text:
1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
Bought my 2009 V 6MT about three months ago. It's completely stock and I plan on doing a round of mods on it soon. Decided to run down at Atco Raceway tonight and see if I can get a baseline on the cars times before modding so I know what my mods yeild. Not proud of these but here goes....1st run with no burnout and traction control on 13.4 @112mph. Second run, a little launch in the water box to dry the tires, traction control on 12.9 @114mph, 3rd run same as 2nd with traction control off and ran same time and mph, 4th run 12.84 @ 115mph. Those runs were all within 45 mins and right as the track opened so it was still cold on the asphalt. Let the car sit for awhile and the track heat up. Went out for one last run. Small burnout to dry tires, traction control off, car spun like crazy right thru second gear where it threw me sideways and I had to get out of it..went 14.8 (ouch) at 111mph. My question is what's the trick to getting off the line. In all the runs I left the tree at 2000rpms and as you see I got mixed results..nothing consistent. Runs were on stock michelin ps2's with 36psi...other than dropping the air pressure to 26-28psi, are there any other tricks to leaving the line. All my 60ft times were horrible from 2.2-2.5. Thanks for your help.
- 04-14-12 06:43 AM #2Cadillac Owners Fanatic
- Automobile(s): 2003 CTS(Sold) Black 09 V
- Join Date
- Jan 2009
- Age
- 30
- Posts
- 457
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
I run Bridgestone RE-11s and lowered my pressure to about 19 psi. My 60ft is not much better at 2.0 but better than when I ran with my PS2s. I can get frustrating but with a manual you HAVE to get it right to put up good times.
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
As you've seen, this method of gauging mod after effects is the most frustrating one. Take it to a shop and get it dynoed for a baseline. After, go back when the weather is as close to the same as the day your baseline was done and put it on the rollers again. It's the best way to get what you want. Easier on your tires and frame of mind, too.
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
Congrats on your runs!
Couple of pieces of advice
Start with about 24psi in your tires and work down or up depending on results
On street tires drive AROUND the waterbox not through it
Do a brief clean of the tires (not a big smoke show) and roll up slightly past the beams and reverse back to stage. This will get more VHT on your rear tires and help with hook. (Do not burn out up to or past the beams)
Experiment with launch rpm and do not drop / sidestep the clutch. Roll up off the clutch and into the accelerator in a smooth fast motion. It should feel like a fairly strong lurch and rollout followed by big acceration.
It's going to be hard to hook a street tire with the V's power levels but the above should help. If the track isn't busy hotlapping and going right back into the staging lanes may help ET where you'll have more heat in the tires. mph might suffer a little if the car is warmer but your overall ET could improve.
Hope this helps!
- 04-14-12 07:48 PM #5Originally Posted by Trapspeed
Thanks for all of the advice. It looks like lower tire pressure is a definate to get more contact surface on the track. What's everyones thought on the traction control. I left it on for the majority of the runs and the car seemed to fall on its face off the line. I guess the computer backs off throttle when the tires break loose and slowly let's you get it back as traction starts. The run without the traction control on (stabilitrak competition mode), the car was all over the place and spun for probably 1/3 of the track til it went sideways and I had to get out of it.
- 04-14-12 07:59 PM #6Cadillac Owners Connoisseur
- Automobile(s): '09 CTS-V, 3K miles & '87 Turbo Buick, 29K miles
- Join Date
- May 2009
- Location
- Long Beach, Kali
- Age
- 73
- Posts
- 3,435
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
What type of dyno are you going to run the car on?
- 04-14-12 08:42 PM #7Originally Posted by Gary Wells
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
Yeah, that pressure will help but as you know no matter how you slice it a 19" rim with a short sidewall will not win any launching contests. Your trap will tell the tale of your estimated HP anyway given a known weight. My opinion of the traction control is you're probably feeding it too much pedal from the go. We will lose the battle of the "push" with the computer everytime unless you shut it down completely. Unless you're running some slicks and leaving on a hard launch I think the TC is your friend once you learn how to talk dirty to it. There was nothing I used to love more than a 14.4 @ 114.
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
If you stay with street tires and try to run good times at a track the your going to have to pick a track that preps real well. Here is a good example, my V with RE-11's at PBIR ran a 1.75 60' 2 times. Back here in Cincinnati it ran a best of 1.9X with most being 2.0-2.1. Thats when I broke down and got some MT drag radials with 18" wheels. It now does 1.6-1.7 60'. I wonder what it would back at PBIR.
FWIW I never run with traction control on. I cant stand how it falls on its face and how much power it pulls from the motor. Just learn how to use your right foot and you'll do much better than the computer can.
Just a quick update. I bit the bullet and bought a set of wheels and Nitto NT05R drag radials. Went to the track last night and did a little experimenting. Ran a 12.7, 12.8 and best of 12.5 @ 115.11mph. Still need work on the sixty foot times. Last run was a 2.0 others were 2.2. I was afraid to leave the line with too much rpm so I bogged on the first two runs. Last run I launched at 2500rpm and it hooked good for a minute then bogged a little bit. Tires worked great and I think with a little bigger burnout to get them real sticky and leaving at closer to 3000 rpm, I should get to the 1.7-1.8 sixty foot range and bring my times to match the mph and be around 12.1-12.2. Thanks for the advice and feel free to comment on anything.
Re: 1/4 mile time help from 6MT owners
Nittos are one of the harder tires to hook with a six speed so the fact you're bogging is good.
Next time try the following:
Drive around the water box and reverse in.
Give the tires a brief spin and roll out about two feet
Try to do the burnout in second gear to near redline (will get more wheelspeed and heat in the tires)
Stage in first gear and bring the revs to 4000rpm
On third bulb lift off the clutch and roll into the gas in one smooth motion.
You should feel a strong lurch and then hard acceleration. Consciously keep the pedal to the floor and watch the tach. Shift right at redline.
This should yield good results. If you spin, lower the tires pressure and launch rpm. If you bog increase launch rpm.
I'd start with the Nittos around 18psi hot. When these tires are cooked get the MT DRs.
Good luck!
- 05-12-12 07:39 PM #12Originally Posted by Chris CTS V Wagon


text:
Carter's Boys' 4-Piece Snug Fit Cotton Pajamas
Blain # 974584 | Mfr # 361G109-6
Enable Zoom:
Carter's Boys' 4-Piece Snug Fit Cotton Pajamas
About This Item
Make your kiddo's bedtime cozy with the carter's Boy's Multi-Colored 4-Piece Snug Fit Cotton Pajamas Set. This set includes 2 tops and pants for mix and match wear. The pajamas set features ribbed cuff long sleeves with matching pants printed allover for an attractive look.
- Made of cotton
- Machine washable
Gender: Male
Size: 6
Color: Multi
Fabric: Cotton
Sleeve Length: Long
More From Carter's
Product Q & A
Response times may vary. For an immediate answer, contact your local store or call 800-210-2370.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Article Preview
Frank and Levy Are Nominated To Head Big Board's Governors; EXECUTIVES FILL BIG BOARD POSTS
By VARTANIG G. VARTAN ();
April 12, 1966,
, Section Business & Finance, Page 53, Column , words
Walter N. Frank, a 58-yearold partner in the specialist firm of Marcus Co., was renominated yesterday for a one-year term as chairman of the board of governors of the New York Stock Exchange.
April 12, 1966
Thank you for visiting The New York Times archive.
New York Times subscribers* enjoy full access to TimesMachine—view 129 years of New York Times journalism, as it originally appeared. 99¢ for your first 4 weeks.
Or, purchase this article individually for $3.95 and download a high-resolution PDF.
* Does not include NYT Now or Premium Crosswords subscribers.
Already a subscriber? Log in to view this article »


text:
Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
What Happens When I Die?
by David Edwards
No current Talk conversations about this book.
No reviews
References to this work on external resources.
Wikipedia in English
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0781441412, Paperback)
What are the questions of your life that keep you separated from a loving God?
What Happens When I Die? Mortality is a strange thing. Life's all good when we're not thinking about it, but every now and then we get that disturbing reminder that we aren't immortal. Sooner or later we're all going to die. If that thought has ever crossed your mind, you have to read What Happens When I Die? by author and speaker David Edwards. Get ready for challenging, but satisfying answers to this and other of life's most troubling questions addressed in the Questions for Life series.
Readers Guide Included for Group Discussion or Personal Reflection
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:11:53 -0400)
No library descriptions found.
Amazon Kindle (0 editions)
Audible (0 editions)
CD Audiobook (0 editions)
Project Gutenberg (0 editions)
Google Books — Loading...
RatingAverage: No ratings.
Is this you?
Become a LibraryThing Author.


