Your Tumble Dryer Is Playing a Waltz
Sound expert Julian Treasure says deliberately enjoying ordinary machine noise reveals a hidden choir.
TED · 5 ways to listen better | Julian Treasure | TEDJulian Treasure, a sound expert who studies how people listen, found music in his tumble dryer. Of his tumble dryer, he said, "It's a waltz -- one, two, three; one, two, three; one, two, three." He loves it.
His exercise is called savoring, a beautiful exercise about enjoying mundane sounds.
If you want to try it this week, and this suggestion is mine rather than his detailed instruction, you might pick one machine and listen to it the way you would listen to music. With a dryer, listen for the repeating beat and count it along, one, two, three. Then try a coffee grinder, the way Treasure did when he played one and said Wow!
My idea for keeping it simple, also mine and not his, is to take one sound at a time and give yourself a full minute to enjoy it without deciding whether it sounds good or bad. If the pattern does not stand out at first, stay a little longer and see if the beat emerges as you keep listening.
Treasure said, "So, mundane sounds can be really interesting -- if you pay attention." He calls this the hidden choir, meaning the everyday sounds all around us that we usually tune out, which is around us all the time.
Start with your dryer and count the beat.
Questions people ask
What makes a sound a waltz?
A waltz is a dance and a kind of music written in three beats per measure, often counted one, two, three. That three-beat pattern gives it a circling, rocking feel, different from the marching feel of music in two or four.
How do I start savoring sounds at home?
Start small and close. Pick one familiar appliance, turn off competing sounds when you can, and listen for 30 to 60 seconds without multitasking. Once you can hear rhythm or texture in that one, other ordinary sounds get easier to notice.