Sonic Communication Research Articles

Moving Toward Land-Based Sound Archiving and Composition: Reflecting on Field Research From the Project Sonic Coordinates: Decolonizing Through Land-Based Composition

This paper examines the intersection of environmental sound recording, sound collection, and archiving by drawing on Land-based approaches, Indigenous epistemologies, and methodologies. In particular, this paper considers some of the implications for immersive sound-based fieldwork informed by site-specific listening methods, embodied learning and forms of reflexivity that are rooted in Indigenous concepts of relationality (kinship). Specifically, this paper revolves around an initial field research trip from our project Sonic Coordinates: Decolonizing through Land-based music composition (supported by the New Frontiers Research Fund) which took place in the region of Timiskaming (Northern Ontario, Canada) during the fall of 2019. Consequently, our paper examines what was learned through this process, and how critical listening and recording/collection of environmental sounds can be used to inform Indigenous sound/music composition and aural forms of storying. This paper ultimately explores the ephemeral concepts of sound materiality and how aural archiving and documentation (through digitizing and digital platforms) is used to preserve and engage historical memory, cultural knowledge and shifts toward the development of sonic art and communication that is informed by site-specific research practice.

Enacting a Jazz Beat: Temporality in Sonic Environment and Symbolic Communication

Abstract What does it mean to enact a jazz beat as a creative performer? This article offers a critical reading of Iyer’s much-cited theory on rhythmic enaction. We locate the sonic environment approach in Iyer’s theory, and criticize him for advancing a one-to-one relationship between everyday perception and full-fledged aural competence of jazz musicians, and for comparing the latter with non-symbolic behaviour of non-human organisms. As an alternative, we suggest a Merleau-Ponty-inspired concept of rhythmic enaction, which we call the enactive communicative approach. Key to this approach is the fact that jazz musicians play by ear, and that the beat emerges because of reciprocal, real-time aural communication. From this perspective, we outline the temporality of a jazz beat as a holistic and dialectical temporal structure. Throughout the discussions, we use John Coltrane’s ‘Trane’s Slo Blues’ as a point of reference.

Preserving Human Perspectives in Cultural Heritage Acoustics: Distance Cues and Proxemics in Aural Heritage Fieldwork

We examine the praxis implications of our working definition of aural heritage: spatial acoustics as physically experienced by humans in cultural contexts; aligned with the aims of anthropological archaeology (the study of human life from materials). Here we report on human-centered acoustical data collection strategies from our project “Digital Preservation and Access to Aural Heritage via a Scalable, Extensible Method,” supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the USA. The documentation and accurate translation of human sensory perspectives is fundamental to the ecological validity of cultural heritage fieldwork and the preservation of heritage acoustics. Auditory distance cues, which enable and constrain sonic communication, relate to proxemics, contextualized understandings of distance relationships that are fundamental to human social interactions. We propose that source–receiver locations in aural heritage measurements should be selected to represent a comprehensive range of proxemics according to site-contextualized spatial-use scenarios, and we identify and compare acoustical metrics for auditory distance cues from acoustical fieldwork we conducted using this strategy in three contrasting case-study heritage sites. This conceptual shift from architectural acoustical sampling to aural heritage sampling prioritizes culturally and physically plausible human auditory/sound-sensing perspectives and relates them to spatial proxemics as scaled architecturally.

Aerial sonic communication technology and its application

Aerial sonic communication technology and its application

Beat the Drums or Break Them: Bells and Drums as Communication Devices in Early Chinese Warfare

Abstract Warring States (453-221 BCE) and Western Han (206 BCE-9 CE) texts abound in references to drums and bells in discussions of warfare and martial affairs. This begs the question: how are we to understand such references? What role did these instruments have to play on the battlefield? This paper examines the role of sound in early Chinese warfare. By analyzing textual references to sound-producing instruments within the context of warfare, it seeks to emphasize the importance of organized sound production on the battlefield. I argue that, rather than mere ornamental “military music,” drums and bells were perceived by early Chinese strategists as indispensable sonic communication devices, which played a crucial role in victory or defeat in any battle.