text:
Henderson, MN, USA < change city >
Florists (15)
Caterers (8)
Cakes (7)
Wedding Day Beauty (7)
Decorations (7)
DJs (7)
Coordinators (6)
Bands (5)
Bartenders & Beverages (3)
Rentals (3)
Invitations (2)
Officiants (2)
Honeymoon (1)
Videographers (1)
Wedding Fashion (1)
Ceremony Sites (25)
Reception Sites (12)
See All Vendors >
AmericInn Hotel & Confer...
240 Stadium Road
Mankato, MN 56001, USA
Hotels/Accommodations, Rece...
11 ratings, 10 reviews, 23 weddings
The AmericInn in Mankato was the perfect fit for us! We were so excited to find ...
The Grand Hotel
615 2nd Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Hotels/Accommodations, Rece...
5 ratings, 5 reviews, 27 weddings
We are so impressed with The Grand Hotel, and we still receive compliments from o...
The Depot Minneapolis
225 3rd Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Reception Sites, Hotels/Acc...
3 ratings, 4 reviews, 21 weddings
Awesome hotel and location in downtown Minneapolis. They messed-up our guest bask...
Country Inn & Suites
8350 E Point Douglas Rd S
Cottage Grove, MN, USA
(651) 768-7350
4 ratings, 4 reviews, 40 weddings
We checked into our hotel at about midnight and the night person was rather rude....
Sheraton St. Paul Woodbu...
676 Bielenberg Drive
Woodbury, MN, United States
6 ratings, 4 reviews, 21 weddings
First, it was impossible to get a hold of the person responsible for reserving bl...
Saint Paul Hotel
350 Market Street
St. Paul, MN 55102, United States
(800) 292-9292
Hotels/Accommodations, Rest...
4 ratings, 3 reviews, 60 weddings
Rooms are beautiful, and facilities, location and services are outstanding. We f...
Embassy Suites Hotel
175 E 10th St
St Paul, MN 55101, US
Reception Sites, Hotels/Acc...
5 ratings, 3 reviews, 50 weddings
The hotel was easy to work with. I checked on the room set-up on Fri aft and saw ...
Wildwood Lodge
8511 Hudson Blvd.
Lake Elmo , MN 55042
Hotels/Accommodations, Rece...
4 ratings, 3 reviews, 35 weddings
Awesome hotel for the price. They also give a breakfast voucher for the attached ...
The Depot, A Renaissance...
225 3rd Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55401
3 ratings, 3 reviews, 25 weddings
Nice downtown hotel, great deal for wedding blocks. I was surprised at how low t...
Best Western Premier Nic...
14201 Nicollet Ave
Burnsville, Minnesota 55337, United States
Hotels/Accommodations, Rece...
3 ratings, 3 reviews, 21 weddings
Our first rep was Brier and she was wonderful and very, very accomodating. We th...


text:
Model Lindsay Annette Model
Shooters World 3dPhotographer Male Atlanta, Georgia, US
My Website: http://facebook.com/ShootersWorld3dMy MM URL: http://www.modelmayhem.com/ShootersWorld
Mayhem # 2132646
About MeHello Everyone My Name Is Bruce Shooter. I am a Cinematographer/Photographer in The Atlanta Area. Although I Have Been Shooting For a while. I Recently decided to Take My Career More Seriously. Im Looking to work with All type Of Talent. Im Trying to Build My Portfolio. I have some great Ideas But I don't want to be just limited to mine . I like working with People Who Have Ideas and Projects that they would Like to Work On as Well.
I have great ambitions and a very creative imagination and look to work with people just like me I'm fun and silly so I like to joke nut at the same time I take business seriously. I do not wish to have a large friend list justfor numbers. I would like to work with everyone on my friend list no matter what your craft is.
I am in this field for the art so I would like to express all my pictures in an artistic form. I will ONLY SHOOT NUDE IF IT IS IN AN ARTISTIC FORM. I am very open to any idea for shooting. I'm willing to step outta of my comfort zone to try something fun and new.
Have you worked with Shooters World 3d? Add Credits for Shooters World 3d! >>
Model Lindsay Annette Model
TAMIKKO Model
DynamiteDyme Model
Fashola Model
SPD Retouching Retoucher
Christa Benita Model
Loading Content


text:
Change the Offline Files Synchronization Method (Windows 2000/XP)
This tweak determines whether the system performs a full or quick synchronization of offline files when the user logs off, and prevents users, including administrators, from changing the setting.
|This tweak can be easily applied using WinGuides Tweak Manager.
Download a free trial now!
Open your registry and find or create the key below.
Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called "SyncAtLogoff" and set it according to the value data below.
Exit your registry; you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect.
|(value not set)
|0x00000001 (1)
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\NetCache]
Value Name: SyncAtLogoff
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: 0 = quick synchronization (default), 1 = full synchronization
>> Recommended Download - check, repair and optimize your registry now with Registry Mechanic <<
Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.
Last modified: August 13, 2003
|More Guides »
|Security Guide
|Support Forums
|Software Guide
|Scripting Guide


text:
Need Buy-In From the Team? Open UpBy
A CEO called me to brainstorm. "We've grown every quarter for the past four years," he said. "It's a tough environment, but we're doing OK."
"What's your greatest obstacle?" I asked.
"We've kept growing because we try new things and rethink our processes continually," he said. "We have a fantastic new strategy, but it's harder and harder to push the leadership team's ideas into execution."
"Why's that?" I asked him.
"My middle managers have had enough transition," he said. "They're ambivalent now, and I can see that without some intervention, they'll be actively thwarting my change efforts six months from now."
My CEO caller had identified half the challenge in his company. He was quick to spot the side of the problem that faced him—the fact that his trusted middle managers, the people responsible for daily blocking and tackling, were tiring of constant organizational reinvention. As the CEO pointed out, people in fear can easily see changes as threatening, and resist them.
What the CEO was slower to notice was that his own leadership style, the ubiquitous American management style—"We'll read the tea leaves and decide what to do, here in the executive suite, and rely on our trusted middle managers to execute the strategy"—was failing him. People don't trust what they don't understand and aren't part of. They don't get excited about changes whose impacts aren't clear at the outset. If the latest strategy shift could result in lost jobs, power, income, status, or other valuable currencies, why should a self-preservation-minded middle manager get on board?
Fear is the enemy of innovation and creativity, the very things employers need to thrive and grow in the global marketplace. But fear is rampant in corporate America, not a shocking realization given the downsizing and outsourcing that have characterized big-company employment for the past decade or more. What my CEO caller was realizing as he talked through his situation was that the same cultural messages he'd been using to get peak performance from his team—messages like "No one's job is secure," "Every one of us is dispensable," and "We're going to do whatever's right for the business, regardless of the human fallout" were killing—or perhaps had already killed—the spark and energy that he and his customers (and shareholders) so desperately needed from his team, as well as the flexibility that would let people make changes on a dime, what the CEO most wanted to see from his people.
"You need to open the kimono," I said. "You can't play your cards close to the vest and expect your managers to follow your orders. They won't do it, and we can't blame them."
"What are they afraid of?" the CEO asked me.
"They're afraid of perfectly normal things, because they grew up with a normal person's concern for his own well-being," I sighed. "They're afraid of having their team or their own job eliminated. They're afraid of losing a title or a salary increase. After all, you told them those things were important, and anyone can see that they are important in organizations like yours. You can't turn around in midstream and say 'Just trust me. Everything will be fine.'"
"So you want me to involve 4,000 middle managers in strategic decision-making?" the CEO asked, incredulous.
"Only if you need their buy-in," I said. "It's not a complicated thing to do. You don't have to sit down with each person yourself. You've got a hierarchy and an org chart—this sort of collaboration is what the thing was designed for."
"That's a time-consuming proposition," said the CEO.
"Is it more time-consuming than undoing the damage your current don't-ask-questions culture is causing you?" I replied.
"So what would do, if you were me?" he asked.
"I'd start by telling your managers and employers what's going on in some detail, across the business," I said. "Tell them in lots of different ways, in writing and in person and online. Get their opinions, and incorporate that feedback into your planning. Keep a backchannel open, because your folks on the ground know more about the business than you do."
"What else?" he asked.
"Thank your team for navigating through the changes during the past few years," I told him. "Give them incentives to focus on as you manage the next series of rapids. Make sure your people know that whatever happens, even if their jobs go away, the company will give them a soft landing."
"Just how soft are we talking?" he wanted to know.
"What would you want for a soft landing, if it were you who were leaving?" I asked.


