This week it’s Donna’s turn to provide the challenge, and it’s a good one, for sure. She writes, “We find sound in the natural world, from manmade items, and through actions. For this week, I have chosen some images that resonate sound to me, and I look forward to seeing where creativity steers you.” You can read her entire challenge post here.
When I first considered how I might respond to this challenge, I considered how hard it would be to think about sound in a 2-dimensional visual format. Sure, there’s a video with an attached soundtrack, but that’s not the challenge. No, it’s not. We have to pick images that evoke the sounds people might know from their real-life experiences. I thought about sounds loud and soft, natural and manmade. I decided to focus on loud sounds that could be heard even when this old man wasn’t wearing my hearing aids. Ironically, the title of my opening image is, “Niagara Falls is Wet”, something I discovered on our Maid of the Mist boat ride to the base of the falls. The falls at Niagara are loud as well, so loud that conversation is all but impossible.
Sports and athletic events are distinctive with manmade noises. Probably nothing is more noisy than the sound of high-performance dragsters attempting to best each other in a quarter-mile from zero to whatever.
Another manmade sound that is high on the decibel scale is the roar of the afterburners on a jet engine in a high-performance climb. Engines that satisfy man’s “need for speed” are by nature noisy, unless they are in space where there is no air to carry sound to people’s ears.
Today’s emergency vehicles depend upon high-decibel sirens to break through the air-conditioned vehicles that people drive, most of the time with their windows up, radio blasting. In the 19th century, the bell on this horse-drawn fire wagon was all the warning needed that an emergency vehicle was approaching.
The online Encyclopedia Britannica describes the ancient instrument featuring bells as a “carillon, musical instrument consisting of at least 23 cast bronze bells in fixed suspension, tuned in chromatic order (i.e., in half steps) and capable of concordant harmony when sounded together.” Before someone had the idea to put tuned bells together, in the 14th century, clocks chimed the hour with mechanical hammers striking a tuned bell. You can read more about this interesting (and loud) instrument here.
Striking metal with a hammer to create a sound is nothing new. The earliest historical reference to the gong is from Eastern Asia in the third century B.C. Wikipedia can tell you more than you probably want to know about the history and types of gongs in use over the centuries here.
People have been making music from the earliest known histories, however, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the golden age of self-playing instruments. The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona features one of the largest such instruments in their Mechanical Music Gallery. Originally the Apollonia was only on display. When they started having problems with it breaking down, experts recommended that they play the instrument regularly. Visitors to the museum can hear this instrument playing daily at noon and 3 PM. It’s well worth the visit, but I couldn’t resist including a link to a video here where you can see and hear it in action.
Thanks, Donna, for a truly unique challenge. Last week, Anne challenged us with the topic of weather, and there were so many beautiful images of Mother Nature at her best and worst. Next week the team is looking forward to Ritva’s first challenge as a regular contributor. I know we will enjoy her take on challenges to come. If you’d like to respond to the challenges each week but aren’t sure how to get started, check here. Finally, for a closer look at my images in HD, you can view the entire gallery on my Flickr site here.
John Steiner
Flare Legend Adventures
I could imagine the sound of waterfalls as soon as I saw your picture, car races one of the attractions is the sound of engines. Thanks for providing images that brought the sounds of them vividly to my mind
Thanks, Ritva! Donna has a fun challenge this week!
Yes, It required me to have a moment to to consider the options 🙂
I’m standing up and giving you a huge round of applause, John! From the word go you had our ears ringing with sound. What an imaginative post. I shall be singing Copacabana for the rest of the day.
It’s one of those songs that sticks in the mind, isn’t it! I heard the Apollonia live once, and it alone was worth the price of admission.
Oh my goodness, my ears are sore after reading/hearing your post! And one thing that fascinated me about your Niagara Falls image was that apparently you have to protect your body – by wearing a raincoat – as well as your ears!
They supply the rain coats that are truly needed for the boat travels into the mist. It’s hard to keep the cameras dry.
Loud and clear, John and full of interesting facts! Fantastic post for the challenge 🙂
Thanks, Sofia!
Wonderful response: right from the thunder of Niagara to the dong of the gong. I wish there was some way to hear the sound of the Apollonia
The YouTube video link in the post should give you a song from the Apollonia if your device has audio. Give it a listen!
You took us in a different direction that most. Sofia was right, loud and clear.This whole week I was thinking no one had produced a photo of race cars or jets from an air show. And you gave us both! I love the thunderbirds and blue angels.(PS Luke Days is the 27th, I think).
The gong was a great add, and the carillon interesting. A great post as always John! Always something interesting and always something to learn from you.
Gotta put Luke Days on the calendar!
March… I was thinking it was Feb.
The roaring sound of Niagara
It is truly a roar!
John, you’ve come up with great sounds. Dragsters have changed since my husband raced in the early 60’s! And, now I want to go to Pheonix to see the Musical Instrument Museum. You also brought me back to Niagra Falls.
The musical instrument museum is fascinating. They give you headphones and as you walk up to exhibits, you can actually hear the instruments play as you look at the displays. Way cool!
😊
Great idea to focus on loud sounds! The noises I’d most enjoy hearing from your selection would be Niagara Falls and the Asian gong 😀
Thanks, Sarah! Those falls were deafeningly loud, much louder than I expected.
Ha! GREAT selections. Falls, cars, and jet are among my many faves. Loved the video of Apollonia doing Barry Manilow. Hilarious, and intricate!
The Apollonia is even more fascinating to watch live!
Excellent examples!
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing, very interesting.
You are welcome, Eithnea!
What a fantastic variety of sounds, John. I’ve been on the Maid of the Mist trip as well as just to the falls and it’s loud either way!
John, you have found some wonderful sounds for this week. 😀 😀
I beat those Niagara falls were loud. Great examples.
They sure were loud!
John, this is such a creative and interesting post! You went well beyond the norm to share a number of examples that no one else even considered! Each one is interesting (and beautifully captured) and appropriate and yet they are so very different. Niagra Falls ….OF COURSE!!! Race cars….FOR SURE!! etc, etc, etc. Great response.
Thanks, Tina! I picked things that could be heard without my hearing aids! >grin<
John, you shared some very loud photos. I found myself reading your post and nearly hearing the roaring sounds of Niagara, the dragsters, and the gong. Everything clearly had sound. It was an excellent post for the challenge.
Thanks, Egidio! Donna hosted a unique challenge.
Fantastic post, John. The Apollonia was very special! I could hear them all though – water and car racing, wow.
Thanks, Ann-Christine!
Great post/response. The sounds jump off the page/screen.
Thanks, Nes!
This time I didn’t have to cover my ears seeing the dragsters ready to accelerate! Love learning about the carillon too – fascinating.
Thanks, Lindy!
Great images John.