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The Sound of Fear – BBC Radio 4

October 19, 2011 by Miguel Isaza

Fantastic broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on the sound of fear.

A door creaks, footsteps echo, someone’s breathing – and we are terrified. But why? Sean Street investigates the psychology of fear, so potently sensitive to sound.

He hears from musician and writer David Toop and film-maker Chu-Li Shrewring how sounds trigger fear and the way this inspires them. The neuro-scientist Sophie Scott explains how our brains process terror.

Context is important: anomalous noises, disembodied voices and sounds whose origins are mysterious – all these frighten us. David Hendy reveals that, in its early day, radio itself was alarming. Louis Niebur, author of a book on the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, reveals how in the 1950s, the advent of electronic sounds allowed programme-makers to use sounds that frightened people because they didn’t know what made the noises. Sound researcher Marcus Leadley explains how this triggers a state called schizophonia.

Listen

via @soundesignblog

Filed Under: featured Tagged With: broadcast, chu-li shrewring, david hendy, david toop, fear, listening, louis niebur, sound, sound design

Comments

  1. Brendan Rehill says

    October 20, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    Fantastic, just the sort of information I’ve been looking for recently!

  2. Ian Palmer says

    October 24, 2011 at 4:03 am

    For those of you outside the UK or those who wish to keep the documentary it’s available as a podcast.
    http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/r4doc-the-sound-fear-21-october/id134091051?i=102322546

  3. Richard West says

    November 8, 2011 at 2:35 pm

    Hey, im writing a dissertation on horror sound and this would be ideal listening material! Can anyone email me the podcast? Can’t seem to find it on itunes.

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