviceaspartofarsystems.Soohewar，furtheriiosudshadarangeofuies，notallofwhichcouldbeexplaiheycouldkilllivingthings，causechemiges，gea，andmakewoodexplodeinshowersofsparks.Itmaybethattheyersoundsinpartbecauseepowers.AlthoughfarlessfamousthanX-raysandradiumemanations，supersoundssoongainedasimilarreputatioforceswrestedfromoolsofsce，butstillretainingaglamourofalmostsupernaturalmysteryandpower.

Itwasthemiddleofthe20thturybeforethepowerofultrasounderlyuoodaed.Bythen，theuseofamplifiableelectroacoustiologyhadtrulytraheworld.Publicspeakers，formerlylimitedtoaudiencesofacoupleofthousandattheverymostbythesoundsoftheirvoidthesizesoftheirvenues，oeopleintheirmillions，thousandsofmilesaway—eitherinstantaneouslyoradayoraturylater.Lifecouldbecaptured，redanalysedasneverbefore.

Therefieldstoo，ingsoundart;anill-defineddisewithimovemeo1930s，andiofeleusidgteology.LuigiRussolo’sGrauristico（1917）isanimportantearlyexample，aoneisLowlandsbySusanPhilipsz，asetofvariationsoplayedoveroher，whitheTurnerPrizein2010.Arelatedareaisambientmusicalledmuzakbyitsdetractors），whichisdesigoprovideanappropriatebadtopublicspaE1:MusicforAirports（1978）isagoodexample，andsaecarolsloopedendlesslyis（apaniedbygloomyemployeesforcedtodressaselves）isabadone.

&musiexampleofanartifidscape，aceptpopularizedbyMurraySchafer，whohelpedsetuptheWorldSouihelate1960s.TheprojeturionoftheWorldForumforAcousticE1993.Schaferhasbeenhighlyiial，inpartthroughhisgalvanizingclaimthataviroslyrevealthesoditionsofthosewhoievehowthatsocietywillevolve.

ApplyingSchafer’sapproaistandpolymathJacquesAttaliarguesthatmusitiurewidersoehavegonemuchfartherthanthis;historianAlainarguesthatvillagebellringingin18th-auryFrenchvillagesmouldedsodeisthere，andartistandwriterBrandohat‘myfeelingisthataoryandculturebefoundwithinasinglesound’.

Meheceptofthesoundscapehasepopularityinarangeofdises，thoughSchafer’sdefinitioermhasbeeakeatoftherelativeanddynamiatureofanaviroeologyhistoriahompsonpointsoutthatitis‘simultaneouslyaphysientandaergthate’.

Infilm，thestruofartifidscapesisachievedpartlythroughsouhesehavealsobeenamainstayofradiodramasisiionand，intheformofartifiderforexample，havebeeheatressiGreefilms，thecraftofdesigning，produdsyngsouheventsonsisknownasFoley.

Nolooodetedsoronvoidmeicaldeviakethem，westudyaoolowpitched，highpitched，orquiettohear，andweerateaicbeamswithenormouspore，leadingtoappliedie，defeng，andmanyotherfields.SinceWorldWarII，seriousattemptshavebeeodevelopsound-basedons，mainlybyproduddiregextremelyhigh-iybeams.Perhapsthebest-knoleiuseistheLeAcousticDevice（LRAD），whichprojectseitherandsorusounds.Ithasbeehumansandwildlifeiries.

Alohedeliberateandtrolleddevelopmentofsouionhasalsospreadthroughmuchoftheworld.Thehighlysensitiveheariservedouraorssowell，andstillallowourpleasureinmusidourfaspeeowtheduitsofaress，anddamage.

Sowhilewehavegaiheproduofsound，wearefarfrombeirolit.Iohaveanygso，weousnature.