(no subject)

[sestra_kerry]

...Noise is usually perceived as an unwanted signal, a sound to be eliminated. Good headphones are those that reduce noise. Unwanted noise happens even in science: Penzias and Wilson were desperate to get rid of the noise confusing their coveted radio signals. Ironically, the "meaningless" noise they were struggling to get rid of was the cosmic microwave background radiation! Perhaps, like John Cage, we should listen to the music in noise.

We can understand how noise can arise using the Fourier idea. Simply add waves of all frequencies, each with the same amplitude, and we end up with a featureless white noise signal. Our ears will perceive this sound as a hiss because there is no one frequency that dominates: each contributes to the sound equivalently. So white noise is actually the most democratic sound."

Stephon Alexander "The Jazz of Physics"

Мне очень нравится вслушиваться в шумы улицы во время дождя (потому что мокрые поверхности добавляют в эти шумы эхо, и тогда звуки становятся более отчетливы) и даже пытаться расслышать звуки идентифицируемой частоты, целые аккорды. Например, звук шин на мокром асфальте - иногда это просто шум, а иногда гармонии на фоне дождевого ритма и мелодий чьих-то шагов.