Journal of Sound and Vibration (1991) 151(3), 367-370
SOUND AS AN EXISTENTIAL NECESSITY T. STOCKFELT Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts 01109-3, U.S.A (Receiued 11 Jr+
1991)
Most of the previous research conducted in the field of sound has been done in order to relieve people of disturbing sounds, i.e., “noise”. The value of the results cannot be overestimated. With this project, however, the fundamental premise is that sounds are a necessary orientation within the immediate enviroment as well as in the world at large. Sounds constitute an indispensable basis for well-being, not only as music but as an integral part of their normal living situations. The first step in the research is to define congruent concepts and terminology with a cross-musicological-technical/audiological-pedagogical attempt. The second step is to develop appropriate methods for observations, measures and analysis of sounds. The ultimate goal is to develop methods by which people can (a) establish a satisfying consciousness about sounds and improve their capacity to master sound situations and accordingly (b) construct positive, operative norms for sound environments at workingplaces, dwelling areas and soundscapes in general, primarily in interaction with researchers, but gradually as a normal part of their daily activities.
A research project in cross-disciplinary
collaboration between musicology, technical audiology and educational psychology is to be described here. The “soundscapes” of our time, that is, the auditive environmental qualities, in dwelling areas and work places are filled with sounds which did not exist during the phases of evolution, when the hereditary characters of human beings were developed. This might be one reason for the rather low consciousness of and consideration for sounds, especially for sounds from very recent technical constructions, such as infra- and ultrasounds from engines, electronic equipment and the like. Another reason is, of course, pedagogical--or better-lack of pedagogical consideration for sounds. Neither in school nor in work is there sufficient attention to sounds. One does not learn to receive and respond to sounds sophistically. Few people can treat their sound experiences in a proper way. Probably most of the sounds are not intended. They exist only because it is almost impossible to act without making sounds. Such sounds are often regarded as inevitable. One learns to actively “hear away” from them; that is, to develop a defense mechanism against them, which makes it possible to let the sounds “disappear” from the conscious sphere. Sounds still remain in the subconscious, however, and the disturbance they occasion becomes worse because there is no perceived explanation for the anxiety or nervous excitement that they cause. The hissing of the ventilation apparatus and the whining at steady state, 16 kHz pure tone, of the TV are two examples. Many of the sounds are, however, intended. We have music, the ringing of telephones, sound signals in traffic, etc.. There is frequent disagreement between different listeners concerning the necessity and pleasure of the sounds. Some hear “beautiful music”, when others hear “noise”. What the 367
0022-460X/91/240367+04 $03.00/O
0 1991Academic Press Limited
368
T. STOCKFELT
teenager regards as “too low” is felt to be “painfully loud” by the parents. The sound of the motor cycle is like the song of an angel for one, like hell for another. IT IS NECESSARY
TO
ELIMINATE
NOISE
Research on environmental sounds is ordinarily focused on defined and observed disadvantages. One tries to eliminate harmful sounds. Of course, this is very important. There are, however, some risks for bias in the scientific processes as well as in the implementation of the results, as follows. (A) One becomes so provoked by the negative sounds, that the positive sounds are forgotten. The painful sounds are eliminated, but not replaced by more enjoyable ones. The soundscape becomes less negative, without being more positive. (B) This, in fact, can mean that mental distress is created, because people expected the soundscape to become more pleasant, but only find it to be less unpleasant. Paradoxically, the elimination of noise can even create anxiety, because the most obvious “auditive anchors” in the soundscape disappear, a sad version of the saying “a known hell is better than an unknown heaven”. (C) Under these circumstances, people cannot motivate themselves to become fully involved in the treatment of sounds. They can therefore not use their experience in order to change the environment. People react more than act and/or they leave the treatment of the soundscape to “experts”. BUT
ALSO
TO CREATE
ENJOYABLE
AND
INFORMING
SOUNDS
In the research and development project “Sound as an existential necessity”, we start from a positive view of sounds. We emphasize this by locating the project in a department of musicology; that is, the starting point is sounds that are produced and experienced as intentionally positive and humane. The aim is to develop methods to improve individual and collective competence in using the inherited and acquired capacity for constructive and persona1 perception and interpretation of sounds, and to treat sounds in the environment in order to create desirable sounds and to eliminate undesirable ones. A premise in this is that a person with a good understanding of desirable sounds is able to eliminate undesirable sounds without being provoked. COMPETENCE
TO
USE
SOUNDS
As the aim of the project is to develop better competence in treating soundscapes, the research must be a synthesis of objective measuring and subjective training. It is necessary to have a far-reaching collaboration between researchers and the test subjects. There are several dimensions in the relation between the subject and the sounds. Sounds are weak or strong, meaningful or incomprehensible, relieving or harmful . . . but the subject always has a personal relation to them. Successfully treated, that relation can be developed so the competence for making good use of the soundscape is improved; that is, the subject learns to create and/or enjoy desirable sounds and to eliminate, or in rare cases tolerate, undesirable sounds. SILENCE
IS THE
PRIMARY
SOUND
We start with a statement that might seem to be a little controversial, namely that the understanding of sound must be founded on an understanding of silence. We have so far three definitions of silence. as follows.
