新編大學英語第三冊unit3 Text B: Underwater Concert
UNIT 3 AFTER-CLASS READING 1; New College English (II)
Underwater Concert
1 They closed their eyes and began floating in the pool. The 92-degree water felt warm, giving them the illusion of weightlessness. The music, synthesized sounds of flutes and harps combined with natural sounds of the deep ocean, enveloped the audience. Some compared the experience to life in the womb, others to a dream; still others said it seemed like a futuristic encounter in outer space.
2 "I held my breath much longer than I thought possible. The music was so beautiful. I didn't want to breathe much. But, then, I remembered that I had to, so I'd surface." These remarks were heard at one of Michel Redolfi's underwater concerts, concerts that he has organized in swimming pools and oceans all over the United States, Europe, and Canada. Redolfi, born in Marseilles, France, and currently living in San Diego, is a composer who is revolutionizing the concept of concert listening. Redolfi believes that avant-garde music needs an equally avant-garde environment. He finds the ocean and the swimming pool natural settings for these new sounds, and his music is composed to be heard underwater.
3 Redolfi's interest in messages from the ocean floor comes from his growing up by the Mediterranean.
4 The concept of underwater sounds is part of the folklore of people who live by the sea. There are stories of songs of sirens, bells of submerged churches, the voices of lost sailors. These tales have unfortunately been replaced in the twentieth century by the idea that the ocean is a quiet place, disturbed only by the song of the whale. The fact is that the sea is full of noises, complete with fish "barking", shrimp "snapping" and dolphins "whistling."
5 Redolfi first experimented with bringing these natural sounds up from the ocean depths, using special underwater microphones. Inspired by his vision of the underwater world, he combined these sounds with computer-generated sounds. His next, more radical step, was to bring the music into the water and the listening public with it. "Music is usually presented in concert halls," he says, " where you wear uncomfortable clothing and where you have either the best seats in the house or the worst ones." Redolfi's concerts require no more clothing than a bathing suit and an optional mask and snorkel.
6 "I wanted to compose for a total sensory experience. I wanted you to feel the music as well as hear it. When you are listening underwater, you can't tell where the sound is coming from. It echoes and seems to come from within your own body. For the first time people can listen in zero gravity, like in outer space. They can move freely in any direction while listening, even upside down. Some like to drift, others swim and dive."
7 Often concertgoers stay underwater, letting the music surround them and surfacing only to breathe. Others prefer to float on their backs with only their ears submerged so that they will have an uninterrupted musical experience.
8 The music itself is transmitted through the water by underwater speakers attached to a large, floating plastic "jellyfish". Redolfi explained, "You can hear the music only when your head is in direct contact with the water... The sound waves pass through your skin as if the flesh didn't exist." Because our bodies are 80 percent water, the sound bypasses your eardrums and gets right into your skull bones, where the nerves are. From outside the pool, all you experience is a vague electronic murmur. Redolfi claims that if you put only your forehead in the water you can still pick up the music. Because of this phenomenon, Redolfi has found out that his music can be perceived by deaf people whose hearing impairment is limited to problems with the external ear. But, Redolfi says, not enough research has been done to reach any final conclusions.
9 In the meantime, he is pursuing his own projects, which include an idea for a pool designed only for underwater concerts, a sort of underwater opera house. "I want to broaden my sense of communication, not so much with the creatures of the ocean," he said, "but with my fellow human beings. Some of my colleagues think that Jam some kind of California nut."
10 But the public seems to think differently: "I feel that it is definitely a new art form," said one participant dressed in a bathing-suit, "I was surprised at the clarity of the sound and its crisp quality, I certainly think it is a great alternative to going to a movie or dinner, and it's a wonderful thing to experience with someone." Said another, "I love it, I would even pay to hear it in a traditional concert hall." But that might not be necessary, because at the moment, there are more swimming pools in America than concert halls.
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