text:
IE, Firefox partial page loads
This is a discussion on IE, Firefox partial page loads within the Internet Explorer & Edge Forum forums, part of the Tech Support Forum category. Hello, I am currently running XP with Firefox 220.127.116.11 and IE7 and while all web pages load, they do so
« IE 7 Outlook script Error | [SOLVED] IE7 on WinXP SP3 main toolbar missing (not the menu bar!) ??? »


text:
The tech specs of the Pierre Cardin tablet are something that pretty much nobody would be impressed with nowadays, namely a 7-inch display with a resolution of 800 by 480 pixels and a single-core Samsung processor ticking at 1GHz. What you also get is the modest 4 gigs of storage, a basic 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a 4400 mAh battery to keep you going through the day. If the device's hardware specification isn't disappointing enough, add to it the fact that the tablet runs Android 2.2 Froyo and you get a device that even the original Samsung Galaxy Tab can outshine.
Well, at least the Pierre Cardin comes with a stylish leather case, which you can use to hide the device itself from the eyes of the people nearby. For some reason, the tablet does not live up to the brand name as its design is as bland as a piece of celery. Nevertheless, if a well known designer logo is all that matters to you, the Pierre Cardin tablet can be yours for $450. Just bear in mind that with a weight of 520 grams and thickness of 14 millimeters, this is definitely not a gadget that will fit in the inside pocket of your designer suit.
source: Pierre Cardin via Pocket-lint


text:
Roofing nail size
Ok, this is about as basic as it gets, but I still have to ask. I have 1/2" sheathing, 15 lb felt, and comp shingles. The shortest roofing nails I can find are 1". Won't this poke through the sheathing? None of the existing nails poke through. Thanks.
Yes the nails will, and should, poke through the sheathing. In fact, they should come through about 1/4" this is what stops them from backing out. I always use 1-1/4" just because I find them easier to drive with less hitting of the fingers.
What type of roofing was on there originally? It's possible the previous roofer used 3/4" nails, they are available, but even with these you should be able to see the points on the inside. Read the shingle package, some manufacturers require the nails to come through 1/4"
Thank you very much.
Code nail requirements are for the nail to be 3/4" into the deck or penetrate it, whichever comes first. this can create a problem at eave areas without soffets.
|All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:03 AM.
vBulletin Security provided by vBSecurity v2.2.2 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2017 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2017 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.


text:
Need to order an online blood test in Buffalo, MN? Simply order your online blood test and get tested at a lab in Buffalo, MN (Find More Locations):
How much does it cost for an Online Blood Test?
Our prices for an Online Blood Test include the doctor's order that you need to get tested in Buffalo, MN, all lab fees and taxes, and a pdf copy of your results. To get started, CLICK HERE.
What does a test report look like if I order an Online Blood Test?
For a sample report of a popular Online Blood Test panel, please CLICK HERE.
In a time of rising healthcare costs, we are happy we can help people in Buffalo, MN get an Online Blood Test.
Online Blood Test in other cities near Buffalo, MN:Albertville | Big Lake | Delano | Hanover | Howard Lake | Loretto | Maple Lake | Maple Plain | Monticello | Montrose | Rockford | Saint Michael | Silver Creek | Watertown | Waverly


text:
problems with running my supercharged 351w
View Single Post
mustang 671
Registered User
Last photo:
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: south england
Age: 39
Posts: 190
Edits: 0
Thanks: 51
Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
mustang 671's Photo Album
thanks guys . great help . im going to leave well alone now as i dont like back fireing as i know it kills pv.s i have a couple of bits to sort and finish on the car and then i will get to the dyno . in the mean time i will get some extra plugs etc. the dyno shop stock all holley parts so they just suggested i bought what i had so i can use my stuff before being billed for using theirs .
firebird i am **** scrared of cutting off my choke horns - carb horns . are you 100% sure and i will never need a choke ? even when i go to spain and weather is hot and humid ?
if so are you able to draw a diagram, of where you suggest or explain ?
also what oil would you reccomend me using on the dyno for the first session. i currently have millers running in oil which is very new and i have changed the oil filter aswell .
i have been using 98 octane all the time and agree with the -+2 point.
i also blend bio fuels and blend waste oils for my diesel work vans. so a bit of a chemist at the weekends
i have checked my oil level and its consistant so i am sure i have no bore wash and the coolant has racing grade antifreeze and i have twin elec fans on the front. which way should these flow ??? pushing air onto the raditors ( ie the way the atmoshere would hit the car - currently the way its set up ) or opposite so as to pull the heat away from the raditor which seems harder work but i know of it to have been done by some .
cheers all . am getting there week by week , xmas should be fun if its dry and nice as i have 2 weeks off.
mustang 671
View Public Profile
Find all posts by mustang 671


text:
Experiment creates out-of-body experience
August 23, 2007
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The findings provide evidence that such experiences may have a real scientific basis and are not simply a figment of imagination, according to the report in the August 24th issue of Science.
In the study, Dr. H. Henrik Ehrsson, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, had healthy volunteers wear goggles connected to two video cameras placed 2 meters behind them. The right eye display of the goggles was connected to the right camera and the left eye display to the left camera. "Thus, the person would see his or her back with the perspective of a person sitting behind him or her with stereoscopic vision," the researcher explains.
While the subjects were viewing their own backs through the goggles, the experimenter, who stood beside them, touched either their real chest, which was not viewable on the cameras, or their illusionary chest with a plastic rod. The latter effect was achieved by having the experimenter move the rod to a position just below the cameras, while still being in view.
After the experiment, the subjects were asked 10 questions designed to determine if an out-of-body experience had occurred. The results confirmed that the subjects did indeed have an out-of-body experience. As Dr. Ehrsson puts it, he created "a perceptual illusion in which individuals experience that their center of awareness, or "self," is located outside their physical bodies and that they look at their bodies from the perspective of another person."
To objectively verify this finding, another experiment was performed in which the experimenter hit the illusionary body with a hammer and gauged the emotional response by measuring sweating with skin electrodes. The results showed that the subjects responded emotionally as if they were viewing their physical bodies from the outside.
These illusions show "that the sense of being localized within the physical body can be fully determined by perceptual processes, that is, by the visual perspective in conjunction with multisensory stimulation on the body," Dr. Ehrsson states.
The results represent "a fundamental advance because the natural 'in-body experience' forms the foundation of self-consciousness," he concludes.Science 2007;317:1048.
Here's a coincidence... My husband, Allen and our son, Kevin were just telling me about this. They were reading about it online. Kevin really wants to try this! There is a company near here that makes these systems and they give tours by appointment. I'll be sure to take pictures if we get a chance to go look at it.
Karen (too)
You always have such great posts Karen! Thanks as always for sharing em!
Already a member? Click here to log in


text:
- Score:
- rated 4.02 / 5 stars
- Views:
- 134,300 Views
- Share Links:
- Genre:
- Strategy - Tower Defense
- epic
- colors
- bugs
- waves
Credits & Info
- Uploaded
- Jul 31, 2010 | 2:49 AM EDT
- Frontpaged August 2, 2010
- Daily Feature August 1, 2010
If you liked this, check these out!
Author Comments
Rated 5 / 5 stars
Really fun
Gets hard pretty early, and started lagging ALOT towards the end... however the art was good, the music was good, and i had fun!
Plus, the lag was probably because of my shit computer lol.
All in all 10/10 :)
no comment about the lag *whistling* hehe... thanks for the review :P
Rated 4 / 5 stars
Nice :D
I dont like the TD games,but this one is great so i give it 8 :D
Rated 3 / 5 stars
I love the game, the consept the style and i love the upgrade thingy XP
but the only reson im not giving it a 10 is cuz of the bosses, i mean i spent all my money to get three splash towers upgraded, the first boss comes along and gets though with out even lossing 50% of its health!
the only way i could kill a boss was by selling EVERYthing when the boss was out of range and rebiuld infront ofthe boss and i only just killed it, but then i had no money and shit towers so all the normal bugs got though.
also i was playing on easy!!
i mean the bosses would still be hard as well to killed even if you give them half of there health!
please make an update and make the bosses alot weaker! or at lest make them drop like 400 gold or somthing cuz i had 4 money towers, 3 max splash and 2 max fire towers, and the one time i killed the boss i ended up with, 54 gold, and three level 1 splash towers!!
please update this game, the bosses are the only thing making it bad!
thanks alot for the review and for the sincere score :P we'll probably fix the boss soon
Rated 5 / 5 stars
i love TD game this game is great i played balloons TD 4 earlier but this game is better i had a lot of fun
^__^ thanks :3
Rated 2.5 / 5 stars
to difficult to early
game gets to hard to quickly.
you need to add more of the colour upgrades more often, without them the game becomes even more difficult.
the idea and towers are good though.
thanks... yeah we'll probably work on the balancing a bit soon


