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Did You Know That Humans Are "Sound Absorbers"


thebes

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Flipping thorough the channels the other day and run across a very well done episode of something called "If We Build It Today" and it's about building concert halls, past and present.

 

One of the things I learned is the actual audience is part of the equation of creating an accurate sounding concert space. Concert halls, even the ar ton the walls  is part of an elaborate engineering and ultimately, artistic creation.  I'm sure we've all been in a large space and heard the echoes etc., or in a club or hall before the music began and listened to the buzz. Turns out the sound engineers also factor  the mass of the audience, and although you may think your concert vibe is energizing the place and adding to the special magic of a concert, it turns out we are basically a bunch of soft pillows, not even making it as diffusers, but absorbers.

 

Which leads me to speculate. When the incomparable flamenco guitarist Manatas de Plata (Silver Hands) recorded his million seller Carnegie Hall live album in 1967 we were all shorter and slimmer. If he was around to re-visit the hall for a concert today, would it sound the same, or be so much duller?

 

But wait!  Doesn't this have implications for our own at home listening experiences? If you have a doughnut before dropping the needle on a Queen album does the music sound bloated?  If you have a carrot instead, and stream something edgy from a power group in the Ukraine, will it sound more exciting?

 

I think I have the beginnings of a great audiophile experiment. I think I'll start out with the doughnut.

  • Haha 2
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