Sound is a kind of energy and it needs a medium to travel. It cant travel where there is no medium. On earth they travel by using air as a medium. Where there is no air there is no sound. However there are certain bodies which also help sound waves to travel i.e. metallic wire. Sometimes children create paper cup phones by using two cups and a string or metallic wire. Sound then travels on that rope. The mechanism of sound travelling is based on vibration and oscillation.
However there is a question that what about the outer space where there is no air? Is there any mechanism for sound travelling in outer space? The answer is yes. The medium used in outer space is radio waves. However radio waves are not recognized by human ear unless it is processed with any device. Human ear can listen the sound between 20Hz to 20KHz. Above the 20KHz is called ultrasounds. However certain animals can listen below and above human range.
Sound is a broader spectrum and under this umbrella voice, speech, vocals, music and other natural sounds come. Sounds are associated with many cultural and geographical linkage. It is associated with different equipments and machines. Without watching someone can tell which sound belongs to which device or machine. So sound also carries the identity as well. For example if someone lives in a certain geographical area, he is used to listen the sounds of that area. He is well aware of his surroundings. If he is living in hilly areas, he is used to hear natural sounds of birds chirping, waterfalls, winds. If he is living in Pakistan, he is used to hear to roar of traffic and in traffic there are certain kinds of automobiles which are associated with different regions. Even within a cosmopolitan dialects changes from one part to another. One can easily feel in which part he is standing even without viewing and just hearing. For example in Pakistan especially big cities there is noise of rickshaws, bikes, hawkers etc. if someone moves to a different region, the sense of sounds changes altogether. There might be sounds but different kind of. So sound can be regarded as a culture as well. Sound is a kind of culture which can’t be seen with eyes however it can be heard and sensed. So one can say that it is intangible culture of a society.
In current era sound and visuals go hand in hand. At certain points sounds enhances the effect of visuals. Sometimes visuals enhance the effect of sound. Once the sound was recorded as analogue. However the digital recording has made it very easier to process and manipulate the sounds. However there can be misleading sounds and visuals as well. When one is on the road he recognizes the horns of certain types of vehicles. He know the horn of a bike is different from Suzuki car and Suzuki car has a different horn sound if comparison is with the bus or truck. So when someone is driving on a road and there is no back mirror, he takes decision by hearing horns from behind. If there is horn of bike he feels safe because bike needs less space to overtake. If he listen horn of a Suzuki, he takes decision accordingly. But in case horns are changed e.g. bike has the horn of a truck and truck has the horn of a bike, it will become too much risky because he will get confused between the identities. The chances of accident will be become too high.
Here in below video a small activity is performed. If one take the example of Pakistan, this land is very rich in culture especially in music. The land of Sindh is very petic and a musical instrument “IKTAARA” is associated with this land. Whenever a Pakistani listen iktaara, he links himself with the land of Sindh and its culture. Similarly In Punjab the most famous musical instrument is “TABLAA”. If tablaa is played one links himself to the culture of Punjab. For KPK, Nortern areas, and Pathan culture the importance of “Rubaab” is very high. With the playing of rubaab it is very easy to link himself with the land of KPK. Without viewing anything else he imagines green hills and pathaan culture.
In the above mentioned video visuals are taken from a very different region of the world. However when the music of KPK i.e. Rubaab is played in background, one links himself that he is viewing the visuals of KPK. He doesn’t think anything else. In other words with half preconceived knowledge he build on half unknown reality although it is misleading. Although he doesn’t know the reality but he assumes his imagination as a reality. It leads to another discourse i.e. human psychology. There is a term stereotypes. In this phenomena one builds on a whole imaginative scenario with a very little knowledge and assumes his imagination as reality. One who lives in an imaginative realism.
A person who is blind; he uses just sounds to view things. His sense of hearing works much faster than others. He believes in what he is hearing. On the other hand a person who is deaf; he uses his eyes to comprehend the reality. He believes in what he is viewing. But both are viewing just one side of the coin. The other side of the coin might be different. But those who are normal, they use audio-visuals to comprehend the reality. Apparently they are viewing both sides of the coin. But sometimes by viewing just one side of the coin they assume the other side without viewing it. It becomes an interesting discourse. In other words they believe in imaginative reality.
Here there is a case study of a blind person who can sense only sound waves. Video senses are not the same for him if compared to a normal person. He believes in what he hear. So basically in this sounds collection the sounds a set of sounds has been taken which he listen daily in his routine life. But these sounds are not just sounds for him. He uses these sounds to carry on his daily tasks. he wakes ups with a certain sound. Then some specific sounds of kitchen, the sounds of bathroom shower and taps, the sounds of shutting the door, the sounds of his alley, the sounds of traffic on a small road, the sounds of heavy traffic, hawkers, hospital ambulances, school, parks, all these are metaphors for him. These are landmarks and ways of recognizing the surroundings. So basically he maps his surrounding with the help of sounds. Sounds play an important role in his life.
Tools & Technology in Art Education 