Thank you for all the contributions.
David, I like the idea of being able to hear the thermal sound of air ("a clear
high pitched hiss"). And also your point that "most listeners' noise
backgrounds are higher than the "quiet" sounds of nature" - which to me makes
recording and presentation of such sounds even more interesting.
Vicki, my experience of listening to creatures at night is that they often
appear to my ears bigger than they actually are. I stood in the dark of
Daintree forest in Queensland once, what later I found out were scrubfowl
sounded as if they were cassowary - which we'd been told can be aggressive. As
you say, that does rather focus the hearing!
Peter - quiet as the space between events is compelling - and yes, I certainly
recognise that in Feldman's work ("For Philip Guston" for instance to me is
much about the space between events as the events themselves). I listened to
your recordings btw, and liked the different "quiets" derived no doubt from the
resonances of the different spaces in which they were recorded. Has prompted me
to think of seeking out such places ... and I posted on Soundcloud a recording
I did some years ago on the Causse du Larzac - which is quiet, but at the same
time full of detail. http://soundcloud.com/tonywhitehead/causse-du-larzac
all the best
Tony
--- In 404 <> wrote:
>
> 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" <tempjez@> 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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