Page 114 - The Master Handbook Of Acoustics

5

Speech, Music,

and Noise

peech, music, and noise are common in that they are within the
Sexperience of everyone. Noise is also a common thread that runs
through speech and music. Speech sounds are but modulated noise.
Noise is a close companion to every musical instrument. The highest
skill of every musician must be exerted to minimize such incidental
noises as thumps, scratches, and wheezes. The close relationship of
speech, music, and noise is made evident in this chapter.

The Voice System

One of the many amazing things about the human body is the high
degree of efficiency associated with the multiple use of organic sys-
tems. The functions of eating, breathing, and speaking all take place in
relative simultaneous harmony. We can eat, breathe, talk practically at
the same time through the interworking of muscle action and valves,
without food going down the wrong hatch. If we sometimes try to do
too many things at once, the system is momentarily thwarted, and we
agonize as a bit of food is retrieved from the wrong pipe.

Artificial Larynx
Noise that contains energy over a wide range of constantly shifting fre-
quencies, phases, and amplitudes can be shaped even into speech.
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