Soundless Music, Ghosts and Shivers.

[Billy Bee]

Interesting Article. Curious to hear the RAP opinions on this.

Soundless Music Shown to Produce Weird Sensations
Sun Sep 7, 7:09 PM ET

By Patricia Reaney

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Mysteriously snuffed out candles, weird
sensations and shivers down the spine may not be due to the presence of
ghosts in haunted houses but to very low frequency sound that is inaudible
to humans.



British scientists have shown in a controlled experiment that the extreme
bass sound known as infrasound produces a range of bizarre effects in people
including anxiety, extreme sorrow and chills -- supporting popular
suggestions of a link between infrasound and strange sensations.


"Normally you can't hear it," Dr Richard Lord, an acoustic scientist at the
National Physical Laboratory in England who worked on the project, said
Monday.


Lord and his colleagues, who produced infrasound with a seven meter (yard)
pipe and tested its impact on 750 people at a concert, said infrasound is
also generated by natural phenomena.


"Some scientists have suggested that this level of sound may be present at
some allegedly haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations that
they attribute to a ghost -- our findings support these ideas," said
Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire
in southern England.


In the first controlled experiment of infrasound, Lord and Wiseman played
four contemporary pieces of live music, including some laced with
infrasound, at a London concert hall and asked the audience to describe
their reactions to the music.


The audience did not know which pieces included infrasound but 22 percent
reported more unusual experiences when it was present in the music.


Their unusual experiences included feeling uneasy or sorrowful, getting
chills down the spine or nervous feelings of revulsion or fear.


"These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have
unusual experiences even though they cannot consciously detect infrasound,"
said Wiseman, who presented his findings to the British Association science
conference.


Infrasound is also produced by storms, seasonal winds and weather patterns
and some types of earthquakes (news - web sites). Animals such as elephants
also use infrasound to communicate over long distances or as weapons to
repel foes.


"So much has been said about infrasound -- it's been associated with just
about everything from beam weapons to bad driving. It's wonderful to be able
to examine the evidence," said Sarah Angliss, a composer and engineer who
worked on the project.

[Om_Audio]

Thanks- interesting.
O

"Billy Bee" > wrote in message
news:OpT6b.389152$uu5.73287@sccrnsc04...
> Interesting Article. Curious to hear the RAP opinions on this.
>
> Soundless Music Shown to Produce Weird Sensations
> Sun Sep 7, 7:09 PM ET
>
> By Patricia Reaney
>
> MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Mysteriously snuffed out candles, weird
> sensations and shivers down the spine may not be due to the presence of
> ghosts in haunted houses but to very low frequency sound that is inaudible
> to humans.
>
>
>
> British scientists have shown in a controlled experiment that the extreme
> bass sound known as infrasound produces a range of bizarre effects in
people
> including anxiety, extreme sorrow and chills -- supporting popular
> suggestions of a link between infrasound and strange sensations.
>
>
> "Normally you can't hear it," Dr Richard Lord, an acoustic scientist at
the
> National Physical Laboratory in England who worked on the project, said
> Monday.
>
>
> Lord and his colleagues, who produced infrasound with a seven meter (yard)
> pipe and tested its impact on 750 people at a concert, said infrasound is
> also generated by natural phenomena.
>
>
> "Some scientists have suggested that this level of sound may be present at
> some allegedly haunted sites and so cause people to have odd sensations
that
> they attribute to a ghost -- our findings support these ideas," said
> Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of
Hertfordshire
> in southern England.
>
>
> In the first controlled experiment of infrasound, Lord and Wiseman played
> four contemporary pieces of live music, including some laced with
> infrasound, at a London concert hall and asked the audience to describe
> their reactions to the music.
>
>
> The audience did not know which pieces included infrasound but 22 percent
> reported more unusual experiences when it was present in the music.
>
>
> Their unusual experiences included feeling uneasy or sorrowful, getting
> chills down the spine or nervous feelings of revulsion or fear.
>
>
> "These results suggest that low frequency sound can cause people to have
> unusual experiences even though they cannot consciously detect
infrasound,"
> said Wiseman, who presented his findings to the British Association
science
> conference.
>
>
> Infrasound is also produced by storms, seasonal winds and weather patterns
> and some types of earthquakes (news - web sites). Animals such as
elephants
> also use infrasound to communicate over long distances or as weapons to
> repel foes.
>
>
> "So much has been said about infrasound -- it's been associated with just
> about everything from beam weapons to bad driving. It's wonderful to be
able
> to examine the evidence," said Sarah Angliss, a composer and engineer who
> worked on the project.
>
>
>
>
>

