domingo, 30 de maio de 2010

Soundscapes of war (1)

South Korea will be reinstalling powerful speakers in 14 different locations along the demilitarized zone that separates it from North Korea.  
The loudspeakers which are being re-installed now were deactivated by the South Korean authorities six years ago. North Korea, which used radio as a propaganda tool in the past to glorify Kim Jong-Il, the “sun of the 21st century”, now threatens to blast the speakers. South Korea claims that the goal of this gigantic operation is to spread propaganda on freedom and democracy. “One group of loudspeakers on the Seoul side can be heard more than 20 kilometers” into North Korea in the quiet of the night, AFP says.

The blast of the sun of the 21st century’s combat with democracy and the freedom to speak louder, here is the theme of this gigantic 21st century electroacoustic extravaganza. 

quarta-feira, 19 de maio de 2010

Vuvuzela

”What’s in a name?”, asked Juliet. “That which we call a rose
by any other name would smell as sweet?”
What’s in this name? 
That which they call a vuvuzela would it sound less dreadful or less threatening by any other name?
The sound of the vuvuzela became a symbol of the football supporter’s enthusiasm for their teams. It’s being used as a sort of iconic sound of FIFA’s World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
A recent study by Dr. De Wet Swanepoel of the University of Pretoria's department of communication pathology, and Dr. James Hall of the University of Florida, however, found evidence that this sound turned symbol of this sport event can lead to permanent hearing loss. “A real risk of noise induced hearing loss.”  Another previous study, totally disregarded by the FIFA authorities, had already alerted to the inevitable consequences of the exposure to the vuvuzela’s high intensity sound level.
FIFA refused to ban the vuvuzela after finding out about these risks and supports it.
We’ll support our national teams until deafness do us part...