The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Extraterrestrial music

Extraterrestrial music
Extraterrestrial music
This paper discusses how other worlds will sound, and what we could learn by listening to them. This is illustrated by transforming a range of musical sounds (including voices) to show how they would appear on other worlds, so demonstrating the physics involved and how our understanding of that physics can allow us to make predictions about sound on other worlds. Until now, the emphasis has been on how other worlds look, with space probes carrying sophisticated cameras, and documentary- and film-makers spending large budgets to recreate the scenery of other worlds accurately. Almost all space probes have been ‘deaf’, but if they had had microphones could they have heard distant storms, or been able to diagnose their malfunctioning vanes and motors by listening for ‘a funny rattle’? Could a probe listen for lightning on Venus, dust storms on Mars, or ice cracking and even undersea life on Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa? Could a Mars astronaut hear a rockfall behind her as she walks downhill? By demonstrating, through music, our understanding of how other worlds shape sound, this paper explores to what extent acoustics might be used to explore other worlds.
European Acoustics Association & Slovenian Acoustical Society
Leighton, T.G.
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Petculescu, A.
cedd75ef-639f-4262-b20b-8a1a9cb540f9
Leighton, T.G.
3e5262ce-1d7d-42eb-b013-fcc5c286bbae
Petculescu, A.
cedd75ef-639f-4262-b20b-8a1a9cb540f9

Leighton, T.G. and Petculescu, A. (2010) Extraterrestrial music. In Proceedings of the 1st EAA Congress on Sound and Vibration (EuroRegio 2010). European Acoustics Association & Slovenian Acoustical Society. 4 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

This paper discusses how other worlds will sound, and what we could learn by listening to them. This is illustrated by transforming a range of musical sounds (including voices) to show how they would appear on other worlds, so demonstrating the physics involved and how our understanding of that physics can allow us to make predictions about sound on other worlds. Until now, the emphasis has been on how other worlds look, with space probes carrying sophisticated cameras, and documentary- and film-makers spending large budgets to recreate the scenery of other worlds accurately. Almost all space probes have been ‘deaf’, but if they had had microphones could they have heard distant storms, or been able to diagnose their malfunctioning vanes and motors by listening for ‘a funny rattle’? Could a probe listen for lightning on Venus, dust storms on Mars, or ice cracking and even undersea life on Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa? Could a Mars astronaut hear a rockfall behind her as she walks downhill? By demonstrating, through music, our understanding of how other worlds shape sound, this paper explores to what extent acoustics might be used to explore other worlds.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2010
Additional Information: Paper 162
Venue - Dates: 1st EAA Congress on Sound and Vibration, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2010-09-14 - 2010-09-17

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 164537
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/164537
PURE UUID: 611c4afe-ef27-41f1-868c-3552b76621ab
ORCID for T.G. Leighton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1649-8750

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 29 Sep 2010 15:03
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 02:59

Export record

Contributors

Author: T.G. Leighton ORCID iD
Author: A. Petculescu

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×