text: Home > How To > Interiors > Q&A: Joist Spacing for Ceiling Drywall Interiors Q&A: Joist Spacing for Ceiling Drywall Foundation Fix By Hank Spies Login or Register to download the PDF version of this article. (141.52 kB) A.The maximum joist spacing for1/2- or 5/8-inch drywall is 24 inches on-center. Ceiling drywall should always be installed perpendicular to the joists, even when they are 16 inches on-center. Drywall is much stronger along the length of the panel because the paper facing provides the strength, and the paper grain runs lengthwise. Login or Register to continue reading


text:
FHP hopes to Reverse Hit and Run Numbers Across the State
Published February 19th, 2013
Loading Video...
FLORIDA- Not accepting the responsibility can lead to serious penalties.
For the past two years the number of people killed from hit and run crashes have increased, a trend Florida highway troopers would like to see reversed.
Staying behind the wheel after the scene of a crash is a criminal felony, one that can land you up to 30 years behind bars, a ten-thousand dollar fine or both.
State troopers say that even in cases of a crash where there are no other drivers present, you are responsible for leaving contact info.
Follow this link for more info on hit and run crashes
Related Stories
- FHP: Bicyclist Critically Injured in Late Night Hit and Run
- FHP: Hit and Run Driver Wanted
- FHP: Doering identified as driver in hit-and-run
- FHP says hit & run cases not getting any better
- FHP: Doering's vehicle involved in hit-and-run
- Number of Deaths from Prescription Pills Down Across the State
- Deputy Injured in Hit-and-Run Crash
- Florida Highway Patrol highlighting active hit & run cases
- Woman Walks Across Country To Spread Hope, End Homelessness
- FHP campaign hopes to decrease crash statistics


text:
Re: Tempus (Gear-y Potter v.2)
So - after some discussion w/ the family, I decided to clean this up a bit, make it smaller on the shirt, and remove the "busy-ness" of the mascots, etc.
I think it would be too small as a Pocket cover, but it's not as overwhelming this time around.
Re: Yay for tomorrow
Oooh, my motto - I'll vote for this tomorrow. Or the next day. But definitely before next month. ;)
Re: Faith, Hope, Love
edit - had to fix kerning and resub.
oubliette wrote:deleted naughty comment.
ha ha ha ... it's because of the Y U No guy =)
Re: For Science!
I know there are a lot of sciences in the world, but doesn't it all come down to particles?
The Latin says "I observe, therefore I know." A vote for this shirt is a vote for Science!
For the record, I remixed the HTML5 logo for the shield, released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, and used fonts from The League of Moveable Type, released under the Open Font License. So this shirt is open source!
Narfcake wrote:I definitely like this monochrome version better.
Thanks. I pulled the other version.
Re: 8 bit for ever
Not heraldry. Not even close.
treehug wrote:I prefer that no cartoon animals be harmed in the making of my t-shirts!
You keep making statements like that and I'm going to keep killing unicorns...
People don't vote for shirts based on art here. They vote with their id. "Oh I know what that is, it relates to me so i like it" or "Haw haw, that's a clever meme on that design".
And, if I ever won I'd have to assume I'd gone wrong somehow. I also don't smooch enough rear-end to win. It DOES seem to play a factor. I'm too surly and ill-tempered for that kind of stuff.
neuropsychosocial wrote:That's a classy thing to say, Wirdou. In the past, designs rejected with comments like, "I like this, but it's not on theme" have often received HMs, so hopefully this design isn't finished yet, because it's wicked awesome.
Thanks Neuro That would be great, indeed! :D
Re: House Of Threepwood.
Hope you like it!
Re: Create
I would buy 3+ as gifts for all my artistic friends. What A Great Idea For A Shirt!!!
Re: Family Practice
that would look slick on a tiki bar mug.
Leahbh wrote:freaking awesome!! And now i'm ever sadder than normal that woot shirts don't fit me now. stupid anvil
I'm still voting. maybe i'll buy a large and make a pillow. I'd also prefer it on a different color. I've never been a fan of this green.
I was a large in the old shirts now I buy smalls and they fit fine.
Re: Carnivore's Guild
Nice job!
Re: Long Live the King
CityVelo wrote:This is a fun design and all, but I just really wish the wings to either side of the crest were more"Zelda-like". Stylized in some kind of tribal-Hyrulian way. It looks just a little too... eh. And it'd be nice to see some more rupees incorporated into the edge of the crest. Looks just a little too isolated with its features.
Am I the only one who thinks this?
The inner design of the crest is great. Good texture and contrast and shape to it. Really wish the rest of it was a bit more fluid.
i agree....it also looks a bit rushed or uninspired... it looks like he had a good idea and started it and then ran out of ideas... it almost looks unfinished. not much really going on in this design...and im sure it will prolly fog and if we are unlucky it will prolly place and knock a better design out B^(
Re: In Joss We Trust
Love the art, but why oh why did you choose green?!
arinesart wrote:Just for you to know: The whip is a whip, nothing more. What do you want? A Catwoman whip?
Then, what is behind the left snake? I don't even know what you mean. There are two snakes, Cobra and Rattlesnake. Just for the joke that Indy hate snakes.
The Machete? The Machete is EXACTLY like te replica machete I have. Licensed. From Lucasfilm. Go check it.
the whip on one end looks like a jump rope not a whip and not Indy's whip
now that you say that is suposto be a cobra on the left it makes since but it dosnt really look like a cobra and it looks as if there is something behind it instead of it being its hood
i apologise about the machete i was wrong i was thinking this was the one he used to cut the bridge http://www.yourprops.com/norm-47ea2a5686863-Indiana%2BJones%2BAnd%2BThe%2BTemple%2BOf%2BDoom%2B%281984%29.jpeg now i need to go back and watch the movie to see where it is used B^P
Re: House Of Slapstick 2
oh yes! I DO like this on this color. I checked out your page at shirtwhat and I really like your clean art. Very stylized and catchy! I'm a new fan for sure.
bigpariah wrote:that would look slick on a tiki bar mug.
Yes! Yes, it would!! It would look fantastic on ANYthing other than my computer screen...just sayin. Thanks!
Here's to the troops of the air, land, and sea. Together, they fight for the land of the free.
(This is only my second entry ever on woot so critics welcome!!)
Re: Troop Support
Here's to the troops of the air, land, and sea. Together, they fight for the land of the free.
This is only my second entry to a woot derby so comments (yes critics) welcome!! Thanks!
bounty42 wrote:I'm working very hard on not assuming that it was a photoshop copy/paste just because it looks like one. There are a lot of really talented artists on here who actually can do that level of work.
They are 4 champions from the game called 'League of Legends'.
Re: 2600 on brown
I made the shirt brown and added some vine swingers.
Re: Everyday Badge
Hope you like this one. Please vote.
Re: It Is Your Destiny
Zelda inspired, tried to get elements from many games. Particularly older games.
Re: Random Dungeon Heroes
Cute, but I think it would be better off without the stuff on the shield or with only the dice (but slightly bigger and centered). Plus the g in pugs looks like a capital, it is probably just extra flourish but it still looks like a capital G and would bother me.
I personally, like the green, it goes nicely with the design.
I am having a brain fart on the hat + grenade part. Where is that from again?
Re: Binary Code of Arms - 3 Laws
Forgive me but what are the 3?
oubliette wrote:Yes but I also notice a distinct lack of lolcats or perhaps you could have put a Zelda in there... or like, you know, a cutie-pie pokemon.. :P
Lol yeah, seems that's a quick way to gather up some votes from a wide demographic, I like coming up with an original design first though, much more proud of my original content.
CVBrennan wrote:Forgive me but what are the 3?
cherylfrancis wrote:oh yes! I DO like this on this color. I checked out your page at shirtwhat and I really like your clean art. Very stylized and catchy! I'm a new fan for sure.
I didn't even know I had one of those pages! It seems to have stopped 9 derbies ago. Is that site just slow to update?
Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm a fan of yours as well.
Re: Dire Wolf 2.0
Bummer. I like the mash-up! Perhaps if you put "awesome is coming" in the banner instead of the house name?
Synelia wrote:I personally, like the green, it goes nicely with the design.
I am having a brain fart on the hat + grenade part. Where is that from again?
Firefly, in the series Jayne is given a knitted hat. Also known as his 'cunning hat'. He also loves grenades.
orabbit4 wrote:I didn't even know I had one of those pages! It seems to have stopped 9 derbies ago. Is that site just slow to update?
Anyway, thanks for the vote of confidence! I'm a fan of yours as well.
cherylfrancis wrote:
Not sure what the deal is with that site. I'm not real REAL regular here because I have a day job. Hard to whip some art out overnight. I can only tell that one of my designs is missing. It's cool to see all the art together like that.
Re: Tron's Legacy
I'm a big fan of Tron and I love this shirt. I'm sending this link to everyone I know!
Re: Crest of Flowers
This is awesome. SP all the way!
Re: Bear Knight
So cute! I would love to have this one.
Re: Kings of the Internet
You are a horrible human, but this is still one of the best submissions...
View All →