[dt king]

"Billy Bee" > wrote in message
news:OpT6b.389152$uu5.73287@sccrnsc04...
> Interesting Article. Curious to hear the RAP opinions on this.
>
> Soundless Music Shown to Produce Weird Sensations
> Sun Sep 7, 7:09 PM ET
>
> By Patricia Reaney
>
> MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Mysteriously snuffed out candles, weird
> sensations and shivers down the spine may not be due to the presence of
> ghosts in haunted houses but to very low frequency sound that is
inaudible
> to humans.
....
> Lord and his colleagues, who produced infrasound with a seven meter
(yard)
> pipe and tested its impact on 750 people at a concert, said infrasound is
> also generated by natural phenomena.

Looks like an eight-inch pipe. I'm thinking that if I bend it a few times,
I can fit one ot these things on stage. Wonder what I'd use to drive it?
I don't imagine it'd need much encouragement for resonance. But how would
I know if it was in tune?

I think some of the big organs have pipes that big. Might be why I enjoy
the sounds at the Mormon Tabernacle in SLC or St. Patricks in NYC. I love
it when the whole building resonates.

dtk

[axtogrind]

"Billy Bee" > wrote in message
news:OpT6b.389152$uu5.73287@sccrnsc04...
> Interesting Article. Curious to hear the RAP opinions on this.
>
> Soundless Music Shown to Produce Weird Sensations
> Sun Sep 7, 7:09 PM ET
>
> By Patricia Reaney
>
> MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Mysteriously snuffed out candles, weird
> sensations and shivers down the spine may not be due to the presence of
> ghosts in haunted houses but to very low frequency sound that is inaudible
> to humans.
snip

No kidding, about 30 years ago I read a children's book (one of the Three
Investigators series) that used this notion to explain a haunting. I've
slept since then, but if memory serves me, it was an old pipe organ in the
story that was used to cause visitors to the abandoned house to run,
screaming, from the property.

Everything old is new again, or something like that.
atg

[axtogrind]

"axtogrind" > wrote in message
...
>
> No kidding, about 30 years ago I read a children's book (one of the Three
> Investigators series) that used this notion to explain a haunting. I've
> slept since then, but if memory serves me, it was an old pipe organ in the
> story that was used to cause visitors to the abandoned house to run,
> screaming, from the property.

I believe that this was the book:
http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.homestead.com/Terrorcastle.html

atg

[Kendall]

> "axtogrind" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > No kidding, about 30 years ago I read a children's book (one of the
Three
> > Investigators series) that used this notion to explain a haunting. I've
> > slept since then, but if memory serves me, it was an old pipe organ in
the
> > story that was used to cause visitors to the abandoned house to run,
> > screaming, from the property.
>
> I believe that this was the book:
> http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.homestead.com/Terrorcastle.html

I remember reading a story like that, but I was under the impression it was
a Hardy Boys mystery. Is my memory that faulty? I don't actually recall
reading any "Three Investigators" books.....

