Soundscape: Oregon's Wilson River in the Rain

Wilson River (7:31) It often rains in the state of Oregon and sometimes it is nice to just go out and watch a river flow by while the rain falls around you as in this video of the Wilson river in Oregon. The combined sound of the river and the falling rain provides a peaceful and relaxing scene. The Wilson River is a stream, about 33 miles (53 km) long, that flows from the Northern Oregon Coast Range to Tillamook Bay. (Photo:Wikipedia) Source: YouTube

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Soundscape: Sakitsu

Sakitsu (2:14) By Akiharu Hioki. This beautiful video explores the soundscape of the picturesque fishing town of Sakitsu in Kumamoto Prefecture. Kumamoto Prefecture located in south western Japan. It is an area of the country blessed with amazing natural Beauty. Source: YouTube

Education: Children and Hearing Loss

Noise, Children and Hearing Loss (4:20) Noise pollution can really hurt a child's ears. That includes household appliances, an ever increasingly noisy urban environment, and the amplified sound of entertainment media and technology. This short program explores ways in which to protect a child's hearing. Source KVPT Fresno, California. YouTube video.

Documentary: Din On The High Seas

Vacarme en haute mer (50:41) The depths of the sea are as full of exciting sounds and voices as  any other habitat rich with species. This film explores this fascinating soundscape and the issues that underwater noise, most often the result of human activity, has on the creatures of the deep. French language film by Jerome Julienne and John Jackson. Source: Daily Motion.

Project: Sound For Electric Vehicles

Audi E-Sound (2:02) The sense of hearing provides the brain with acoustic signals that warn of approaching danger be it predators or, more often today, auto and truck traffic. The development of electrically operated vehicles has the potential of quieting the soundscape, but at the same time creates issues of safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and others who encounter e-cars and trucks in crosswalks and other situations where the two come together. Replacing the sound of the combustion engine with electronic motor sounds has become an issue for many and a challenge for car designers. 

This video looks at the development of 'e-sound" by Audi. This is a realtime technique of generating synthetic motor sounds for the essentially silent vehicle in order to warn pedestrians and cyclists of the car's proximity. Source: VIMEO.

Interview: Gordon Hempton - One Square Inch of Silence

The Search for Silence (3:10) In this April, 2009 KATU-TV (Portland, OR.) interview, acoustic-ecologist Gordon Hempton discusses his search for silence. His book, 'One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World', tells the unique story of silence and sound and how they affect and impact our lives in profound ways.  The book charts Hempton’s journey across the United States as he travels from his home in Washington State to the nation’s capital in Washington, DC.  Hempton argues that “preserving natural silence is as necessary and essential as species preservation, habitat restoration, toxic waste clean-up, and carbon dioxide reduction.”  His argument is compelling, and with a green movement sweeping America and the world, Hempton is fighting to include natural silence in the quest for a cleaner, safer planet." Source: KATU-TV Portland, Oregon.

Sound Walk: Portland's Urban Scene

Urban Portland Scene (6:39) Kenya D. Williams lead a Portland, Oregon urban soundwalk on May 4th that began at the Urban Center Plaza on the campus of Portland State university (PSU). The walk lasted about 1 hour followed by a discussion of the listening experience. Mr. Williams is a student in the Urban Studies Ph.D. program at PSU where he is researching the role sound plays in urban and environmental planning. This video includes short clips from that walk with several stops at Portland's amazing water features. The weather included rain, sun, and hail, which all added to the soundscape. Note that the microphone on the small pocket camera used for this document was not adequate to capture the full sound experience heard on the walk.

Project: Deep Water Whale Communication

Whale communication (11:19) "Using the Navy's underwater submarine listening system, Christopher Clark at Cornell University,  has been able to track deep water whales, like the blue whale and fin whale, throughout the ocean basins."

"These animals use sound to communicate over very long distances; for example, a whale singing off the Grand Banks of Canada can be detected in Puerto Rico! But as the number and noise of commercial ships has increased, it is likely to interfere with the whale's ability to hear one another. What the long term effect of this will be on the whales is largely unknown." Source: Cornell University