text:
DIY Solar Heating with the Heat Grabber
Build this DIY solar heating collector, the Heat Grabber is a "window box" solar collector you can fabricate in under an hour.
DIY solar heating using the Heat Grabber. Once built, the MOTHER EARTH NEWS heat grabber should give years of dependable service.
Photo by J. Weiland


text:
Full name: billion cubic foot/minute
Plural form: billion cubic feet/minute
Category type: volume flow rate
Scale factor: 471947.45
The SI derived unit for volume flow rate is the cubic meter/second.
1 cubic meter/second is equal to 2.11887997276E-6 billion cubic foot/minute.
Valid units must be of the volume flow rate type.
You can use this form to select from known units:
I'm feeling lucky, show me some random units


text:
The English-language transcription of the Q&A following Nintendo's recent investors meeting is now available, and it contains a hilarious tidbit about how company president Satoru Iwata pulls the stern-father routine on Nintendo of America:
When I received a report from the U.S. that they sold 1 million Pokémon
Diamond & Pearl already, I asked them, "why did you sell only
10,000 Brain Age last week, when Europe sold through 30,000?" This is a typical example of how I communicate with our people in the U.S.
"96 points on your spelling test, Timmy? What happened to the other four? And what's this I hear about junior varsity?"
In all seriousness, Iwata is probably pushing NOA extremely hard because he believes that while the US hasn't experienced the same kind of gaming explosion that's taken place in Japan with Wii and DS, it can happen in 2007. Read the whole Q&A for more, it's packed with interesting stuff.
Financial Results Briefing [Nintendo.jp]Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.


text:
Cedar Lodge
Cedar Lodge is the landmark facility of Warm Beach Camp. The courtyard area is the crossroads of the conference center providing inviting areas for conversation or a spot to read a good book. Inside, the spacious lobby with massive hand hewn logs, frames an exquisite view of Puget Sound and the Islands beyond. A Receptionist is available during business hours to meet your needs, and help is never more than a phone call away with 24 hour on-call staff.


text:
Boxing News
Helenius defeats Oloukun
By Pasi Taavitsainen at ringside
Unbeaten WBA #12 heavyweight Robert Helenius moved to 12-0 with 7 KOs after an eight round unanimous decision over Gbenga "Bang Bang" Oloukun (17-4, 10 KOs) on Friday night at the Töölö Sporthall in Helsinki, Finland. Scores were 79-76, 78-77 and 77-75. Helenius showed a good jab and was a bit more active. Oloukun was strong and hit hard, but Helenius was just a little more effective. No knockdowns in the bout. The decision verdict breaks a string of six consecutive KO victories for Helinius, including an impressive eighth-round stoppage of former WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster.
Photos: Pasi Taavitsainen
Click the photo to go to the next photo


