What does music communicate? Many things, basically feelings and emotions, which we all experience intensely but which we know little about. They are very important to us; in fact, they seem to be the essence of life. But why? The concept of resonance is very important. Resonance is a measure of how well two or more systems vibrate together. Two lovers are resonating well…their bodily rhythms are highly attuned to each other. Musicians playing together are causing their instruments to resonate harmoniously, producing music; if they are playing jazz, then their own bodily rhythms and feelings are being expressed by and through the music, reaching you, the listener, thereby effecting communication. Jazz is very emotional music; Bach is a superb blend of intellect and emotion.
Feeling and emotion seem to be connected to resonance.
14 We believe that the same music affects different people in similar ways, if they are in a similar state, and are open to it. How can this be of use in communicating with dolphins? We know already that dolphins are highly and positively responsive to music, but that’s about all. An interesting area for experimentation. We need more research into how our nervous systems perceive and structure sound patterning; music could be a powerful future tool.”
from “We are not alone…Yet: How We are Waging War on a True ‘Extra-terrestrial Intelligence”, Jeff Phillips, Uncensored Magazine, 2012
http://tutunui-wananga.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/we-are-not-aloneyet-how-we-are-waging.html
‘SEEING’ WITH SOUND, ‘TALKING’ WITH MUSIC “Cetaceans are the ‘masters of sound’ on our planet. As mammals, they have the same basic array of sensory apparati that we have, but their primary sense uses sound, whereas ours uses light. They have keen vision similar to ours, but our auditory capacities are quite limited and ‘low bandwidth’ compared to theirs. Another phenomenal ability they have developed is the ability to
‘see with sound.’ We see using ambient (or artificial) light; they are able to ‘see with sound’ using sound that they themselves project, as if we were able to see in the dark using light we projected from our own bodies. This is much simpler, more efficient, more ‘environmentally friendly’ than using external electrically-powered light sources.
‘Seeing’ with sound in this way is known as
‘echo-location’ because it involves projecting a sound then analysing the returning signals which convey information about the local environment, and inspired the development of ‘sonar’
(24) used universally by military, commercial, and recreational marine vessels.
Moths, bats and other animals are known to ‘echo-locate’ as well, but cetaceans have taken their use of sound…or ‘ultra-sound’ to be more precise…to another level and are able to ‘see inside’ of each others’ bodies!
In addition, they have
one or more channels of sound production used for communication purposes. These sounds, which can be produced simultaneously with ‘echo-location’, occur in an extremely wide frequency bandwidth, ranging from several Hertz (cycles per second) to over 200,000 Hz. Human hearing in general ranges from about 50 Hz to 20,000 Hz. To us, the small part of this we can actually hear sounds like complex patterns of clicks, whistles, moans, and groans. The sounds made by hump-back whales sound a lot like
singing, or vocal
music.
(25) It’s these channels of sound that would come closest to ‘language’. The sounds they produce don’t come out of their mouth but are projected ahead of them directly through a complex network of bones, tissues and fluids in their heads. When they attempt to ‘vocalize’ in air, these sounds come out of their blow-holes, through which they breathe. Bottle-nosed dolphins have gone to extreme lengths to imitate human speech in this way, which is quite extraordinary.
(26) Finally, cetaceans in general possess yet another use of sound, that of sending out a powerful shock-wave or blast that can stun fish and be used as a weapon.
The ancient Greeks, among other cultures, were very familiar with cetaceans, and wrote extensively about how dolphins loved interacting with people and were attracted to and seemed to love music, particularly that of the flute and lyre.
(27) Cetaceans live in a world of sound, where light is often diminished or absent entirely; they can ‘see’ and hear; communicate, even over great distances; navigate, obtain information from their local environment, find food and partners, and protect themselves all using sound in ways that are totally alien to humans. Yet they can see as well as we can, and can stick their heads out of the water to have a look at the stars…or us.
ALEX LAUTERWASSER’S WHALE CYMATIC Despite many claims to the contrary, we have absolutely no way of ‘decoding’, ‘translating’ or understanding their communications with each other. Marine biologists excel at behavioural observations, but are totally clueless when it comes to what cetaceans might be thinking, feeling or experiencing. They don’t use ‘language’ and they don’t ‘talk’ among themselves or with us. They communicate with highly complex and information-rich sound, but in many other ways as well, that we require complex external technologies even to approximate. Being mammals on the same planet, their communications probably have a lot in common with ours; having been here ten times longer than us, living in the ocean with no hands in a world of sound, their communications, their entire ‘reality’ may on the other hand be incomprehensibly indecipherable to us in terms of information transfer as commonly understood.
Competent and successful multi-dimensional communication is the foundation of a shared and meaningful ‘consensus reality’ and true ‘mental health’ in humans;
respect as fellow beings is a necessary prerequisite to true communication at any level, intra- or inter-species.”
