This program delves into the auditory landscape of the human body, examining the sounds of the body experienced within an anechoic chamber and via sonification of the outputs of medical devices.

In an anechoic chamber—a room meticulously designed to eliminate all echoes and external noise— silence becomes an almost physical force and the inner sounds of the working body emerge: the steady thump of a heartbeat, the subtle rush of blood through veins, and even the faint hum of the nervous system.

Medical technologies that can translate the body’s hidden vibrations into audible data also allow the sounds of human physiology to emerge. Ultrasound, EEG, MRI, and digital stethoscopes reveal the intricate workings of the human body, transforming subtle physical processes that would normally pass unnoticed into sonic diagnoses.

Anechoic chamber recreation based on personal experience inside the USC MEMS group Anechoic Chamber for Acoustic Testing and made with a Roland SH-1 synthesizer

The sounds of medical device sonification that accompany this episode were collected from the following sources:

The MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database

The Respiratory Sound Database, published as part of the 2017 International Conference on Biomedical Health Informatics

Coswara, a respiratory sounds dataset for remote screening of SARS-CoV-2 infection, created by the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore

UC Irvine Machine Learning Repository

Fundamental Resonance is a broadcast series that takes a new approach to the audition of acoustic, mechanical, and electromagnetic vibrations. This project is not just about sound, though. It's also about ways to interpret the inaudible and what things we cannot sense can reveal about the universe.

In each episode, inaudible acoustics and sonified data act as a bridge between signal and soundscape, uncovering forces that shape our environment and experience, yet are rarely perceived.

These audio essays are composed of sounds you would not normally encounter or even be able to hear. They are made up of sonic artifacts left behind by movements of energy and captured through different methods of scientific inquiry.

Fundamental Resonance is an audio supplement to the art exhibition Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific. Co-presented by Fulcrum Arts and Chapman University, this exhibition runs from September 15, 2024 - January 19, 2024 as part of PST ART.

Fundamental Resonance is a production of Sam Rowell, Special Collections, Fulcrum Arts, and LOOKOUT FM. Episodes begin September 15th and will also be broadcast on terrestrial radio at KFQM-LP 101.5 FM Pacific Palisades.