Fernando J. Elizondo-Garza - fjelizon@hotmail.com
Acoustics Laboratory. Mechanical
and Electrical Engineering School. Universidad Autónoma
de Nuevo León. P.O. Box 28 “F” Cd.
Universitaria, San Nicolás,
66450, N.L., México.
Tel.+ 52 81 83294020 Ext. 5854.
Popular version of paper 4aNSb3
Presented Thursday morning, November 18
2nd Pan-American/Iberian Meeting on Acoustics, Cancun, Mexico
Abstract
The design of rites is not something new. Since ancient times, shamans, tribal heads and leaders have known that the conjunction of physical-chemical-biological stimuli produces very useful states of euphoria that reinforce the sense of unity and thus obtain the favors of multitudes. These rites -- of tribal, religious, sport or festive character -- often use the noise as one of their central elements. In this paper a structure to and tools for the design of noise in rituals is proposed.
I. Introduction
Rites are intrinsic to the humans. The accomplishment of secret rituals is common in both historical and present times.
The rituals use different tools, eg: lights, colors, scents, meals, substances, dances, and of course sounds and noises, among others, to obtain: isolation, immersion, and predisposition to the purpose of the ritual.
As commented in the paper Ritual & Noise, by Rebolloso
& Elizondo [1], previously presented in this
special session on “Culture and Noise” in this 2nd Pan American/Iberian
Meeting on
Acoustics, the sound component in the rituals is very important and this, in
many cases, involves the generation of noises which can be useful to the rite
but which can also produce negative indirect effects.
Currently, like a reaction to the negative effects of noise, noise has generated a predictable response in ecologists, who usually present radical solutions, asking to eliminate the noise. This translates, in the absence of engineering, to the establishment of more and more prohibitions. [2,3]
In this paper a conceptual/methodological approach to the design of the acoustic component of the rituals is presented, with special attention to the aspect of the noise.
II. Rite & Noise
As was commented, noise fulfills important functions in the rituals, but at the same time can produce undesirable indirect effects for people who participate in the rituals, as well as for the people in the vicinities of a noisy ritual.
As a summary we can consider the noise as desirable because it: [4]
On the other hand the undesirable effects can be classified in 3 main cases:
Next, cases of undesirable noises will be commented on.
II.1. Noise received by participants of the rite
In the case of the participants, who participate voluntarily in the ritual, the central problem is the possibility of an overexposure to noise, [5,6] that produce a reduction of their hearing capacity in the medium or long term and, in extreme or accidental situations, hearing lost in the short term or in a immediate form.
It is necessary to emphasize that it is highly improbable that a person participating voluntarily in the ritual uses hearing protectors against noise.
In this case, the participants of the rite may or may not be conscious of the risk. Rarely is attention given to the emitted sound levels and much less to the dose of noise received by the participants, which very rarely are evaluated.
II.2. Noise received by organizers and workers of the event
As in the previous case, the overexposure is the main problem, but the difference is that they may or may not wish to be exposed, since they are brought to the place by the interests of organizational/labor character. The use of auditory protection must be obligatory in case of risk.
II.3. Noise received by nonparticipants of the rite
In this case, unsought exposure to noise affects people in proximity to the ritual. There are two main situations. [7-9]
In the case of the involuntary receiver of noise, the problem includes both the noise dose, which is rarely significant in terms of damage, and the problems of annoyances produced by noise, which can be very great. The main annoying situations are: [10]
It is necessary to remember that these negative effects do not require high sound levels, and that in addition are influenced by: the hour, the tone, the impulsive or repetitive character of the source, and of how near or far the message is from the ideology/cosmogony of the receiver.
It is important to clearly recognize that the societies change as a result of migration, sociopolitical changes, education, regulation, etc., and these factors of course determine how the problems of noise in the rituals change with time.
III. TOWARDS A DESIGN OF THE NOISE IN RITUALS
All design strategies must have an implicit conceptual base, an ideology, and, in the case of the design of noise in rituals, must clearly know that these premises are fundamental, because if they are not clear the rite can become a source of problems, a weapon instead of a tool.
III.1 Premises that must support the design of the noise in rituals.
I will begin proposing the conceptual, ideological, ethical structure that must support the design, for which the following corollaries are proposed:
Corollary 1. All engineering design must look for the happiness and well-being of the people.
Corollary 2. All design must avoid affecting, damaging or bothering the people.
Corollary 3. The happiness of a person must be limited when it is affecting another one.
Corollary 4. Sound and the noise can be useful to the people, when fulfilling a specific function; or a problem, when affecting them. This can happen simultaneously, when a noise is useful to one person and a problem to another one at the same moment.
Corollary 5. When designing, noise must be considered in an ample sense, that is to say, to consider the different definitions from noise.
Corollary 6. The design must fulfill the effective laws, regulation and norms.
Corollary 7. The design must be ethical according to a worldwide code accepted by recognized societies of engineers and scientists.
