The Sound of Imagination: Creating "Listeners"
Have you ever been in a room where everyone else is chatting comfortably, but you're distracted by a high-pitched whine that no one else seems to notice? Or walked past an old TV and heard a faint buzz that others swear they can't hear? If so, you might have something in common with the "Listeners" in my latest novel.
I've always been fascinated by sound. As a kid, I remember lying awake at night, hearing the hum of the refrigerator down the hall, the distant buzz of streetlights, and the barely audible whine of our old television set even when it was turned off. These sounds painted a vivid picture of my surroundings even in the dark, a secret world that seemed to exist just for me.
It wasn't until I was older that I realized not everyone experienced the world this way. At a sleepover, I once asked my friend if the annoying buzz from her digital alarm clock bothered her. She looked at me like I had two heads—she couldn't hear a thing.
(VIDEO fluorescent light https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xFj5Vt3YuU, from Everyday Cinematic Sounds)
So I’ve always wondered: What if some people had even stronger hearing than me? What if they could hear not just subtle sounds, but the very essence of machinery and electronics? This idea became the seed for my novels’ Listeners: very rare people with an extraordinary ability to sense the inner workings of technology and even cosmic phenomena.
But is there any science behind this fictional ability?
As it turns out, the human range of hearing is just a small slice of the vast spectrum of sound. While most of us can hear frequencies between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, some other animals, like elephants and whales, can perceive infrasound—sounds below our audible range. They use these low-frequency rumbles to communicate over vast distances. On the other end of the spectrum, bats and dolphins navigate using ultrasound, frequencies too high for human ears. (here’s a great #longreads on this topic)
But what about those of us who seem to hear more than others? There's a phenomenon called hyperacusis, where people have an increased sensitivity to certain frequencies and volumes—sometimes to the point where it harms their daily living. A milder form of this could explain why some people (like me) can hear the high-pitched whine of a CRT TV, which operates at about 15.75 kHz—right at the upper edge of typical human hearing.
The sounds I hear from electronics aren't imaginary. That buzz from fluorescent lights? It's caused by the rapid on-off cycling of the gas discharge, usually at 120 Hz in countries with 60 Hz power systems. The hum from power transformers? That's often due to a phenomenon called magnetostriction, which usually produces vibrations at twice the power system frequency—100 Hz in 50 Hz systems and 120 Hz in 60 Hz systems.
In creating my Listeners, I took this real-world sensitivity and amplified it (ha!), imagining people who could not just hear, but truly sense the electromagnetic fields around them. It's not as far-fetched as it might sound. After all, some animals here on Earth can detect the planet’s magnetic field and use it for navigation.
But I didn't stop at earthbound machinery.
I was floored by NASA's recently released recordings of space "sounds." While sound doesn't travel through the vacuum of space, NASA has captured electromagnetic vibrations from celestial bodies and converted them into audible sounds.
The eerie whistles and whooshes of Jupiter's magnetosphere or the haunting howl of Mars' winds sparked my imagination. What if my Listeners could sense these cosmic phenomena directly?
(VIDEO Jupiter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_09R6jIo74U, from JPL)
As I developed my characters, I drew on the field of psychoacoustics, the study of sound perception. How we interpret pitch, loudness, and timbre isn't just about the physical properties of sound waves, but also about how our brains process this information. For my Listeners, this processing goes far beyond normal human capabilities.
I even incorporated elements of synesthesia, a fascinating neurological condition where senses blend together. Some synesthetes "see" sounds or "taste" colors. My Listeners experience a unique form of synesthesia, "hearing" electromagnetic fields and mechanical vibrations in a way that's difficult for them to describe to non-Listeners.
Writing these stories has made me even more aware of the subtle sounds around us. I find myself pausing to listen to the quiet hum of my laptop, the faint buzz of LED lights, the burr of my uninterruptible power supply brick under my desk right now. It's a reminder of how much goes on around us that we often fail to notice.
What about you? Have you ever experienced sounds that others can't hear? Or maybe you've imagined what it would be like to sense the world in a completely different way? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
You might just start listening to the world around you a little differently.
If you're intrigued by the idea of people with extraordinary sensory abilities, dive into the world of my Listeners in my novels. The first novel, The Listeners, is available everywhere.
My new one, The Elders of Arkhide, is available only via Kickstarter until September 23. It goes on wide release in January 2025. (Get both in a bundle on Kickstarter!)
(VIDEO Mars https://science.nasa.gov/resource/sounds-of-mars-nasas-insight-senses-martian-wind, from JPL)