Comments on: What Is That Sound?

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:26:22 +0000

Personally, I would love to lob a mortar on the driveway of the guy across the street when his friends show up at 2am with their motorized subwoofers. These aircraft are not going to be flying over Val-P all that often, while the boaters are running pretty much 24/7 when the weather gets above 65°.

We have a no wake zone along the beach, but when the big boats go out in the center of the main channel, there is no doubt in your mind what is going on – you can feel it, not just hear it.

Definitely don’t ever bring up the damn gas leaf blowers.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:28:53 +0000

I meant to add that for years in our local professional Bach orchestra (modern instruments, not historical), the recorders, including me, were seated in front of the brass. For the musicians, being in an orchestra can be almost a painful experience during the fortissimo passages. OK, scratch the "almost." Here is an article about the phenomenon. Believe me, this was not a problem in Bach's day; the trumpet sounds were just as focused, but not nearly as ear-splitting. But good clarino trumpet players are rare these days. Steve Bates´s last blog post..Dear Governor Perry

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:18:13 +0000

Once in Washington state, sitting beside a quiet lake, I saw an outboard motor with a boat attached; it was so loud I wanted to sink it on the spot…

A full symphony orchestra playing ff is about 110 db, though if the brass and percussion crank it up, the total can reach 130 db. Rock bands easily reach 140 db if you’re close by. Yet people voluntarily subject themselves to those things.

I would not willingly live under the regular flight path of such aircraft, but a lot of people who do so are themselves in one way or another associated with the military bases from which they fly. You can get me more worked up about subjecting whales to powerful sonar; unlike humans, the whales have no choice.