Noisy secret of the wartime Highland tunnel
WHY did you start to investigate sound?
After I finished my Physics degree, I decided to combine my love of science and music by doing research into concert halls and studios. That research led to new acoustic treatments that have been used in music venues all around the world.
WHAT really fired your passion?
A sewer! I was asked to do a radio station interview about the acoustics of sewers.
The tunnel was extremely slippery, smelly and unpleasant but the sound was wonderful. As the interview started, I noticed my voice hugging the brick walls of the cylindrical sewer and spiralling into the distance.
It was an effect I’d never heard before, and that made me want to search for other sonic gems. WHAT marvels have you uncovered in Scotland?
I visited the Hamilton Mausoleum that used to have the world’s “longest echo” and thought I would try to beat it. I found an old wartime oil storage depot at Inchindown in Easter Ross which has a series of underground tunnels.
We set up some microphones and I fired a shot from a starting pistol. I’d never heard such a rush of echoes and we extended the world record for reverberations to well over a minute. HAVE you looked at musical instruments?
Yes, I’ve investigated quite a few unusual ones, including a huge stone xylophone in the Keswick Museum and Art Gallery in Cumbria.
I managed a plodding rendition of God Save the Queen on it.
I thought it was quite appropriate since Queen Victoria had requested a Command Performance on it at Buckingham Palace. WHAT other weird musical sounds did you uncover?
The organ made from stalactites in Luray Caverns, Virginia is tagged as the world’s largest musical instrument, but for me it is also the weirdest. When you press a key on the organ, somewhere in the cavern a tiny rubber hammer taps a cave formation, which then creates an ethereal ringing sound. HOW did you discover the most common animal noise on Earth
was from a shrimp? If you’ve watched a BBC natural history pro-gramme you’ve probably heard recordist Chris Watson’s work on the soundtrack. He alerted me to the “snap, crackle, and pop” of the shrimps. Amazingly, the sound is created to stun or kill prey. The snapping claws create bubbles that burst and
make shock waves.
WHICH place have you visitied with least sound?
I visited a spot identified by the Campaign for Rural England as the most tranquil place in England. They had kept the exact location secret, but I managed to convince them to reveal where it was. I was lucky when I visited that it was very quiet as the route to it goes past an RAF firing range and often the roar of jets disturbs the peace. DO you find it hard not listen all the time?
Writing the book has made me more aware of the sounds about me, but I can still switch off. All our brains are designed to ignore sounds that aren’t interesting or useful. DOES your family share your passion?
Frankly they try to keep a safe distance from me when I’m out looking out for sonic wonders!
Having a dad prone to clapping
hands or shouting in public places can be very embarrassing. WHAT bizarre places have you found yourself?
The abandoned spy station at Teufelsberg, Berlin. It was used by the British and Americans to eavesdrop on the East during the Cold War. There are remarkable acoustics in the almost spherical radome on top of the highest derelict tower. If you stand in just the right place and whisper, your voice reflects off the dome and comes back into one of your ears. So you can whisper sweet nothings into your own ear!
One summer I travelled to the Mojave Desert in California to hear the singing sands of Kelso Dunes. If you scoot down them it creates a small avalanche. Once I found the right spot, I was rewarded by a low frequency humming sound, a bit like the drone of a distant aircraft. The sound is surprisingly loud and can sometimes be heard a couple of kilometres away.
WHAT unexpected sounds have you discovered?
One surprise was learning about the clicks made by the oilbird from Venezuela. Like a bat, these birds click and navigate dark caves using echolocation.
DO you need special equipment?
Oceans, rivers and lakes are full of sound, but our hearing doesn’t work very well underwater. If you want to hear the glissandos of bearded seals or the calls of whales you need special under water microphones called hydrophones. During my research I took a boat trip on the Cromarty Firth to record the bottlenose dolphins that live there.
WHICH sounds don’t you like?
My least favourite — like a lot of folk I’d imagine — is the whirr of the dentist drill, as it brings back bad memories! Many people say the sound of fingernails scraping down a blackboard is the worst for them, but I don’t mind it.