text:
The following monograph was accepted for presentation at CELA 1995 in Ames, Iowa. At that time, I was a visiting assistant professor at the School of Architecture, Florida International University, Miami. Because FIU did not cover scholarly travel expenses for visiting and temporary faculty and I had already exhausted my personal funds on research abroad, I had to decline the opportunity to present at CELA 1995. Publication was thus delayed until January 2002.
The material for this research represents but one topic in a book of nearly a thousand pages titled, Steps to Parnassus: A Musical History of the Euramerican Soundscape, which I am currently revising with a view towards publication. Those interested in this fascinating and relatively new area of research are invited to contact me with their comments and questions at the e-mail address which appears below.
Music, Myth, and Acoustical Magic in the Ancient Landscape
For the Greeks, music was mousikh tecnhthe technique of the Muses (Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2d ed., s.v. "music"). This same tecnh is the root of the term technology and is etymologically closely akin to the word architecture. Indeed, music was one of the first technologies employed in landscape architecture. Amphion built the walls of Thebes by charming the stones into place with the tones of his lyre. Similarly, Orpheus' music stopped the flowing of rivers, moved mountains, and becalmed savage beasts. The third-century Treatise on Rivers and Mountains refers to the stone argrophylax, which Lydians placed beneath thresholds because it resonated with a trumpet-like sound upon the approach of thieves (Schafer 1994, 24-25). Greek theorists held that the entire cosmos vibrated with the same harmonies audible in music, and their thought, undergirded by Pythagorean mathematics and speculative philosophy, was transmitted by Boethius and other medieval scholars to the Renaissance and later periods, during which it would play a dominant role in actual architectural practice.
Magical properties were also attributed to musical instruments in the ancient Near East. The Israelites toppled the walls of Jericho by their sustained trumpet blasts and shouts. The Egyptian sistrum, a ceremonial rattle sacred to Hathor, goddess of trees and skies, appeared in papyri and wall paintings depicting gardens and crops, presumably to ensure plant safety and fertility. Stylized sistrum column capitals in the new year court and hypostyle halls of Hathor's temple at Dendara were a visual pun linking the instrument's auspicious sounds to the rustle of aquatic plants (Baines and Málek, 227). Under a wooden canopy at the center of the south wall was a colossal gilded sistrum guarded by lion heads, whose pluvial roars anticipated Gothic gargoyles by more than a millenium (Ibid., 112-13).
It was, however, through Apollo, the Greek god of the sun and of music, and his nine sister goddesses, the Muses, born near the spring Pieria on the slopes of Olympus, that the union of landscape and music found its most enduring expression. Perhaps their music was originally no more than the enchanting interplay of sunbeamsthe strings of Apollo's lyreand sonorous mountain streams, a phenomenon likely to have inspired thanksgiving when winter snows melted into spring. Mythology supports this view: The springs Castalia, on Mt. Parnassus; Aganippe, arising near Mt. Helicon and flowing into Parnassus; and Hippocrene, originating on Helicon where the hoof of Pegasus struck the ground, were all sacred to Apollo and the Muses. Significant, too, is the medieval belief that the word music ultimately derived from the Egyptian moys 'water,' a notion which perpetuated the archetypal association between the two (Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2d ed., s.v. "music").
The Greek theatre at Syracuse, Italy (digital painting after original photo by Dillon Ford).
In the Greek Theater at Syracuse, the sparkling music of fresh water and salt sea, the songs of ancient playwrights, and the sophisticated acoustical technology of a fifth-century Classical amphitheater have felicitously combined to create one of the world's most compelling soundscapes. The theater is crowned by a grotto on the site of an ancient plumbing system whose cascading waters, together with underground streams, fill the air with an enchanting murmur. A semicircular water channel between the orchestra and tiered seats was designed both for functional utility and aesthetic beauty. The overall shape of the amphitheater itself was suggested by the concentric patterns formed when a stone is thrown into quiet water (Vitruvius 1960, 138-39). Vitruvius strongly advocated the use of bronze or clay sounding vases placed in special compartments among theater seatsthe ancient equivalent of Helmholtz resonatorsto augment the clarity of singing voices (Vitruvius 1960, 9-10, 145; Schafer, 221).
Water and technology conspired to impart the power of speech to lifeless stone near ancient Thebes. C. Perry's A View of the Levant, published in 1743, thus describes the mysterious Memnon Colossi (1375 B.C.): "The Northernmost, said to be the statue of Memnon, is cover'd with a great number of Greek and Latin Inscriptions; being so many testimonies of Persons who pretend to have heard it utter a Sound at Sun-rise" (Baines and Málek, 95). The voice of Vocal Memnon was evidently produced by a concealed water organ in which "solar heat was used to siphon water from one closed tank into another and so produce compressed air for sounding . . . pipes" (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "water organ"). Water organs were described centuries later by Ctesibius (second century B.C.), Philo of Byzantium (second century B.C.), and Hero of Alexandria (first century A.D.).
A variety of hydraulic musical automata, some with singing or moving birds, probably delighted Romans fortunate enough to acquire them for their gardens, nymphaeums, or musaeums. Even before Hero's Pneumatica, Vitruvius (first century B.C.) had devoted an entire chapter in The Ten Books on Architecture to the water organ, which he considered "carefully and exquisitely contrived in all respects" (Vitruvius 1960, 299-300). Water-spewing animal and human heads adorned streetside fountains and private gardens in Pompeii, their aqueous vocalizations transforming simple technology into sophisticated landscape art. The resonant sound of rainwater filling an impluvium must have similarly captured the Roman imagination.
Villa gardens were venues for both musical entertainment and the practice of cult rituals. Worshippers of Cybele hung cymbals, castanets, and syrinxes in sacred trees, perhaps for the mysterious sounds produced when the windor the goddess herselfstirred among the branches (Jashemski, 97, 133-34).
Dulcet Medieval Delights
Medieval soundscapes were no less intriguing. Constantine IX Monomachus (r. 1042-55) was so attached to the audible pleasures of his gardens that unless "without delay cicadas were chirruping on his spontaneously created trees and nightingales singing about his grove, the emperor was very upset (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Byzantium"). According to al-Maqquari, the Islamic gardens of Andalusia were "filled with scented flowers, singing birds, and water-wheels with rumorous sound" (Ibid., s.v. "medieval garden").
Medieval fountains, whether Christian or Islamic, followed the ancient example of channeling water through the mouths of sculpted men and beasts to suggest live vocalizations, as the gentle growl of the recumbent wolves on Siena's famous Gaia Fountain. The Piazza del Campo as a whole is a virtual fountain: On rainy days the concave plaza, which inescapably resembles a huge seashell, becomes a basin in which the sights and sounds of rain and runoff, punctuated by jovial claps of thunder, take on an unexpected poetic significance. Unfortunately, this grand illusion is diminished by a metal grille covering the scallop shell drain inlet, which conspicuously traps water-borne debris.
Medieval fountain, Monreale, Italy (original photo by Dillon Ford).
The cloister fountain at Monreale, with its startling hybridization of Arab, Norman, and Byzantine elements, suggests the extent to which the emergence of a truly multicultural architectural style might have stimulated corresponding technological innovations, but too few medieval fountains survive in working order to allow for a satisfactory study of their auditory characterisics and the technologies used to produce them. Arab influence was especially pronounced at Hesdin, Pas-de-Calais, France, which boasted automata, including a talking owl, based on water-engine technology described in the Book of Mechanical Devices (1206) by Ibn al Razzaz al Jazarí of Diyarbakir (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "pleasance").
The earliest medieval accounts of automatic singing birds date from the ninth century, when Leo the Philosopher created two such devices with artificial trees for Theophilus Ikonomachus. Around 1250 Konrad von Würzburg described an artificial tree with automated birds that could sing and flap their wings (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "bird instruments").
Bells, Chimes, and Telling Time
Bells and chimes were among the most significant components of the Medieval soundscape and proved to be more useful than clock dials before general literacy. The swinging of bells in Western European church towers produced a characteristic surging sound. Eastern church bells were fastened in a stationary manner and struck by pulling a clapper, thus minimizing the sideward thrust exerted on towers and allowing them to outnumber and outweigh their western counterparts (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "bell").
The great bell towers of the late Middle Ages, such as those at the Pisa and Florence cathedrals, were often freestanding buildings. The Torre del Mangia, on the other hand, is an integral part of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. It was provided with its campanone or "big bell" in 1348 and a mechanical clock by 1360. Such campaniles set the urban landscape and its inhabitants into sympathetic vibration, imparting a rhythmic pulse to daily life, defining the acoustic boundaries of communities, and inspiring civic pride. Bells signaled masses, deaths, alarms, and nightly curfews, and regional styles of bell ringing created unique soundscapes which contributed strongly to the sense of place.
Chimes are tuned stationary sets of bells whose range is smaller than that of a carillon. By the twelfth century bells were actuated by large wooden keys, leading to early keyboard-played chimes and carillons in church towers (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "chimes"). Tower clocks capable of producing actual music were developed by the fifteenth century, when a rotating cylinder with pegs was designed to move clappers, thus permitting the virtuosic performance of greater numbers of bells and the development of distinctive regional repertoires (Ibid.).
Antiquity Resounding: The Renaissance
During the Renaissance, water organs took on an almost mystical significance and were housed in elaborate cases in gardens, grottoes, and palace conservatories. Many were provided with fanciful automatahuman, animal or mythological figures actuated by movements attached to a musical cylinder. Some water organs were intentionally concealed from view, and as automated figures appeared to play music, the tones of the hidden instruments sounded synchronously. Among the most famous instruments were those at the Villa d'Este, Pratolino, and the papal gardens at the Quirinale in Rome (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "water organ"). Agostino Ramelli's The Diverse and Ingenious Machines (1588), inspired by Hero's Pneumatica, included designs for water organs and fountains with musical automata.
The aquatic soundscape of the Villa d'Este at Tivoli (1575) was virtually unsurpassed in the western world. Its fountains, including the famous Water Organ; hydraulic automata; and giochi d'acqua never failed to astonish visitors, even during periods of neglect when only desiccated ruins remained to conjure up some impression of the artistic and technological triumph achieved by designer Pirro Ligorio and engineer Orazio Olivieri. Michel de Montaigne's Journal de voyage en Italie (1580-81) contains one of the best contemporary accounts of the Tiburtine villa's aural ambiance:
The music of the [water] organ, which is real music and a natural organ, though always playing the same thing, is effected by means of the water, which falls with great violence into a round arched cave and agitates the air that is in there and forces it, in order to get out, to go through the pipes of the organ and supply it with wind. Another stream of water, driving a wheel with certain teeth on it, causes the organ keyboard to be struck in a certain order; so you hear an imitation of the sound of trumpets. In another place you hear the song of birds, which are little bronze flutes that you see at regals; they give a sound like those little earthenware pots full of water that little children blow into by the spout, this by an artifice like that of the organ; and then by other springs they set in motion an owl, which, appearing at the top of the rock, makes this harmony cease instantly, for the birds are frightened by his presence; and then he leaves the place to them again (Montaigne, 963).