К проблеме звуковой семантики традиционных саамских музыкальных инструментов

The article explores the issue of the sonic semantics of traditional Saami musical instruments. The problem of studying the semantic aspects of Saami tradition lies in the fact of the absence of definite images and concepts, which may be explained to a large extent by the fading of archaic forms of sonic communication in the ethnicity's culture of intonation and acoustics. Meanwhile, the preservation of syncretic phenomena, which mark the interrelated and indivisible world of objects' spiritual values, makes it possible to determine the methods of studying the semantics of the traditional cultural objects in question. First and foremost, the specificity of the Saami aesthetic belief system is connected with the highly subtle perception of natural surroundings and is determined by old beliefs, which are based on the Saami animistic notion of objects of material nature. Integrating the complex of sonic perception of the surrounding space makes it possible to establish the coordinates of the Saami conception of the unity between world-view and sound, manifested through non-differentiation of the sound source – whether vocal, instrumental or kinetic. The author's approach, based on the equivalence of sound realizations, is equipped to determine the proposed conception from the viewpoint of ethnomusicological interpretation (catalyst) of the archaic phenomena of the Saami syncretic art of sound. The turn to the onomatopoeic vocabulary of the Saami language is conjugated with revealing the specificity of timbre and articulation in Saami instrumentalism. Such an interdisciplinary coordination between two branches of knowledge – linguistics and ethno-organology – enables the researcher to define the performing technique of playing traditional Saami instruments on the semantic basis of kinesiological and visual perception. Keywords: saami, semantics of sound, musical instruments, kinesiological and visual perception.

The Hu\xe1nuco Pampa acoustical field survey: an efficient, comparative archaeoacoustical method for studying sonic communication dynamics

The 2015 acoustical field survey on and around the central plaza platform (“ushnu”) at the Inca administrative complex of Huánuco Pampa advances understanding of Inca communication dynamics and innovates archaeoacoustical methodologies. We detail here a new archaeoacoustics method that cross-compares a sequence of human-performed sound sources along with a standard electronic acoustical test signal across survey points. This efficient and rigorous archaeological experiment produced extensible data and observations regarding Inca-designed site sonics and multi-directional communication dynamics. Our experiment design combines ecologically valid acoustical measurements with subjective researcher-observer data to chart sound transmission and reception of different classes of sound-producers, enabling the identification of environmental contingencies, and the estimation of site acoustical features. Calibrated, multiply repeated sonic test signals were measured from a strategically chosen set of geo-located and photo-documented source and receiver locations in absolute, relative, and subjective terms, simultaneously for each source-receiver pair. This method offers a systematic and comprehensive understanding of site-specific sonic dynamics via in-field observations and data recording, frequency-range comparison across test signals, attention to acoustical metrics and psychoacoustical precedents, and emphasis on practical repeatability for a range of archaeologically relevant sound sources. Our study posits the central platform at Huánuco Pampa as a strategic point for Inca elites to both observe and influence activities across the site, a finding extensible to other such platforms. The prominent architectural platform would serve as a tool for multi-directional communication, as well as to facilitate messaging about elite presence and imperial identity through the projection of sonic-visual displays. Beyond producing data about Huánuco Pampa and Inca architecture, our case-study implementation of this new method demonstrates an efficient and systematic approach to tracing the acoustical contingencies of architectural materials in archaeological contexts.

Sound-Triggered Production of Antiaggregation Pheromone Limits Overcrowding ofDendroctonus valensAttacking Pine Trees

For insects that aggregate on host plants, both attraction and antiaggregation among conspecifics can be important mechanisms for overcoming host resistance and avoiding overcrowding, respectively. These mechanisms can involve multiple sensory modalities, such as sound and pheromones. We explored how acoustic and chemical signals are integrated by the bark beetle Dendroctonus valens to limit aggregation in China. In its native North American range, this insect conducts nonlethal attacks on weakened trees at very low densities, but in its introduced zone in China, it uses mixtures of host tree compounds and the pheromone component frontalin to mass attack healthy trees. We found that exo-brevicomin was produced by both female and male D. valens, and that this pheromone functioned as an antiaggregating signal. Moreover, beetles feeding in pairs or in masses were more likely than were beetles feeding alone to produce exo-brevicomin, suggesting a potential role of sound by neighboring beetles in stimulating exo-brevicomin production. Sound playback showed that an agreement sound was produced by both sexes when exposed to the aggregation pheromone frontalin and attracts males, and an aggressive sound was produced only by males behaving territorially. These signals triggered the release of exo-brevicomin by both females and males, indicating an interplay of chemical and sonic communication. This study demonstrates that the bark beetle D. valens uses sounds to regulate the production of an antiaggregation pheromone, which may provide new approaches to pest management of this invasive species.

