Sounds is most notably used for communication through speech or music. But sound perception can also be used for acquiring information about the surrounding environment, such as spatial presence of other animals or objects. For example, bats use one sort of echolocation, ships and submarines use sonar, and humans can determine spatial information by the way in which they perceive sounds. The science of sound is of great interest to me and I am researching how the elements of sound can have effects on the mind.
Sound structure
Above is a simple labelled diagram of a sound wave. I think they are interesting visuals to explore and it is going to help me visualise amplitude, frequency and wavelength. How these variables change, influence the effects of sound on the mind and body.
The amplitude is the magnitude of sound pressure (loudness/displacement).
The frequency is the number of air pressure oscillations per second at a fixed point (Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time, measured in Hz).
The wavelength is the distance between two successive crests and is the distance that a wave travels in the time of one oscillatory cycle.
The effects of amplitude/volume
A study I read by Erkin Asutay ,Daniel Västfjäll says that the Perception of Loudness Is Influenced by Emotion. They ****found that the same auditory stimulus was reported as being louder, more negative and fear-inducing when it was conditioned with an aversive experience, compared to when it was used as a control stimulus.
What I took from the study:
The auditory system is sensitive to amplitude in the way that loud sounds are processed as a danger and our body warns us of this danger, speeding up our breathing rate and heart rate to then prepare for it. This response however, is also similar to arousal and excitement. It can be suggested that loud sounds are frightening but listening to music at a higher volume is exciting and enjoyable because we have not associated it with a negative emotion.
In relation to safe spaces. Loud sounds that are not heard by choice or are unexpected can cause us to feel scared and uncomfortable because of what we associate with them (danger/warning) or because we may feel overstimulated by it. But if we have control over the volume of something, then these feeling can be managed.
The effects of high and low frequencies