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Wind, Water, Wildlife and Silence: The Soundscape of the North State Garden

shhhhhh….

listen…..

what do you hear?…..

Wind, water, wildlife and silence – what is the soundscape of the North State Garden?

During Northstate Public Radio’s Fall 2012 Membership Drive, regular weekend programming of In a North State Garden is replaced by a special one-hour program airing on Tuesday October 16th from 10 am – 11 am PST.

The theme for this drive is Listening and Learning. With that in mind, my guest, sound researcher Joshua Leeds, and I will be discussing sound and the growing field of sound and soundscape ecology. Joshua lives in Ashland Oregon, and is the author of many music and sound-related titles, among them “The Power of Sound, How to be Healthy and Productive Using Music and Sound,” and “Through a Dog’s Ear – Using Sound to Improve the Health and Behavior of Your Canine Companion.” Joshua is a longtime musician and has been an authority in the emerging field of of soundwork for more than 20 years.

Sound as a powerful aspect of our lives has been studied and manipulated in some way since the dawn of time and sound research is an aspect of many fields of scientific study presently – from parenting to neuroscience to marketing to agriculture. As Leeds writes in “The Power of Sound”: “The ways that sound serves us run the gamut from background ambience to a potent surgical replacement. Although all of our sensory organs and their frequencies deserve exploration, The Power of Sound focuses on the domain of sound. Humans cannot manufacture light or taste directly, and our repertoire of creative odors is quite limited. We can, however, make sound. Not only can we perceive it, but we can also create it: music, laughter, and words turn sound into a friendly, practical, and interactive medium.”

In 2011, researchers out of Purdue University under Dr. Bryan Pijanowski introduced and proposed a new field of study know as Soundscape ecology.

Soundscape ecology:

Soundscape ecology is the study of sounds in a given environment or landscape and their effects – positive and negative – on the living plants, animals and people in that environment. In this field, sounds are categorized based on their source.

Biophony = Sounds generated by plants and non-human animals,

Geophony = sounds generated by the inorganic environment: geologic, weather and wind, water,

Anthrophony = Sounds generated by humans.

Soundscape ecologists study how sounds and their sources interact across time and space, as well as what their ecological effects might be: what is being communicated and how. Soundscape ecologists collect sound and other information from an environment to gain an understanding of an area’s soundscape structure.

As you might imagine even in remote areas, human generated noise dominates many soundscapes. The preservation of natural soundscapes is now a recognized conservation goal based on a sense of acoustic health vs acoustic disturbance.

All sound is vibration and everything living thing vibrates at its most basic anatomical structure. So whether we can hear it or not, every living thing is creating its own sound. Frequency is measured in the number of sound vibrations in one second, and the unit of measure is called a Hertz.

For some perspective: A healthy human ear can hear sounds of very low frequency, 20 Hertz (or 20 cycles per second), to a very high frequency of 20,000 Hertz.

The lowest A key on the piano is 27 Hertz. The middle C key on a piano creates a 262 Hertz tone. The highest key on the piano is 4186 Hertz.

The voiced speech of a typical adult male will have a fundamental frequency from 85 to 180 Hz, and that of a typical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz.

In birds, dominant frequencies range between 1500 to about 4500 Hz, a closer range than that of the whole spectrogram.

Sound has both physiological and psychological impact on us, and those around us. Due to our association with them, some sounds – even ones that might not be pleasant to others, can be pleasant to us and even have layered and seasonal meaning. For me the sound of rope and metal clips hitting the thick metal hollow of a flag pole brings back childhood memories of visiting my grandparents in the summer and my grandfather, a Naval officer in World War II, would pay us girls to put the flag up each morning and take it down each night.

Sound’s effects on the brain (and thus human development) have been studied extensively and while not everything is understood (is it ever?), it is clear that sound can have a direct and immediate effect on the brain and thus how and what we are thinking and thus feeling. Brainwaves, being vibrations, are also measured in Hertz. There are four major categories of brainwaves ranging from the most activity to the least activity, these are: BETA includes 14 – 30 Hz, ALPHA includes 8 – 14 Hz, THETA includes 4 – 8 Hz, and DELTA below 4 Hz. BETA brainwaves are associated with an active mind, the lower and mid-levels of this state are our normal waking brain wave; higher levels are associated with disturbance, anxiety and fear. ALPHA BRAINWAVES are slower than beta and can represent a relaxed mental state, increased seratonin production and learning. THETA includes the range of REM (dreaming) sleep and vital for memory and learning consolidation, and DELTA is associated with dreamless sleep.

One of the interesting things that Joshua Leed’s book “The Power of Sound” points out is that our brains, and likely the vibrations of all living things, will generally fall into vibrational rhythm with whatever the most dominant sound vibration is within our perception. So if you are hearing your parent or child humming gently and melodically, your brain waves will align with this, if you are hearing the neighbor’s mower and blower or chain saw at work, your brain will fall into line with these alarming and discordant sound vibrations. “We are equipped with eyelids,” Leeds points out, so we do not have to look at everything, but we are not equipped with “earlids” so we hear everything within our hearing’s range.

With this reality alone comes some interesting awareness. Go outside after thinking about this and you will be amazed at what you “hear” because you’re not blocking it from your conscious hearing.

And so with this reality, also comes responsibility. Leeds writes: “What can be done about this epidemic in noise- and stress-induced auditory dysfunction? you might ask. Begin by establishing a new sound awareness. Assert your sonic rights. Take appropriate precautions and protect your ears. Become proactive in auditory health and restoration. Learn to create sound space conducive to the needs of your nervous system. We all have the same equipment—two ears. The conscious use of sound comes down to understanding how sound affects us. Then we can apply positive psychoacoustic principles to our situations and environments. This is sonic responsibility.”