Principles of structure building in music, language and animal song.

Human language, music and a variety of animal vocalizations constitute ways of sonic communication that exhibit remarkable structural complexity. While the complexities of language and possible parallels in animal communication have been discussed intensively, reflections on the complexity of music and animal song, and their comparisons, are underrepresented. In some ways, music and animal songs are more comparable to each other than to language as propositional semantics cannot be used as indicator of communicative success or wellformedness, and notions of grammaticality are less easily defined. This review brings together accounts of the principles of structure building in music and animal song. It relates them to corresponding models in formal language theory, the extended Chomsky hierarchy (CH), and their probabilistic counterparts. We further discuss common misunderstandings and shortcomings concerning the CH and suggest ways to move beyond. We discuss language, music and animal song in the context of their function and motivation and further integrate problems and issues that are less commonly addressed in the context of language, including continuous event spaces, features of sound and timbre, representation of temporality and interactions of multiple parallel feature streams. We discuss these aspects in the light of recent theoretical, cognitive, neuroscientific and modelling research in the domains of music, language and animal song.

Research and Development on Underwater Visible Light Communication Systems

SUMMARYThe main subject of this investigation is to perform research and development and verification experiments on underwater communications (underwater visible light communications; VLCs) under the assumption that VLC can be used for tourism and environmental protection under the ocean conditions of the Okinawa region (Zamami village), which is one of the most popular diving spots, with the most transparent water and abundant coral and fish. Radio is rarely used as a communications tool underwater because the attenuation rate of radio signals is high. The only communications tool now available under water is sonic (ultrasonic) communications, although it has not spread among divers because it is subject to noise from reflections of the water surface or the sea floor, and its use is not simple. Another disadvantage of this mode of communication is that it is very difficult to identify the speaker when several divers are present in the same area. With the underwater VLC device, most of the underwater communications problems are already solved, for the following reasons: (1) the device is easy to move and does not involve cables; (2) it is much easier to capture another person's words because communication does not diverge as sonic communication does; (3) conversation is much easier since the other party can recognize the speaker visually.

Evidence for short-range sonic communication in lymantriine moths

Sexual communication of nun moth, Lymantria monacha (L.), pink gypsy moth, Lymantria mathura Moore, and fumida tussock moth, Lymantria fumida Butler (all Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Lymantriinae), is known to be mediated by pheromones. We now show that males are attracted by the sounds of conspecific females over short distances and that wing fanning male and female L. monacha, L. mathura and L. fumida produce species- and sex-specific wing beat and associated click sounds that could contribute to reproductive isolation. Evidence for short-range communication in these lymantriines includes (i) scanning electron micrographs revealing metathoracic tympanate ears, (ii) laser interferometry showing particular sensitivity of tympana tuned to frequency components of sound signals from conspecifics, and (iii) phonotaxis of male L. monacha and L. fumida to speakers playing back sound signals from conspecific females. We conclude that tympanate ears of these moths have evolved in response not only to bat predation, but also for short-range mate finding and possibly recognition.

The Variety of Information Transfer in Animal Sonic Communication: Review from a Physics Perspective

For many anatomical and physical reasons animals of different genera use widely different communication strategies. While some are chemical or visual, the most common involve sound or vibration and these signals can carry a large amount of information over long distances. The acoustic signal varies greatly from one genus to another depending upon animal size, anatomy, physiology, and habitat, as also does the way in which information is encoded in the signal, but some general principles can be elucidated showing the possibilities and limitations for information transfer. Cases discussed range from insects through song birds to humans.

