OF4-11/06/09 9:25 AM
CUTTING THROUGH THE FUTURE OF NOISE.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
Centuries of evolution have shaped human hearing to recognize and appreciate subtle changes in sound --- the wind blowing through the trees, the song of birds, sometimes a distant cry of distress or of approaching danger.
( NAT of Noisy Sounds, playing under Osgood )
But, we humans don't seem as able as we once were to listen carefully any more. And that may explain why our music has become what it is: We can't listen well, because of all the noise...
( NAT up, then fades under again and out )
We asked Mo Rocca to look into this --- and his report this Sunday on CBS Television will try to cut though the noise.
Mo Rocca's report on our "Sunday Morning" TV show the day after tomorrow shows how tone deaf we've become in today's noisy world.
VO - Mo Rocca
"If you're paying attention to the world as it actually is, then you know it only seems to be getting louder.
SOT - Bruce Odland
"Noise is information you haven't decoded yet."
VO - Mo Rocca
"Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger are artists who work with sound. They define noise as sound that's indecipherable to the human ear --- that combination of racket, ruckus, din and dull roar that city dwellers learn to ignore..."
Apparently, our eyes won out over our ears a long time ago. Bruce Odland tells Rocca we don't decode sounds as well any more.
SOT - Bruce Odland, with Mo Rocca
"(Rocca:) What does it mean to decode sound?
(Odland:) Well, we're expert non-listeners, because there's so much that doesn't make sense to us that we've actually withdrawn from our incredible abilities to hear...
(Rocca:) We're not even trying?
(Odland:) We're trying not!"
That and much more to see --- and hear! --- when I see you on the television come "Sunday Morning" on CBS.
The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood on the CBS Radio Network.
The Osgood File. November 6th, 2009. |
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