HAPPY VALLEY
A historical tale in picture, word and sound
In the book Happy Valley, the story of the unusual and rich history
of Bistra is full of different sounds. But did you ever ask yourself,
what is sound? How do we hear? What is the mechanism of
hearing – and what is silence? Probably not, because we can h ear
sound without putting in any effort. However, it is always good to
know the basic facts. So here we go...
SOUND
To put it simply, sound is everything that we hear. It is the result
of a mechanical movement caused by natural elements or by the
activities of humans. It is our lifetime companion and is present
everywhere, although we may not be always aware of it.
Close your eyes and prick up your ears. You will be surprised by all
different sounds you perceive if you are focused just on listening.
HEARING
Hearing is a very sensitive sense that enables the perception of
sound. It helps us communicate, discover the world around us and
warns us of danger. We can hear what we can't see, and we hear
even when totally unaware of doing so – in our sleep.
Did you know that people do not perceive all the sounds that are
in their environment. Some animals, like dolphins, dogs, cats and
bats perform a lot better than humans in being able to hear far
higher or lower tones.
When the museum doors close behind the visitors
and the sky sparkles with stars, something magical
happens. Bistra rests in silence and you can only hear
the distant sounds of night birds and the murmur
of clear water. It is almost as quiet and mysterious
as it was when the silent monks lived here…
EAR
The credit for being able to hear goes to an apparently simple, but
in fact a rather complex organ – the ear. The outer ear, which is the
only visible part of the auditory system, directs sound through a
special canal to the middle and inner ear. All parts work together
and send sounds to the brain, which interprets this and then tells
us what we are hearing.