0142
02-11-1999
HOUSE HEARING HAT
Bruce Odland
Other, composer
Collection: Acoustic architecture – Architectural acoustics
‘House hearing hat’ has one window for eyes or an ear but not both at the same time, and one door, and it fits entirely over a human head, but folds up into the said box.
When we build a room or structure we are also building an instrument. A soundbox. It works just like the resonating soundbox of a guitar, but the activities of the room are the strings, talking, music; activity resonates in this newly built room. Choice of materials, size, ratio, all contribute to the buildup of resonance, particularly parallel walls which cause standing waves to build up.
For a quick simulation of this effect try the ‘hearing house hat’, which has industrial aluminum on one side, and felt on the other. Two extremely different psycho-acoustic effects are available by listening from within to the different materials. Talk inside to hear your own reflections, have a conversation with someone outside, listen to people outside, sing or shout.
Turn the hearing house hat inside out and repeat. Memorize the psycho-acoustics of this experience, and blow it up in scale. It’s a simple test.
–BO