What sounds are you going to put out into the world around you?


I asked gardeners to contribute some thoughts on sounds that make them happy – here’s what they had to say:

Jenny Marr:

Truly, being in my garden is a multi-sensory experience, every time a new adventure, but by far one of my most exciting joy inspiring times are when the many species of song birds come in and carry on with their chirps, trills, chatter and tweets. I absolutely love seeing a new spring or late arrival to my garden, and by ‘seeing’ them, I mean that for some it’s their song that announces their return.
This year one extremely tall solitary sunflower was the biggest hit with more than 15 different species of birds frequently visiting it to eat the leaves, the seeds, insects, or just perch because it was so high up. I got so much song time in this growing season and am still enjoying the sounds of my returning goldfinches!

Thanks for your program, always a pleasure.

Best,
Jenny

Donna Murrill:

The sounds of crickets at night, the sounds of falling leaves, the plop of the fig falling to the ground, the birds beginning their migration with calls that are very different from the rest of the year; This is fall.
Winter is a time of birds at my feeders, singing and fighting over the sunflower and thistle seeds. It brings the rain, from a gentle drizzle to a pouring, pounding, downpour.
The last of the fruit is ripening — persimmons and pomegranates. Both fruits attract different birds, winter birds in many ways. There are frosts, with the crisp, snapping sounds as you walk in the early morning. The nuts falling off the pecan trees and the last leaves fluttering down. The silence of the fog floating over the garden signals it is truly winter. And the chain saws cutting up wood both for pruning and for fire wood.
Spring brings flowers and flowers bring bees. The birds are singing their mating songs and joyfully flying all around. Frogs croaking with the spring rain softly falling. The almond blooms falling like snow to the ground in the breeze. Storms are part of fall, winter and spring. WIND which damages so many things in the garden, also moves pollen around for some of the crops that grow in our area. The wind can howl and be very nasty, or it can be a gentle breeze to keep spring frosts away. The sand hill cranes calling as they again move North, and the geese and ducks also. The owls hunting at night in the winter and early spring to provide for their babies with the various sounds they make. The sounds of farm equipment occur all year but in spring the sprayers are so typical. And the plows and rototillers working the soil
As spring moves into summer, more sprayers, and more bees of many different types. Baby birds chirping for more food and the hummingbirds fighting over the pretty female sitting on that branch. The feisty male hummer fighting every bird near “his” feeder. They even take on the Oriels. Sprinklers providing life giving water when there is no more rain. The sudden attack of the cat on the gopher and my yell of Good Kitty!!

Earl Bloor:

The distant but persistent honking of flying-over geese.

Kim Ford:

The sounds around me that calm my soul:

I love the sound of rain tip-tapping on our roof.
I love the sound of the dogs barking at dusk, wanting to be let in for bedtime.
I love the sound of frogs at twilight.
I love the sound of water lapping on the lake shoreline.
I love the sound of water cascading down our waterfall.
I love the sound of children playing in the park.
I love the sound of bikes whizzing by on the bike path.
The sound of spinning falling autumn yellow and orange leaves!
These sounds surround our home and garden. These sounds connect me to our natural and built community.

Leisa Coletti:

The best sounds for me in my garden are frogs, hummingbirds wings and my pond splashing gently on my elephant ear plants base and roots. The sound I most like to fall asleep to is the dishwasher! It must be because when I was living at home with my Mom and Dad, I feel asleep to the dishwasher running.

Kay Perkins:

The sound that is most soothing for me in the garden is the running water. I have a continuous pond in the back yard that I can also hear in the house when my windows are open.

On my side yard where I can not hear the pond I have a fountain that I turn on that provides that sound of running water. Next year when I redo the front yard I will add a running water feature.

I also love the sound of birds, especially the finches, and I love the mockingbird songs. The birdsongs are best early in the mornings when it most quiet outside.

The sounds that I do not like that are irritating are continuously barking dogs, continuously honking horns, and of crows crowing.

John Whittlesey:

Fall – the flicker announces fall to me – the first times I hear them in late Sept or early Oct I feel a sense of relief, that summer is over and that the wonderful fall season is near.

Winter – the sweet melancholic song of the white crowned sparrow – reminds me of a childhood house.

Spring – The house wren announces the warm days of spring – showing up when it hits 70° in early to mid-April.

Summer – The yellow breasted chat is first heard in the night when the warm days have arrived – in May or early June.

The robin also carries the spring and summer but does not announce a season – since they are here year round.

Monica Bell:

I want to include the sound of a squirrel chirping and scurrying above. Or the sound of a squirrel gnawing on the unripe nectarines, and dropping them off the roof into the pathway.

Adrienne Edwards:

I love hearing different bees buzzing on flowers, of course, and our neighborhood red-tail hawk and the hummingbirds I feed.

Do you like the sound of Northstate Public Radio and all that you are able to listen to and learn as a result of its presence in our lives? If you do, I hope you will consider making a membership pledge today – or just as good – on Tuesday the 16th during the In a North State Garden special.

Without support like ours, yours and mine, Northstate Public Radio would not be able to provide the amazing diversity of local programming, including “Nancy’s Bookshelf”, “The Blue Dot Report”, “Weekend Showcase” and of course, In a North State Garden. While all of these programs are volunteer efforts, they still cost money to produce from the electricity to run the station, to the staff who engineer and run the boards. To make a pledge of any size go to: www.kcho.org or call: 1-800-234-5246.

Thank you!

Jennifer

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To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com

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In a North State Garden is a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California. It is made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum – Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell – all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here.

Jennifer Jewell

In a North State Garden is a bi-weekly North State Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum - Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell - all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In a North State Garden airs on Northstate Public Radio Saturday morning at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time, two times a month.

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