A bit more news about SubCat Studios….In case you didn’t catch this article in the Syracuse New Times, we thought we would share it.
Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category
Did your airport full body scan include your ears?
Your ears may be used for more than just hearing sounds. Did you know that the top part of your ear does not change shape as you get older? And that someday it may be used to identify you? According to Technology Review, researchers at the School of Electronics and Computer Science of the University of Southampton are working on it.
The voice of transportation
Ever since the New York City Subway started broadcasting automated voice announcements a few months ago, people have noticed a striking but hard-to-place familiarity in the voice behind the announcements. If you couldn’t put your finger on it, the New York Times has interviewed Carolyn Hopkins, the voice artist behind not only the subway announcements, but also those at all three NYC airports (LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark). Not to mention subway systems in Chicago, Washington, and Paris, and many other subways and major airports in the US and worldwide!
Despite the ubiquity of her voice here, Ms. Hopkins does not live in New York City, and though she visits occasionally has not used the subway here since 1957. She works from her home studio in Maine, recording the announcements in “a windowless room in her house with sound-absorbing material on the wall — a tapestry, hung like a painting but covering foam.” Even improvised absorptive treatments like these can go a long way toward improving audio quality in basic studios and recording booths—and the benefits are are no less in any room with so much as a speakerphone.
Of course, some might not be surprised that Ms. Hopkins provides the voice of the subway from the Maine countryside. No one that had to use the subway regularly could be so calm and composed when delivering your wait for the next train!
musical acoustics: a pneumatic 24 string tree guitar
Clippard Instrument Lab has built a 24-string pneumatic guitar “tree” combining sculpture and music with a bit of engineering thrown in. 16 different tubes, seven to eight percussive instruments, and 24 strings. note: this is brought to you by machinedesign.com, whose motto is ‘by engineers for engineers’. click on the image below to see the performance…
Who let the dogs shout
This week the New York Daily News brings us the story of two Upper East Side dachshunds with the honor of bringing home the most animal noise citations of any household in the city last year. After being warned, the pups’ owner had to cough up a total of $245 for the citations—and no word of what their tally might be so far in 2010.
Interestingly, the “most animal noise citations” for these dogs came to a grand total of: two citations! Last year, the city Department of Environmental Protection issued only 22 citations for animal noise citywide, despite logging over 5,900 animal noise complaints to 311 that precipitated over 1,200 inspections.
Updated and expanded in 2007, section 24-235 of the New York City Noise Control Code prohibits owners from allowing animal noise to be “plainly audible” in another residence for more than 10 continuous minutes between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., and more than 5 continuous minutes between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Of course, for a citation to be issued, a DEP inspector needs to be present and witness the 5 or 10 minutes of continuous barking in person, which may explain the disparity between the number of inspections and actual citations: never a barking dog when you need one!
[via Gothamist]