SOUND
AS
AN
EXISTENTIAL
NECESSITY
369
(a) Silence is lack of sounds. Practically this is of course impossible, as there in every situation exists some amount of energy and energy always to some degree is manifested as sound. It is, however, theoretically possible, that is, the definition can be used in the construction of a model of soundscapes. (b) Silence is lack of expected sounds. This is very common in music. Pauses, syncopes and other rhythmical experiences come when the subject, by previously listening to the musical phrases, has learned that a special sound is to be expected-but finds that it does not come. Harmonies are also filled with gaps-lacks of tones which for some reason or other are expected as elements of the harmony. In fact, the gaps in a harmony are as important as the existing sounds. With one set of sounds and gaps, one harmony is created, with another set, there is another harmony. If only one gap is filled with a sound, or one sound is replaced with a gap, a change is created. We know this from common speech as well. We nuance our talk not only with different words, but also with different pauses. (c) Silence is created by sounds that signifv silence. This is also very common in music. A singer changes between a loud and a soft voice and thereby makes the loud tones louder and the soft tones softer. If he whispers, we can hear the silence around the tone-or noise that prevents us from hearing the silence. We can imagine the silence of a forest, if we hear a forest bird sing in a noisy city. A trick that is sometimes used to get the attention of pedestrians is to play recorded bird songs in a shop at a busy street. The listeners are meant, not only to feel astonished by the singing, but also to feel the pleasure-in the shop-of the silence and life at the countryside. METHODOLOGICAL
ASPECTS
The scientific attitude is thus cross-disciplinary. The approach can be defined as holistic, rather than specific. This means that there must be an amalgamation of attitudes, methods and techniques that are used in the different disciplines. In other words, the experiments and the analyses must be performed in strict collaboration within the cross-disciplinary research group, and not as concurrent attempts from three researchers working in their own ways. It also means that concepts that are taken for granted or are treated in a special way in one of the disciplines, for instance “pleasant” and “disturbing”, and even meta-concepts such as “objective” must be scrutinized in a cross-disciplinary manner. The result of this will probably be a new set of concepts and terms. The participants in the project are experimental subjects and not experimental objects. However, the intention is to train them to change between an objective point of view to a subjective point of view of themselves. This will help to develop a better consciousness of themselves and their relation to sounds. The pedagogical set of methods includes different techniques for improvement of the consciousness and understanding of sounds, such as (a) profiling of selected sounds to different background, (b) contrasting sounds with different characteristics against each other or contrasting by using them in different situations and different modes, (c) repeating sounds so they become backgrounds to themselves, (d) imitating heard sounds with inherited sound-producing organs, such as lips, tongue, etc., or by acoustic or electronic instruments, (e) exploratioe sound seeking with tape recorders, etc., in the research subject’s own environment or in environments that the researchers supply or arrange. THERE
IS MORE
THAN
ONE
KIND
OF
RESEARCH
This research actually started long ago, more as a by-product of other research in which the researchers have been involved. In principle, many of the methods are of the same sort
370
T. STOCKFELT
as used in social-anthropological research. The already accomplished results can be seen as spin-offs from research that has been focused on other questions. The philosophy is that an open ear for spin-off should also be part of the research in the future, even if attention is primarily focused on the intended research results. In an area with as great possibilities as this, there must be many unforeseen results.