Corollary 8. It is not possible to be ethical designing for a nonethical company, because they can alter or badly use the design.
Corollary 9. The designer must not prejudge, must analyze all the options and look for new.
On the basis of the previous comments, the design of the aspects of noise/sound in rituals must try to find a solution that considers two contradictory objectives:
1. To produce appropriate noises, according to the function that is desired that the noise fulfills.
2. To avoid that the noises bother or damage the people. This aspect will mark the limit of the design, as much in space as in time.
So the design must include, at least, 4 design stages:
In order to obtain the balance between functions and problems, and therefore a good design, there are different conceptual, management and technical tools.
3.2 Tools for the design of the noise in rituals.
For the development of the design we can use different tools or techniques from the fields of: noise control [10], theater techniques [11, 12], audio [13], architectural acoustics [14], and management [15], among others areas of knowledge.
Next, as example, a lists of some of the main options available for the design of the noise in rituals is presented:
Silence
<−−> Noise
Music <−−> Noise
Message <−−> Noise
IV. Final Comments
From the early days of humanity, mankind has used rites for different purposes, from cohesion of the group, to simply organized diversion in a frequent and generally controlled way.
Over centuries the rituals have adapted to technological and social changes, arriving at the modern rituals that use different forms of manipulation of the sensorial stimuli, even of cerebral chemistry, and techniques of multimedia communication.
Within the stimuli used in rituals, sound is one of the main ones, which is used for the transmission of messages, the generation of pleasure (music) and as noise to generate variable sensations from annoyance to relaxation.
Lamentably, noise in the rituals can produce negative indirect effect that range from damage to hearing of the people in the rite to annoyances for people in the vicinity of the place where the ritual is carried out. In order to control these undesirable indirect effects and to maximize the useful uses of the noise, design of the noise in rituals is necessary.
The acoustic design must be an engineering act without prejudices, subject to a solid ethics that avoids the negative and increases the joy and consciousness of the people.
In the present times, so full of laws, regulations and prohibitions, people must be compensated with spaces for happiness, which only can be generated, given its complexity, by means of a process of professional design, within which the acoustic and audio design must explicitly include the aspects of noise in an ample sense.
It must be clear that the noise design of rituals is a multidisciplinary subject, and that, to approach it, it is necessary to be cultured.
V. References
1.
Roberto Rebolloso
& Fernando J. Elizondo-Garza. Ritual &
Noise. Proceedings of the 2nd Pan American/Iberian Meeting on Acoustics. Acoustical Society of
America, Federación Iberoamericana de Acústica / Instituto Mexicano de Acústica. Cancún, Mexico, 2010.
2. Reglamentos
de ruido vs. naturaleza humana. Revista Ingenierías Vol. VII, No. 25, Oct.
Dic 2004. Mexico.
3.
Fernando J. Elizondo.
¿Por qué no
se acaban los problemas de contaminación
por ruido? Memorias del 15 Congreso Mexicano de Acústica. Taxco, Guerrero. México. 23 Octubre 2008
4.
Fernando J. Elizondo.
Ese ruido tan necesario. Memoria del
10º Congreso Internacional
Mexicano de Acústica,
Puebla, Puebla, México, 26-28 de noviembre de 2003.
5. ISO 1999:1990 (E). "Acoustics – Determination of occupational noise exposure and estimation of noise-induced hearing impairment". International Organization for Standardization, Genève, Suiza.
6. NORMA Oficial Mexicana NOM-011-STPS-2001, Condiciones de seguridad e higiene en los centros de trabajo donde se genere ruido.
7. ISO 1996-2:2007 Acoustics -- Description, measurement and assessment of environmental noise -- Part 2: Determination of environmental noise levels. International Organization for Standardization, Genève, Suiza
8. ISO1996-1:2003 Acoustics -- Description, measurement and assessment of environmental noise -- Part 1: Basic quantities and assessment procedures. International Organization for Standardization, Genève, Suiza
9. NORMA Oficial Mexicana NOM-081-ECOL-1994, Que establece los límites máximos permisibles de emisión de ruido de las fuentes fijas y su método de medición.
10. Cyril M. Harris, Editor. Handbook of acoustical measurements and noise control, Third Edition. Originally published in 1991; Reprinted in 1997 Acoustical Society of America. USA.
11. Edwin Wilson. The theater experience. Sixth Edition. McGraw-Hill, 1994, ISBN-0-07-070685-9
12. Eugenio Barba. The paper canoe: A guide to theatre anthropology. Routledge, 1995. ISBN-13: 978-0415100830
13. John M. Eargle & Chris Foreman. Audio engineering for sound reinforcement. JBL-Hal Leonard Corporation, 2002. ISBN-10: 0634043552
14 Leslie L. Doelle. Environmental acoustics. McGraw-Hill, 1972. ISBN-10: 0070173427
15. Glenn Bowdin et al. Events management. Elsevier Ltd. 2006. ISBN-10: 0750665335