Silence: A Sound Picture (1936)

[Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] that started out to be good music but it ended up as something entire L different noise there is really less difference than you might think between musical tones and noise because both are Sounds here is a device that actually makes a picture of sounds and shows all differences it's called an oscillograph the wave jumping around on the screen is a Candid Camera photographic record of the sounds you hear on a low note the Peaks are far apart on a high note they're close together sliding up and down the scale changes the [Music] picture when the sound is weak the peaks of the waves are low for a loud sound the peaks of the waves are high the oscillograph line also depends on the quality of the sound a violin [Music] tone doesn't look like the wave made by a cornet tone and neither of them looks like a noise a pure musical sound looks like this on the igraph the waves are regular but a plain noise looks like this the waves are irregular here is a device which illustrates the difference between the sound waves of music and of noise these holes around the edge are evenly spaced all the same distance apart the holes in this row farther in are unevenly spaced now if we spin this disc and blow a stream of air against it the holes will break up the stream of air in a series of waves which we hear as sound the evenly spaced holes make regular rhythmic waves and we call it a musical notes the uneven holes produce irregular waves so we hear just a discordant noise just as there are all kinds of musical tones there are all kinds of noises [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] here [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] well that was a regular bedum of noises and that automobile certainly held up its end let's listen to some of these noises and see as well as hear what has been done to silence them a few years ago the noise of a car traveling at high speed was a combination of many individual sounds but one by one they've been silenced the engineers went to work on this problem of Motorcar silence and they've really done something about it howling fans hissing carburetors un balanced crankshafts and roaring exhausts have been silent so that today you can drive at high speeds in complete comfort and quiet but the process of silencing the motor car does not stop with the engine the whale of a transmission in distress has been replaced today by the smooth purr of Silent Synchro mesh gears hood and bumper rattles have been eliminated by strengthening supports spring shackles that used to squeak and rattle from metallic contact have given place to the new well lubricated threaded type the windows now slide in smooth silent grooves and even the wind howling past open Windows has been tamed by scientific streamlining of projecting surfaces radiator and Fender squeaks and rattles have been eliminated by mounting both fenders and radiator at one Central Point on rubber and using insulated rubberized welts at the connections the shriek of brakes doesn't startle the driver of the modern motorc car the new designed brake shoes and improved brake linings stopped the car smoothly and silently even gasoline explosions have been quieted ordinary gasoline Burns unevenly and in some engines this causes a knock Ethyl gasoline has led to the development of a high compression cylinder head with features of economical design knocking has been eliminated as a result of all these improvements the modern automobile has become almost unbelievably silent as compared with the cars we used to drive can you hear this watch ticking now can you hear this car dramatic proof that the campaign for quiet on our streets and highways begun by the engineers a few years ago and carried on with remarkable success from one new model to another as effectively silenced the Modern Motor Car [Music] [Music]