Monday, February 11, 2013

Acoustic Ecology

Acoustic Ecology: The study of the sound environment. I believe that it is one thing to study sound as a science, but it is another to actually listen and be aware of it fully. Personally, the science of sound bewilders me, so I like to stick to what sound is to me...and that is noise which my brain dissects and interprets. Sound is everywhere...it is impossible to scape sound. What does one who is deaf hear? Is the absence of sound, still noise?

Anyways, away from that stream of thought and back to the ecology of sound, let me now go into how I believe we as humans have learned and evolved to sense sound in our environment. The Bosavi people of Papua New Guinea experience the sounds of the rainforest that is their home. Sounds tell the time of day, season of the year, conditions of the trails. Noise reflects all these interlocking sound clocks; they are maps of the forest. In hunting, music, ceremony, and language, nature’s voice makes its mark on human culture. Sound is how humans developed language, as well. Over the course of thousands and thousands of years, our brains adapted to what sounds mean and how we can listen to them.

So people! We must appreciate the value of sound and surely be more conscious of it's presence, whether it be physical or mental.

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