It's Spring-Reset Your Ears

...and listen.

It’s Spring…reset your ears and listen. Photo: Author

In a recent post, I wrote about the recognition that there is always some sound in silence. I ended the essay with this quote from sound designer Dallas Taylor.

"We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset our ears. And if we become more conscious of what we hear, we'll inherently make our world sound better. Quietness is not when we turn off our minds to sound, but when we can really start to listen and hear the world in all of its sonic beauty...Listen for the loud and soft, the harmonic, the dissonant, and all the small details that make every sound unique."¹

Since that writing, I have been challenged by his suggestion to reset my ears and experiment more with what it means to seek silence, to find silence, to listen to silence. I'm more conscious about listening to the sound around me and I now understand his next comment. "...if we become more conscious of what we hear, we'll inherently make our world sound better." There are times I do not hear sounds, I only hear noise. I want to make my world sound better.

The Selective Brain

While researching my early essays on Substack on listening and empathy I discovered how our minds filter and sometimes override our intentional listening. When engaged in conversation, even in a noisy restaurant, my brain quickly adjusts to focus on my companion's words, filtering ambient noise while noting non-verbal signals that enhance my understanding. Yet, if a fire alarm suddenly blares, my brain immediately recognizes this urgent sound, interrupting the conversation and triggering a response.

The more I learn about how our brain moderates how and what we hear I marvel at our complexity. It also sparks my curiosity about what agency we have to 'train' or refine our listening habits.

Sound vs. Noise; A Scientific Distinction

Though often used interchangeably in everyday speech, "sound" and "noise" carry distinct meanings in acoustical science:

“Sound is defined as vibrations that travel through air or another medium that can be heard when they reach a person’s or animal’s ears. Noise is defined as unwanted and/or harmful sound.”²

Noise pollution occurs when unwanted sound information makes it impossible to hear other, more delicate--and often more important --sound information.

Our Increasingly Loud World

How do we make our world sound better? This question has gained urgency as our modern world expands and mechanizes. Studies comparing sound levels between 1900³ and today, estimate urban sound levels have increased by approximately 20 to 30 dB over the past century. Modern cities have ambient background noise of 60-70 dB with regular peaks exceeding 90-100dB from traffic, construction and other urban activity. ⁴

Rural environments have not been spared. Background levels have also increased in the past century with background levels of approximately 30-40 dB due to mechanized agriculture, transportation and development. The National Park Services Natural Sounds program has documented the expansion of human made noise expanding into protected wilderness areas and detecting human made noise in over 60% of Natural Areas in the United States.

Beyond volume, the character of modern noise has fundamentally changed. Unlike the intermittent and often predictable sounds of the past--church bells, factory whistles, trains on schedules-today's noise is continuous. The human nervous system more easily adapts to occasional sounds with recovery periods in between. Continuous noise, even at lower levels, can cause more significant stress because it offers no respite.

Making Your World sound Better: Personal Strategies

Here are some suggestions for improving your sonic environment:

• Gentle Wakening: Skip the jarring alarm and wake to a gentler sound that increases in volume gradually. I like the 'chime' and 'steps' rings on my iPhone alarm app.

• Sound masking: White noise machines or smartphone apps create a consistent, gentle sounds that can block out ambient noise you can't control.

• Household quiet hours: Establish designated times when everyone minimizes loud activities.

• Visual alerts: Configure your devices to use visual notifications instead of auditory ones for emails, messages and other updates.

• Create a sanctuary: Designate a "quiet area" with more sound absorbing materials--rugs, curtains, soft furnishings and bookshelves.

• Sound monitoring: Some newer smart phones have health apps that can silently alert you if your environment exceeds your preset safe sound thresholds.

• Mindfulness practices: Regular meditation can train your brain to be less reactive to noise disturbances.

• Design for silence: Explore online resources for "decorating for silence" to create more acoustically pleasant spaces.

• Maintenance matters: Eliminate annoying noises such as squeaky doors, rattling appliances or loose windows. I live in an older house and today, with my sash window rattling from some vibration down the street, I paused my writing, installed foam window liner, and returned to think in improved silence.

While we can take personal steps to improve our sonic enviornments, some solutions require a broader social awareness. Next week I'll explore more deeply the health impacts of modern sound environments and the efforts of ecologists, engineers and cities to create large scale changes. I'll also examine the work of at the acoustical environmentalist, Gordon Hampton, author of the book One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet and founder of Quiet Parks, International (formerly known as One Square Inch of Silence Foundation.

1. Taylor, Dallas, TED talk.

2. Fink MD, Daniel, "A New Definition of Noise" Hearing Health Foundation, December 5, 2023. (ICBEN adopted the new definition of noise as “unwanted and/or harmful sound” at its 14th Congress in Belgrade, Serbia, in June 2023.)

3. The comparisons between current and historical sound levels have challenges because there was little standardized sound measurement in 1900. Historical acoustic ecology research has used archival records, written descriptions and reconstructions to estimate preindustrial soundscapes.

4. The dramatic increases come from the noises of traffic, HVAC systems running 24/7 in buildings, the low frequency hum of electrical infrastructure, mechanical sounds of elevators, escalators and automatic systems, persistent aircraft noise and continuous noise of ventilation and cooling systems.

If you enjoyed the post please click on the ❤️ and leave a comment. The conversations in the comments expand what I write and it becomes something new—a conversation, you with me, you with each other. Part TWO will post in a week. If you subscribe below you can receive future Newsletters in your email. Everything on Listen First is open to all readers and subscribers and I am grateful for each of you. And wow -many of you have become paid subscribers to my complete delight and appreciation. I’m happy to have you here and I treasure your comments and our conversations.

I’d like to take the liberty of recommending a few posts to you, these stood out for me.

1. Timothy Snyder -Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow, gave me shivers, the same way Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” does. We human beings take so much for granted.

   Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow

   2. Ramya Vivekanandan -A beautiful remembrance continuing her embrace of our shared humanity.

      Always together come what may