Listening Vessels consists of two large parabolic reflectors set at least 50 feet apart which act as mirrors to reflect sound from one to the other. Two people sit opposite each other at approximately the focal point for each reflector, so that the sound coming from each reflector is focused at this point, allowing each visitor to clearly hear the other’s voice, even at a very low decibel in spite of the distance separating the vessels.
Source: The Exploratorium
Archive for the ‘Links’ Category
Listening Vessels at the San Francisco Exploratorium
Sunday, August 15th, 2010White rabbit at Denge
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010Follow the white rabbit: Today we went to see the Sound Mirrors at Denge…
Zeppelin raids on London
Sunday, August 8th, 2010Zeppelin Airship Attacks On London: Mapped at Londonist.
Modern technology at Maghtab
Sunday, August 1st, 2010Maltese telecoms firm GO has updated the kit at its Maghtab site, by the sound mirror:
In comments, [Prime Minister] Dr Gonzi said the Maghtab headend site was symbolically important because of the sound mirror, a primitive radar built some 70 years ago to detect and amplify the sounds of air and sea vessels nearing Malta.
This is the only sound mirror built outside England but became outdated within three to seven years since being built because it was replaced by radars.
Dr Gonzi said that even nowadays, major investment in technology became outdated quickly and companies needed to continue investing consistently.
GO fully equipped to transmit English and Italian football, Annaliza Borg, The Malta Independent
Denge open day pictures
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010Lots of good pictures are appearing on Flickr after the 18 July 2010 open day at the Denge sound mirrors (click to see Richard Fisher’s picture in full):
Feel free you add your photos to the Sound Mirrors Pool.
Detling sound mirror
Monday, July 19th, 2010Thread at the Kent History Forum.
Diamond Geezer at Abbot’s Cliff
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010On May 31 Diamond Geezer (who writes a very good London blog) “…found an acoustic sound mirror at Abbott’s Cliff”.
Andrew Joron and The Sound Mirror
Thursday, May 6th, 2010Christopher Nelson’s Poetry Blog has an interview with Andrew Joron, “the metaphysician-elect of contemporary American poetry”, about his book The Sound Mirror.
Nelson: Your title, The Sound Mirror—can you elaborate on that synesthetic paradox? Or would that be to explain away the pleasant mystery?
Joron: In one sense, the idea of a “sound mirror” is not a paradox. Part of the science of acoustics is concerned with the way sound is reflected from surfaces such as the walls of a concert hall. And before the invention of radar, England constructed huge hemispherical “sound mirrors” out of concrete and placed them in open fields as listening devices that would amplify the sound of approaching bombers from Germany. In my case, I appropriated the title from an old Sun Ra LP, which has never been reissued on CD. Sun Ra himself got the title from the first commercially available recording device, released in the forties, which was called The Sound Mirror. But you’re right to note my intent to complicate the sound/light relation in presenting this title. Writing that uses the phonetic alphabet becomes a “sound mirror”; I want to emphasize that, while sound may be exiled from the written word, it continues to haunt the scene—the seen—of writing.
More…
Denge mirrors at Exploring Kent’s Past
Friday, April 16th, 2010“Acoustic Sound Mirrors at Greatstone-on-Sea, Lydd” at Kent County Council’s Exploring Kent’s Past.
The remains of three large concrete structures, formerly an anti-aircraft Acoustic Detection installation. Microphones were attached to the three reinforced concrete structures in order to pick up the sound of approaching enemy aircraft. The smallest ’sound mirror’ was found to be fairly ineffective so it was superseded by a larger dish, 12 m in diameter. This in turn was replaced by a 70m long ’sound wall’. The structures were built by the RAF between 1930-4. They were rendered obsolete by the introduction of radar in 1935, and by advances in aerial technology.
Source: Exploring Kent’s Past
Kent History Forum photos
Friday, April 9th, 2010Sound mirrors on the Kent History Forum. There is lots of other good stuff on the site, too.
- Abbot’s Cliff. Including an aerial photo.
- Denge.
on the last official walk … there was round 300 hundred of us
. - Fan Hole, near Dover.
- Hythe.
- Joss Gap (Kingsgate).
Joss bay had two sound mirrors one being a slab, this was cut into the cliff near by the castle keep hotel , now replaced by flats.a slight indentation can still be seen near the top of the cliff. Checking the site where the round mirror was, which was a timber frame rendered. a few years ago the telephone cable blocks were still in place.
- Warden Point. With a good 1978 photo of it about to go over the cliff.
