yes, silence is too difficult a term. I use "quies" for my work. "rest, repose,
quiet" in latin.
Because like the stories that are related here, quies (or silence, or quiet) is
not a stable state, it's what happens in between sonic events. the space
between sound if you want. and the space in which sound happens.
in music, quies is morton feldman to john cage's silence, if that makes sense.
in nature it's the ... before the storm, or in my experience, that lull when
the wind drops in the desert
in the theater, it's that split second at the end before the audience breaks
out in applause or taboos
most importantly, it's a state of mind, rather than a state of nature, because
we all know there's never nothing in nature. and besides, whether things are
really there or not might not matter all that much, as listening is a
subjective experience anyhow.
On 06 Jun 2012, at 06:11, soundings23 wrote:
> Clearly "silence" is a contested word, but personally I don't have any issue
> with not attributing it to situations that might better be described as
> quiet.
>
> The differing experiences of "quiet" are however very interesting.
>
> Years ago, I was standing with a group of people at night (composers/sound
> artists on a course as it happened) by the River Dart here in Devon. We were
> on a sound walk and it was a particularly still August evening. Conversation
> fell away and we became still. As we did so I felt a "rushing in" - an almost
> physical pressure. It was quite startling, but I've experienced it a number
> of times since when I've purposefully put myself in similar situations. Its
> the sort of experience that is personal and no recording technology could
> replicate - but I recognise it in experiences related in this thread.
>
> I don't wish to overanalyse, but I'd be intrigued in a wider sharing of
> experiences of such quiet places to see if there's any commonality, or if our
> experience's differ widely.
>
> --- In "Jez" <> wrote:
> >
> > quickly:
> >
> > these 'silences' aren't silent. What tends to happen is the extreme
> > quietness combined with the listeners attempts to perceive it lead to a
> > situation where:
> >
> > 1) on a psychological level, one accepts the definition of silence
> > 2) on a physical level, the ears attempt to adjust to the surroundings & to
> > 1)
> >
> > the combination means that 'silence' is the surface perception. There are
> > all kinds of sounds present, even in the disorienting stillness of the most
> > quiet places on earth (such as deep caves or deserts) but, as is the way of
> > us humans, it is easier for us to apply filters to our perception of what
> > is there.
> >
> > micro / macro listening to these places or recordings of them reveals a
> > wealth of sound, all be it on a sometimes very subtle level.
> >
> > it's amazing to perceive stillness & amazing to hear whats there at those
> > times.
> >
> > --- In 404 <404@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Thanks for this, Raimund. Fascinating stuff!
> > >
> > > On 05 Jun 2012, at 19:39, Raimund wrote:
> > >
> > > > <But every now and then there's moments where the wind lies down and the
> > > > flies stay away and it's silent. Not quiet. But silent. I'm sure that
> > > > anyone who's ever driven into the Australian outback or desert know
> > > > what I'm talking about. I can highly recommend it>
> > > >
> > > > Peter,
> > > >
> > > > I think I know what you are talking about. I experienced that stunning
> > > > silence several times shortly after sunset while camping in the Sonoran
> > > > Desert (Arizona).
> > > >
> > > > There is a simple explanation for that kind of silence: A strong
> > > > temperature gradient in the air above the ground creates a sonic shadow
> > > > region for each sound source (the ground is still hot, but the air is
> > > > getting cooler at night). See
> > > > http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/refract/refract.html. So, I think
> > > > there is still some noise around, but it just cannot be heard due to
> > > > these refraction effects.
> > > >
> > > > Regards,
> > > > Raimund
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
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