Communication ecology of webbing clothes moth: attractiveness and characterization of male‐produced sonic aggregation signals

Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella (Hum.) (Lep., Tineidae), uses sonic signals in addition to pheromonal signals for communication. To record sound from individual or groups of moths of either or both sexes, we used a digital recording system, microphones sensitive to sonic and/or ultrasonic frequencies, and speakers capable of emitting sonic and ultrasonic sound. In a soundproof environment, male T. bisselliella produced sounds of 27 decibels (dB, sound pressure level; 0 dB corresponds to 20 μPa), with a base frequency of 40–50 Hz and a harmonic frequency of 80–100 Hz. Sound intensity and frequency increased to 55 dB and 65–75 Hz (with ≥3 harmonic frequencies), respectively, when calling males were near (<2 cm) conspecifics of either sex. There was no evidence that females produce sound and no evidence for ultrasonic sound production by either sex. In Y‐tube bioassay experiments, virgin male and female T. bisselliella preferred played‐back sonic signals from males to silent control stimuli, whereas mated females showed no preference for either stimulus. In arena bioassay experiments, males as well as virgin and mated females preferred played‐back sonic signals from males over a white noise control. Use of pheromonal and sonic signals by T. bisselliella would be adaptive, because the capacity for sonic communication persists even if sensory adaptation or habituation to pheromonal signals occurred. This hypothesis is consistent with the fact that other inhabitants of enclosed microhabitats, such as the greater wax moth, Galleria mellonella L., and Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hb.), have also evolved analogous multimodal communication systems.

Living Melodies: Coevolution of Sonic Communication

The authors have constructed an artificial world of coevolving communicating agents. The behavior of the agents is described in terms of a simple genetic programming framework, which allows the evolution of foraging behavior and movement in order to reproduce, as well as sonic communication. The sound of the entire world is used as musical raw material for the work. Musically interesting and useful structures are found to emerge.

Model based teleoperation of untethered underwater vehicles with manipulators

Model based teleoperation of underwater vehicles and manipulators is a way to solve the problem introduced by the very long delay caused by the narrow band sonic communication link between the vehicle and the surface vessel. The MOBATEL project is described.

Model Based Teleoperation of Untethered Underwater Vehicles With Manipulators - MOBATEL

Modelbased teleoperation of underwater vehicles and manipulators is a way to solve the problem introduced by the very long delay caused by the narrow band sonic communication link between the vehicle and the surface vessel. The MOBATEL project is described.

An unperiodic concentrated sonic pulse

The purpose of this note is to define an unperiodic source which gives a highly concentrated pulse of scalar radiation. The source involves four constants, and concentration is obtained by giving small values to dimensionless combinations of those constants. The field is axially symmetric, and there is a focal point which travels along the x x -axis with the speed of propagation; the focal field remains constant for some time, decaying after that. The method is that of the retarded potential, but presented in terms of equivalent Minkowskian geometry of space-time, the speed of propagation playing the part of the speed of light in relativity. The obvious application is to sonic communication in water, but no attempt is made to interpret the source in physical terms.

Interference of sonic communication and mating in leafhopperAmrasca devastans (distant) by certain volatiles

Mating between the two sexes in the leafhopperAmrasca devastans was inhibited by cineole vapors surrounding host plant leaves bearing the insects. There was a decline in the percentage of pairs mating and mated females fertilized. The vapors were not toxic and did not prevent the insects' arrival on the leaves. The cineole vapors inhibited the mating chiefly by interfering with the surface-mediated sonic communication between the sexes. The inhibition of mating was chemical specific since other volatiles, e.g., citral, were not as effective as cineole. Exposure to cineole vapors resulted in a decline in the sexual response of the females to the sonic signals of the male.

Vocal Mimicry in Tursiops : Ability to Match Numbers and Durations of Human Vocal Bursts

In addition to its normal underwater sonic communication path, the dolphin ( Tursiops truncatus ) can be trained to emit sounds from the blowhole opened in air. By proper rewarding (positive reinforcement) and evocative techniques, such vocal emissions can be changed from the natural patterns. One such group of new sounds is said to resemble the human voice ("vocal mimicry"). Aspects of these sounds which are physically determinable, specifiable, and demonstrable are the similarities in numbers of bursts of sound emitted by man and dolphin and in durations of successive emissions. In 92 percent of the exchanges the number of bursts emitted by Tursiops equalled, ±1, the number just previously emitted by a man in sequences of one to ten bursts.

Sonic Communication in Medical Practice and Research*

Sonic Communication in Medical Practice and Research*