Singing Sand

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
I’ve experience “chirping” sand on a beach in Wisconsin. It was confined to a small area, so much smaller scale than the video. We had great fun experimenting with it. It seems to require some air entrainment to work, it needs to be “fluffy”.
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
A recent documentary on TV explained it happens when the sand grains on a dune are the same size.
The colliding grains produce a 'note' of the same frequency, which is additive in volume
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
I’ve experience “chirping” sand on a beach in Wisconsin. It was confined to a small area, so much smaller scale than the video. We had great fun experimenting with it. It seems to require some air entrainment to work, it needs to be “fluffy”.
First time I walked on snow was when I was 16 years old. Back in 1980, in Ohio... I was amazed at the squishing sound (and what I now identify as almost-musical high frequencies) that it made when I stepped on it.... then I learned that for the locals it was no big deal... I guess that when people become accustomed to something, it ceases to be wondrous and interesting to them... it requires a "virgin mind" to appreciate things sometimes
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
First time I walked on snow was when I was 16 years old. Back in 1980, in Ohio... I was amazed at the squishing sound (and what I now identify as almost-musical high frequencies) that it made when I stepped on it.... then I learned that for the locals it was no big deal... I guess that when people become accustomed to something, it ceases to be wondrous and interesting to them... it requires a "virgin mind" to appreciate things sometimes
Snow can make all sorts of different sounds depending on temperature, crystal size, and who know what else. What's really remarkable though is how wood structures like porches and decks sound when temperatures drop below -20°F or so. Wood becomes soooo much stiffer that's it's like an entirely different material.
 
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