Detail of Water Organ, Villa d'Este, Italy (photo by Dillon Ford).
The Apollonian and Orphic iconography of the Water Organ, plus the fact that the instrument itself was sited at one of the highest points in the garden whence its waters issued in a sparkling cascade, recalls the previously described Greek archetype. The villa's elaborate fountains were fed by the Aniene River, raised to a hilltop so that its waters could be distributed throughout the grounds by the force of gravity. Marked contrasts in the level of sound as one travels from one fountain to the next seem to parallel the alternately soft and loud passages in music which renaissance composers first introduced into their scores near the end of the sixteenth century. As for the Fountain of the Owl, its central niche featured around twenty types of painted bronze birds which sang and variously moved about while perched in an olive tree on an artificial mount (Lazzaro, 229).
Pratolino (1581), near Florence, was also famous for its automata, which "made music and noises of every kind" (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Pratolino"). Here Evelyn would take delight in Pan, "the Water making a melodious sound through his pipe," and a Mount Parnassus where the Muses played on hydraulic organs (Evelyn 1955, vol. 2, 418-19). Behind the house, the rising land was shaped into an amphitheater, with a colossus of the Appenine exerting pressure on the head of a stone monster whose roars were symbolized by gushing water.
At the Villa Lante (1573), Montaigne discovered "four pretty little lakes" around a pyramid, at the center of each of which was "a stone boat, with musketeers who shoot and hurl water against the pyramid, and a trumpeter in each, who also shoots water" (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Lante, Villa"). Behind the theater on the uppermost terrace was The Fountain of the Deluge, a large grotto with resonant cascade whose adjacent pavilions were adorned with frescoes of the Muses. Giochi d'acqua concealed beneath the pavilion roofs and on the central axis of a lower terrace elicited shouts, screams, and laughter from surprised visitors.
In Alberto Ginastera's 1967 opera Bomarzo, the notorious stone monsters at the Villa Orsini are endowed with musical speech. At the actual villa, Hell's Mouth, which bears the inscription "Ogni pensiero vola" ("Every thought flies"), entices the visitor to produce an echo by shouting these strangely relevant words inside its cavernous interior.
From the fifteenth century, the great plazas, courtyards, streets, gardens, and waterways of Europe were venues for some of the most important alfresco events in history, including state weddings, coronations, birthdays, receptions, and the like. These were designed by festaiuoli, individuals whose broad mastery of the arts and sciences enabled them to combine technology, architecture, landscape, music, literature, drama, dance, sport, and pyrotechnics into multifarious forms of pageantry and spectacle. Leonardo da Vinci himself served as a festaiuolo at the court of Milan, where he invented a revolving stage constructed of wood, plaster, and cloth (1498 or c. 1506), surrounded by a moat on which boats sailed carrying live musicians. The stage, which could be closed so that it resembled a mountain, featured remote-control lighting and artificial flames (Blumenthal 1973, 20-21).
The Soniferous Seventeenth Century
The Villa Aldobrandini (1598-1603) was particularly memorable for its fantastic fountains and musical automata. John Evelyn, on a visit to Frascati in May of 1645, marveled at the extraordinary sights and sounds of an artificial grotto, where he found
curious rocks, hydraulic organs & all sorts of singing birds moving, & chirping by force of the water. . . . In one of these Theaters of Water, is an Atlas spouting up the streame to an incredible height, & another monster which makes a terrible roaring with an horn; but above all the representation of a storme is most naturall, with such fury of raine, wind and Thunder as one would imagine ones selfe in some extreame Tempest (Evelyn 1955, vol. 2, 392-93).
The gardens of Hellbrun at Salzburg (1613-15) offered numerous auditory delights, including an "Orpheus grotto" with automated singing birds (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Hellbrun"). The soundscape of the Hortus Palatinus at Heidelberg (from 1615) featured many unique hydraulic automata and musical grottoes designed by Salomon de Caus (c. 1576-1626). Among them were water-actuated figures playing musical instruments and water organs that performed music Caus himself evidently composed. In its day this astounding sound garden was hailed as the eighth wonder of the world (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Hortus Palatinus").
Between 1609 and 1612, Anne of Denmark, and Henry, Prince of Wales, had Caus redesign their gardens at Somerset House, Greenwich Palace, and Richmond Palace. These projects set the fashion for similar aristocratic residences, and as Caus was an hydraulics expert extremely fond of allegorical fountains, grottoes, and automata, the garden landscapes in England were enriched by diverse new aquatic and mechanical sounds (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "England"). In his book Les Raisons des forces mouvantes (1615), Caus included a treatise on water organs which covers their tuning, registration, and mechanics, and engravings showing the places where they were used (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "water organ").
At Enstone, Oxfordshire, is the site of a former grotto and hermitage garden designed by the eccentric Thomas Bushell in the 1620s and 1630s. Bushell shared Caus' delight in hydraulic automata, and enriched his garden sanctum with multiple sound effects, including "Thunder and Lightening, Rain, Hail-showers, drums beating . . . [and] the Dead arising" (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Enstone").
At Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Thomas Francini (1571-1651) designed hydraulic music automata for the grottoes of the former royal residence, about which some idea is conveyed by Abraham Bosse's engravings of "The Grotto of Orpheus" and "The Grotto of the Young Lady Playing Organs" (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Francine"). Descartes invoked these in his Treatise on Man (1629) to explain the mechanical neural activity of the human brain (Descartes 1972, iv, 3-4, 21-22, 113). When Evelyn visited Saint Germain, he was impressed by "Orpheus, with his musique, & the Animals which daunce after his harpe," "Neptune sounding with his Trumpet," and "birds chirping and the many other devices" (Evelyn 1955, vol. 2, 111).
At the Garden of the Thuilleres, Evelyn noted an "artificial Echo, redoubling the words so distinctly, and . . . never without some faire Nymph singing to its gratefull returnes" (Ibid., 106). Standing at one of the foci under a tree or little cabinet of hedges, the voice seemed "to descend from the Clowds; and at another, as if it were under grownd" (Ibid.).
By far the most stunning soundscape events of the seventeenth century took place at Versailles under the reign of Louis XIV. The Sun King, who closely identified himself with Apollo, was especially fond of music and dance and had his court musicians perform in parades, at outdoor fêtes, at the hunt, on the battlefield, and even on the Grand Canal (The New Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, s.v. "Paris"; Forsyth, 104). The Pool of Apollo, with its triton trumpeters proclaiming the skyward ascent of the god of light and music, is but one detail in an entire program which exalted Louis' divine persona with uncompromising consistency.
Jean Le Pautre's engraving of a performance of Lully's Alceste at the Marble Court, Versailles, 1676. Musicians' enclosures are highlighted.
Operas and musical performances were often staged in the landscape, either through adapting existing structures or building new ones. Lully's Alceste (1674), for example, premiered in the candle-lit Marble Court: The orchestra was split into two halves and concealed in specially designed enclosures near the front of the stage area, which arrangement afforded the royal family a direct view of the singers and a kind of stereophonic listening pleasure. Although Versailles did not have a permanent opera house before 1770, the seventeenth-century Salle du bal was an enchanted place where courtiers could dance on marble floors to the accompaniment of the king's orchestra, refreshed by the ebullient sounds of cooling cascades and water jets. On either side of the elaborate stepped cascade, amphitheater-style seating was provided.
Music continued to play an important role in the soundscapes of the low countries. At the Brussels Court, on the site of the existing Place Royale, Evelyn described on 8 October 1641 "a most sweete and delicious Garden" with "artificial musique" and "a faire aviary" (Evelyn 1955, vol. 2, 71-72). When he visited the Hague, Evelyn was impressed by "the Hoff . . . with the adjoyning Gardens, which were full of ornament, close-Walkes, Statues, Marbles, Grotts, Fountaines, and artificiall Musique" (Evelyn 1955, vol. 2, 41). At Buitenhof, the visible music of Pythagorean-Albertian harmonic ratios was complemented by birdsong emanating from an aviary in the villa's loggia (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Buitenhof").
About the bells of St. Nicholas in Amsterdam c. 21 to 24 August 1641, Evelyn would write that "the confusion was so greate, that it was impossible for the Musitian to heare any thing himselfe, or any that stoode neere him; Yet to those, who were at a distance, and especialy in the streetes, the harmony, and the time were most exact and agreable (Evelyn 1955, vol. 2, 48-49). In seventeenth-century Russia, chimes had so grown in size and number of bells that they surpassed many such western European instruments. Russian chimes, with bells weighing up to forty tons, were not tuned to scales, but provided instead a rich wash of tone color over the landscape (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "Chimes").
The Eighteenth Century: Parnassus for the Masses
Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, England, enjoyed a unique soundscape vividly described by Daniel Defoe in 1724: "[O]ut of the mouths of beasts, pipes, urns, etc., a whole river descends the slope of a hill a quarter of a mile in length, over steps, with a terrible noise, and broken appearance (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Chatsworth"). In the romantic garden of the Duc de Chartres at Parc Monceau, Paris (1773), described as "a simple fantasy bringing together all times and places," there was a grotto-triclinium, music from whose upper chamber wafted down to dining guests (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "Parc Monceau"; "Grotto").
Vauxhall, one of London's first public pleasure gardens, was a simple fantasy bringing together all times, places, and people: "The thickly wooded 'wildernesses' were an attraction in themselves, adding to the romance and mystery of the place, and providing a home for the larks and nightingales, those 'feathered minstrels' whose song apparently matched in sweetness that of the professional musicians in the orchestra; the illusion given to visitors was that they had been transported to the depths of some romantic Arcadian countryside, without all the inherent risks and dangers that a real journey to such a place would entail" (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "pleasure garden").
Thomas Rowlandson's depiction of Vauxhall Gardens
From the1660s until Vauxhall closed in 1859, music was one of the gardens' greatest amenities, particularly after 1732, when it inaugurated a regular series of ridotto al fresco entertainments. A large open-air pavilion, closed at the back and sides, housed the musicians, and in 1737 an organ was installed. The organ was eminently suitable for outdoor performances due to its stable intonation, penetrating tone, and ability to project sounds over a considerable distance. In 1758 the earlier structure was supplanted by an elaborate "Moorish-Gothick" temple. Thunderous pyrotechnical displays were featured at the gardens from around 1800 (Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., s.v. "Vauxhall Gardens"; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, s.v. "London").
The Nineteenth Century: Angelic Voices, Deafening Choices
