you’ve triggered my trap card and now i’m going to talk about something incredibly nerdy
Sound has such a profound affect on us and no one fucking thinks about it, it’s nuts. There have been days when there is barely anyone driving near me and all of a sudden when i walk outside i feel like i’ve been transported to one of those old swedish movies set in the countryside, it just feels like proper summer somehow. Similar thing happens when there’s snow in the winter, everything gets quieter and it sounds like winter in a way that it just doesn’t without the snow, but is impossible to put your finger on.
I can instantly tell upon waking if it snowed in the night based on the sounds of cars driving by, even with shutters down. I wish everyone could know what a snowy night sounds like.
The winter one at least is easy to explain. The snow absorbs ambient noise. People don’t realize just how much ambient noise is around due to just the breeze, bugs, etc, until the soft snow turns the entire world into an anechoic chamber.
A significant amount of snow on the ground slightly absorbs and dampens sounds, as IrateAnteater says, similar to being in an anechoic chamber.
Significant rain or sleet or hail causes its own background noise that can functionally mask other background sounds… and, if an area with roads is now very wet, this changes the sound of cars driving nearby to be a bit more … treble, high pitched, as the water splashing out of the way is now part of your average car driving by sound… and basically, close by sounds that are now higher pitched are more noticeable.
Differing levels of temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity also alter how sound propogates through the air.
The effects are most noticable for sounds that are basically in the ‘background noise’ category; certain weather conditions can be the difference between you being able to mostly hear them, and mostly not hear them.
you’ve triggered my trap card and now i’m going to talk about something incredibly nerdy
Sound has such a profound affect on us and no one fucking thinks about it, it’s nuts. There have been days when there is barely anyone driving near me and all of a sudden when i walk outside i feel like i’ve been transported to one of those old swedish movies set in the countryside, it just feels like proper summer somehow. Similar thing happens when there’s snow in the winter, everything gets quieter and it sounds like winter in a way that it just doesn’t without the snow, but is impossible to put your finger on.
I can instantly tell upon waking if it snowed in the night based on the sounds of cars driving by, even with shutters down. I wish everyone could know what a snowy night sounds like.
The winter one at least is easy to explain. The snow absorbs ambient noise. People don’t realize just how much ambient noise is around due to just the breeze, bugs, etc, until the soft snow turns the entire world into an anechoic chamber.
I have to remember “anechoic” for Spelling Bee. Although it probably won’t be in the list, just like the birds and animals it rejects.
A significant amount of snow on the ground slightly absorbs and dampens sounds, as IrateAnteater says, similar to being in an anechoic chamber.
Significant rain or sleet or hail causes its own background noise that can functionally mask other background sounds… and, if an area with roads is now very wet, this changes the sound of cars driving nearby to be a bit more … treble, high pitched, as the water splashing out of the way is now part of your average car driving by sound… and basically, close by sounds that are now higher pitched are more noticeable.
Differing levels of temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity also alter how sound propogates through the air.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289525229_Influence_of_Atmospheric_Conditions_on_Sound_Propagation_-_Mathematical_Modeling
The effects are most noticable for sounds that are basically in the ‘background noise’ category; certain weather conditions can be the difference between you being able to mostly hear them, and mostly not hear them.
I wish more film would skip the soundtrack and go hard on detailed sound effects