Sound Familiar?

The industrialized world that surrounds us is filled with constant beeps and droning--the hum of your computer's fan, the a/c in your car or office, the buttons on a microwave, etc. I heard an interesting concept today. It sounded familiar to me because I tend to put the sounds I hear around me to music in my head.

I'll give an example. When I'm driving, and I turn on the blinker, it has a constant rhythm. From that rhythm I create different beats in my head and occasionally come up with a little tune. I know...it's pretty goofy. But when I drive another car, my wife's for example, I hear a different rhythm from which I come up with totally different beats and melodies. Sometimes I hear a droning sound or beep and hum a tune in that key (usually in my head of course). I guess it just makes the monotony a little less monotonous.

Anyway, I heard someone talking about the possible impact that industrial/technical sounds might have on society. Sounds have always been around, mind you, but you have to admit the world is a lot less quiet that it used to be.

The argument about sound's impact on society was from this perspective. The heater in this person's office and his computer hummed in a certain interval, a major 3rd, which is generally interpreted as happy. This should have caused him to enjoy being in his office, right? But the dial tone of his phone combined with the hum of the heater created an augmented 4th.

After doing some research, the guy found out that the Catholic church had assigned certain meanings to musical intervals in the middle ages. Interestingly, the augmented 4th was an interval that was detested and feared. It was considered the "diablas en musica," the devil in the music. As it turns out, the combination of the two drove him nuts (not literally).

The argument is that the droning and beeping of the world around us (your laptop, a firetruck, your refrigerator, an alarm clock, etc.) sometimes create discord, boredom, or anxiety, which in turn, causes us to live in a state of discord, boredom, anxiety, and so on. That's an interesting thought. It gives no credence to the spiritual man, necessarily. But an interesting thought nonetheless.
Unfortunately for you, it will be very difficult in the near future to find a "quiet" place. You're welcome.