Radio program: One Man's Quest To Find The 'Sonic Wonders Of The World'

[Jim Feeley]

Basic stuff, but nicely told. Great audio examples, too. 38 minutes.

 

"Ever wonder why your voice sounds so much better when you sing in the shower? It has to do with an acoustic "blur" called reverberation. From classical to pop music, reverberation "makes music sound nicer," acoustic engineer Trevor Cox tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. It helps blend the sound, "but you don't want too much," he warns.

Cox is the author of The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World. He has developed new ways of improving the sound in theaters and recording studios. He's also studied what he describes as the sonic wonders of the world — like whispering arches and singing sand dunes. His sonic travels have taken him many places, including the North Sea, where he recorded the sound of bottlenose dolphins underwater, and down into a revolting Victorian era sewer, where he discovered a curving sound effect he'd not heard before."

Hear the interview here:

http://www.npr.org/2014/02/19/279628642/one-mans-quest-to-find-the-sonic-wonders-of-the-world

[soundmanjohn]

I'm reading the book at the moment: not quite sure what I think. A bit too much of the purple prose, a bit thin on the technical and certainly not great on the diagram front. I expected a bit more for the money.

 

John

[robertw]

Article about Tevor Cox, with several of his recordings, on the Smithsonian site: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-are-acoustic-wonders-world-180950043/