Sounds of Silence

Growing up I was enamored with the Simon and Garfinkel song, Sounds of Silence. More and more, I've been thinking about quiet and silence, language and sound, music and noise.  The other day I caught only about 10 minutes of an interview with the author Don Campbell about his new book, "Healing at the Speed of Sound."  Later, I read some less than flattering reviews of his work, but some of the central questions and ideas have intrigued me.  One of the things he talked about was developing sound tracks for hospitals. How a different type of music would be used in an emergency room waiting room versus a surgery waiting room.  How a different type of music would be used at 3 am versus 3 pm. He also talked about the use of music to make transitions in your day, music to go home with, music to start your work day with.

When I'm working I do like to have some music in the background.  I used to only be able to sleep with some noise in the background, best would be talk radio, but music would help, too.  I blame in on sharing my childhood bedroom with two sisters. We would talk at night and I would ask them to tell me stories before I fell asleep. I was so conditioned to that sound, that I found it difficult to sleep in a quiet room. About 3 years ago that changed. I now like having quiet at night, I like the silence.  Why is that?  Is that an age related change or something else?

Campbell also talked about how we react differently to the same piece of music depending on the setting. The same song in a car is different than hearing it performed live. I do enjoy live music and find it so much more enriching than recorded music. Is it the sound, the setting, the spontaneity of the performance? I'm not sure.

I've been interested in how music might be used with people who are sick or suffering anguish in some other way.  Music can be soothing in times of stress or grief. I'm sure it can also be soothing in times of physical illness.  I read an article about Alzheimers recently that talked about the use of music in caring for AD sufferers.  How hearing music from a happy time in life could calm and soothe someone with memory problems. I wonder what music I would want to hear if I was losing my mind?