I think there is a lot of potential for the orchestration of an experience with regards to the processing of aural and visual information. In addition to the simple question of whether you are hearing what you are seeing (or not), the issue of what is considered part of the public experience can also be questioned. The following clip from the film Play Time by Jacques Tati is an example of a phenomena we have all experienced, where interior (private?) space extends into the public visual landscape, but not the aural.
Beyond the connections and disjunctions possible between the aural and the visual, I am interested in the point when people consider themselves to be within the public sphere versus the private sphere. Are you exposed or anonymous when people hear you but can't see you? What about when people can see you, but not hear you? Does is make a difference if you can identify the sources of the sound/image you are hearing/seeing?
In more acoustically related news, I think I now truly understand the physical dimensions of sound waves! Humans can hear frequencies between 20 - 20,000Hz, but we are most sensitive to sounds between 500Hz and 4000Hz since this range corresponds to the frequency range of the human voice.
Frequency (Hz) Wavelength
20 56 ft (about the width of a NYC cross street!)
500 2 ft
1000 1 ft
2000 approx. 6"
5000 1.2"
20,000 approx 5/8" (just smaller than a dime!)In order to control sound effectively using architectural elements (through reflection, diffusion, diffraction and refraction), the dimensions of a partition must be greater than the wavelength of the source. As you can see, the dimensions of sound wavelengths really correspond to physical and spatial dimensions that the body can relate to.
No comments:
Post a Comment