Kendall

[Scott Dorsey]

Kendall > wrote:
>
>> "axtogrind" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> >
>> > No kidding, about 30 years ago I read a children's book (one of the
>Three
>> > Investigators series) that used this notion to explain a haunting. I've
>> > slept since then, but if memory serves me, it was an old pipe organ in
>the
>> > story that was used to cause visitors to the abandoned house to run,
>> > screaming, from the property.
>>
>> I believe that this was the book:
>> http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.homestead.com/Terrorcastle.html
>
>I remember reading a story like that, but I was under the impression it was
>a Hardy Boys mystery. Is my memory that faulty? I don't actually recall
>reading any "Three Investigators" books.....

The Hardy Boys also use this device (I want to say it's in the Sinister
Signpost but I am not sure). Also, Robert Heinlein uses it in Sixth
Column.

But it's been known since the 17th century. Incidentally if you ever
have the chance to hear Also Sprach Zarathustra live with a real organ
that can play the opening without transcribing it up, it is amazing.
You can kind of hear it, but not really, and you feel really uncomfortable.
Going to even lower stuff is really very weird-feeling.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Jay Kadis]

In article et> "dt king"
> writes:
> >Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Kendall > wrote:
> > >
> > >> "axtogrind" > wrote in message
> > >> ...
> > >> >
> > >> > No kidding, about 30 years ago I read a children's book (one of the
> > >Three
> > >> > Investigators series) that used this notion to explain a haunting.
> I've
> > >> > slept since then, but if memory serves me, it was an old pipe organ
> in
> > >the
> > >> > story that was used to cause visitors to the abandoned house to run,
> > >> > screaming, from the property.
> > >>
> > >> I believe that this was the book:
> > >> http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.homestead.com/Terrorcastle.html
> > >
> > >I remember reading a story like that, but I was under the impression it
> was
> > >a Hardy Boys mystery. Is my memory that faulty? I don't actually
> recall
> > >reading any "Three Investigators" books.....
> >
> > The Hardy Boys also use this device (I want to say it's in the Sinister
> > Signpost but I am not sure). Also, Robert Heinlein uses it in Sixth
> > Column.
>
> The original Star Trek used it once, too. They needed to **** off a colony
> to save them from the dreaded happy flower.
>
> dtk

All they would have needed was to have Kirk and Spock sing...

-Jay

--
x------- Jay Kadis ------- x---- Jay's Attic Studio ----x
x Lecturer, Audio Engineer x Dexter Records x
x CCRMA, Stanford University x http://www.offbeats.com/ x
x-------- http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jay/ ----------x

[John L Rice]

"Jay Kadis" > wrote in message
...
> In article et> "dt
king"
> > writes:
> > >Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Kendall > wrote:
> > > >
> > > >> "axtogrind" > wrote in message
> > > >> ...
> > > >> >
> > > >> > No kidding, about 30 years ago I read a children's book (one of
the
> > > >Three
> > > >> > Investigators series) that used this notion to explain a
haunting.
> > I've
> > > >> > slept since then, but if memory serves me, it was an old pipe
organ
> > in
> > > >the
> > > >> > story that was used to cause visitors to the abandoned house to
run,
> > > >> > screaming, from the property.
> > > >>
> > > >> I believe that this was the book:
> > > >> http://www.threeinvestigatorsbooks.homestead.com/Terrorcastle.html
> > > >
> > > >I remember reading a story like that, but I was under the impression
it
> > was
> > > >a Hardy Boys mystery. Is my memory that faulty? I don't actually
> > recall
> > > >reading any "Three Investigators" books.....
> > >
> > > The Hardy Boys also use this device (I want to say it's in the
Sinister
> > > Signpost but I am not sure). Also, Robert Heinlein uses it in Sixth
> > > Column.
> >
> > The original Star Trek used it once, too. They needed to **** off a
colony
> > to save them from the dreaded happy flower.
> >
> > dtk
>
> All they would have needed was to have Kirk and Spock sing...
>
> -Jay
>

That reminded me, I haven't listened to the Star Trek Bit in a long time.
Never fails to make me laugh. Old news but a good one I think :
http://www.andysavage.com/001audiobits.html ( unfortunately it's only in
RealAudio format )

John L Rice