On Thursday we had a workshop where we exposed ourselves to the different ways of hearing sound, not only through air waves which reach our ears. We listened to sound through vibrations.
Using a coat hanger and string, we were able to hear the sound emitted when striking the coat hanger with an object through the string and through our fingers which we stuck in our ears. This was a very interesting way of experiencing sound. I noticed there was a difference in the sound when heard through the vibrations and when it's heard through air waves. This got me thinking about how we may not notice the ways in which we hear sounds. When I got on the bus later that evening. I had my elbow resting on the window and my hand was around my neck. I noticed I could hear the sound of the bus idle through the vibrations occurring on the window.
We continued this activity using different objects such as a metal pole and shelf mental support. It's interesting how the same technique can produce different outcomes depending on what type of material is hit.
Our next task was to go around the college recording sounds using a sound recorder connected to a piezo/contact mic. This was able to catch any vibrations given off by an object. The video below shows how we went about doing this.
One sound we collected was by holdnig the piezo close to a light source. The piezo managed to pick up a buzzing sound so we moved it around it circles, closer to the light and further away. This was our recording. It kind of sounded like when there is a bee that won't leave you alone and it keeps flying around your ear.
Another sound we picked up was from a lift door closing.
This workshop was really fun. I had never worked with a piezo before so it was interesting to learn the differnt possible ways sound travels.
Comments