Music figured prominently in numerous projects of Frederick Law Olmsted, including New York's Central Park, Boston's Franklin Park, and the Colombian Exposition of 1893. Judging from contemporary accounts, the latter was distinguished by one of the most remarkable soundscapes in American history:
As the President [Coolidge] was concluding the final sentence of his address his eyes wandered to the table that was close at his left hand. Upon this was the button, the pressure upon which was to start the machinery and make the opening of the Exposition an accomplished fact. . . . As the last words fell from the President's lips, he pressed his finger upon the button. . . .
This was the signal for a demonstration difficult of imagination, and infinitely more so of description. At one and the same instant the audience burst into a thundering shout, the orchestra pealeth forth the strains of the Hallelejah Chorus, the wheels of the great Ellis engine in Machinery Hall commenced to revolve, the electric fountains in the lagoon threw their torrents towards the sky, a flood of water gushed from the McMonnies Fountain and rolled back again into the basin, the thunder of artillery came from the vessels in the lake, the chimes in Manufacturers' Hall and on the German Building rang out a merry peal, and overhead the flags at the tops of the poles in front of the platform fell apart and revealed two gilded models of the ships in which Columbus first sailed to American shores. . . .
It was a wonderful scene of transformation, and amid it all cannon continued to thunder and the crowd to cheer. It was nearly ten minutes before the demonstration subsided. Then the band played "America" and the exercises were at end (Northrop, 110-11).
A. Westerling, "Columbian Exposition," 1892 (from Northrop, 109)
Such high-profile events notwithstanding, it would appear that outdoor acoustical design suffered major setbacks by the end of the nineteenth century. Several factors account for this development:
1) The industrialization and expansion of European and American cities brought about increasing environmental noise and a drastic reduction in the green space available for public gardens;
2) most of the major palaces and villas of Europe had already been built by the end of the eighteenth century, and changing political, social, and economic realities militated against their maintenance;
3) and the greatly increasing complexity and length of instrumental and vocal music favored the development of specialized indoor environments such as concert halls and opera houses where acoustics, lighting, stage machinery, and audience comfort could be more easily controlled. A corresponding increase in instrumental music depicting landscapes during the same period, however, suggests a desire to compensate for the increasing isolation from and deterioration of the audible landscape.
Perhaps the most extreme example of this romantic escape into an imaginary indoor soundscape is the famous Venus Grotto at Schloss Linderhof in Bavaria, an artificial cave where Ludwig II indulged his craving for Wagnerian opera under cast-iron stalactites electrically illuminated in various colors as the rushing sound of a waterfall and an immense painted scene from Tannhaüser conjured up images of past Teutonic glory. Acoustics in this highly reverberant interior are predictably problematic.
In Evenings with the Orchestra, Berlioz envisioned a twenty-fourth-century city called Euphonia in Germany's Harz Mountains populated by twelve thousand musicians living on streets named after their instrument or voice type. Instead of campaniles, a single huge steam-operated organ perched atop a tower overlooking the city would signal working hours, meals, meetings, and rehearsals. Performances of monumental musical scores requiring as many as ten thousand players would take place in a theater with a seating capacity of twenty thousand "somewhat similar to the amphitheaters of Greek and Roman antiquity, but built to provide superior acoustic conditions." The whole building and its musical ensemble would comprise a "huge intelligent instrument." (Berlioz 1969, 283-86). Nothing on a smaller scale could have sufficed for a composer who, in his own day, longed for an orchestra of 825 instrumentalists and vocalists which could produce effects like "a hurricane in the tropics," the "explosive roar of a volcano," or "the mysterious rustle of primeval forests" (Dorian, 245).
Aeolian Harps and Calliopes
The aeolian harp was the romantic outdoor instrument par excellence, and its ethereal effects inspired an outpouring of poetic sentiment by some of the most distinguished literary figures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In Coleridge's poem "The Eolian Harp" (1796), the author dares to speculate, not unlike the ancient Greeks, that the entire living world is an assemblage of musical instruments created and performed by some deity: "And what if all of animated nature / Be but organic Harps diversely fram'd, / That tremble into thought, as o'er them sweeps / Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze, / At once the Soul of each, and God of all?"
Technically, the aeolian harp is a box zither distinguished by the fact that its strings are played by the action of the wind. The precise manner in which sound is produced remains a mystery, but theory suggests that tones result from eddies creating vortices behind individual strings. Aeolian harps typically have from four to twelve brass wire or catgut strings of equal length but varying thickness which stretch over one or two wooden bridges mounted on a wooden box and attach to tuning pegs or hitch-pins. Often there is some means of regulating the contact of wind with strings (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "aeolian harp").
Aeolian music was a common feature in European gardens, grottos, and summer-houses, and aeolian harps were even introduced into uninhabited castles in Baden-Baden (1853). In 1783 Abbot Gattoni of Milan stretched strings between the spires of two churches, producing an armonica meteorologica whose tones indicated when the weather was about to change (Ibid.).
The calliope, named after the muse of epic poetry, was invented by the American Joshua C. Stoddard, who is said to have been inspired by the steam whistles of locomotives. His first instrument (1855), consisting of a steam boiler, a set of valves, and fifteen graded steam whistles played from a pinned cylinder, reportedly could be heard for a range of five miles, and so offended the ears of the Worcester City Council that Stoddard was forbidden to perform it within city limits. Arthur S. Denny, head of the American Steam Music Company, introduced a low-pressure keyboard version of Stoddard's instrument in the Crystal Palace. Denny's more powerful outdoor models supposedly could be heard for a distance of twelve miles. Calliopes like that featured in the 1951 film Showboat were a popular source of water music on the Mississippi and attracted crowds at circuses and fairs (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "calliope").
The Twentieth Century: Emancipation of Noise
The twentieth century has witnessed the emancipation of noise, both as a creative resource and environmental pollutant. The Italian futurists were among the first to champion the vast array of mechanical sounds which had come about as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution, and by the late 1940s tape recording made possible a new level of sophistication and finesse in the manipulation of noise. In the 1960s creative artists and engineers began to produce a variety of innovative fountains, sculptures, and installations exploiting the rich potential of sound, and more recent developments in electronic and computer-assisted sound synthesis, including digital sampling and MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), have expanded aural resources to a hitherto unprecedented degree.
Outdoor Musical Instruments and Clocks
One of the most ingratiating twentieth-century soundscapes owes its existence to Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (b. 1870). Together with a team of designers that included campanile expert Milton B. Medary, Olmsted created the Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales on a 130-acre site which encompasses the highest point in peninsular Florida. Dedicated by President Coolidge in 1929, the "Singing Tower" marks the passing hours with carillon concerts emanating from a marble and coquina tower measuring fifty-one feet wide at the base and thirty-one feet wide at the top. Faience grilles atop the seven-level structure conceal 57 chromatically tuned cast bronze bells, ranging in weight from 17 to 22,300 pounds, which remain stationary when the carilloneur causes them to sound by striking large wooden keys with fists or feet. Clappers are connected by wires and levers to the keyboard in a sound-controlled room below the bells in which speakers allow the player to monitor his performance at a comfortable volume. The relative force applied to the keys produces a full range of dynamic effects. Optimal listening distance lies within a radius of approximately one hundred to two hundred yards (The American Foundation, 1981, [7-8, 12-13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 24-26]).
Balboa Park in San Diego boasts what is billed as the "World's Largest Outdoor Musical Instrument," a mammoth Spreckels pipe organ which has served as the voice of that city since 1915. The instrument, housed in an elaborate pavilion with adjacent seating for some 2,400 concert-goers, has 71 ranks, with 4,416 individual pipes whose length varies from less than .5 inches to over 32 feet. Percussive effects are also available to the performer, who sits at a four-manual keyboard equipped with full pedalboard in the pavilion. Air required to operate the instrument comes from a twenty-horsepower electric blower, and music produced can be heard under favorable weather conditions at a distance of over two miles ([Spreckels Organ Society], [1-2]).
A short distance from the main entrance of San Francisco's Exploratorium lies one of the museum's most extraordinary exhibits, the Wave Organ. This water-activated instrument enables visitors to hear the voice of San Francisco Bay in an attractively paved setting which provides seating and a splendid view of the city's skyline. The exhibit is the work of artist-in-residence Peter Richards and George Gonzales ([The Exploratorium], [5]).
The most familiar outdoor instruments are simple chimes of glass, metal, and other materials hung in gardens, patios, and other breezy settings. Most of these are of little aesthetic consequence, but others, such as the richly patinated bells of architect Paolo Soleri, are skillfully crafted musical works of art which delight the eye as well as the ear.
Floral cuckoo clocks such as that in Hesketh Park in Southport, England, belong mostly to a bygone era. Such charming chronometers were sometimes ornamented with dwarf succulents. The mechanical clock in the tower of the Town Hall at Munich (1908), is admired for its detailed human figures, some with musical instruments, that turn about, dance, and nod when 11:00 A.M. is struck.
Sound Sculptures
One of the premier American sound sculptors was the eccentric Icabod Angus MacKenzie (c. 1880-1969), who produced an astounding variety of works actuated by wind, water, gravity, and even fire. Bell and tubular chimes, concentric slide pipes, piano wire, whistle holes, and beaters were all incorpopated in his wind-powered sculptures (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "MacKenzie, I[cabod] A[ngus]; Cope 1984, 318-23).
Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) created "sonambient" sound sculptures composed of square or rectangular clusters of long, flexile metal rods mounted vertically to a flat base, or swinging pairs of perpendicularly suspended horizontal bars that chime when set in motion by hand, wind, or sympathetic vibration. Another type consists of circular and rectangular gongs, the largest of which, erected over the sculptor's grave, is performed by a padded sledgehammer (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "Bertoia, Harry"; "sonambient").
Around 1970 New Zealander Annea Lockwood (b. 1939) began to change upright pianos into bizarre "Transplants" by variously preparing, burning, and even drowning them. Exposed to outdoor conditions, the instruments underwent dramatic changes perceptible on multiple sensory levels (Ibid., s.v. "Lockwood, Annea").
Many of the works of Max Eastley (b. 1944), British sound sculptor and performance artist, are powered by natural energy sources, especially wind and water. Among them is a ground harp, whose beaters are driven by the wind against a steel sheet; a marine organ performed by the changing tides; tree harps; aeolian flutes with air slots and closed ends; and a hydrophone (1975), whose strings, stretched from a bridge to a weight at the bottom of a river, produce new tones and effects with changes in the speed and direction of the current (Ibid., "Eastley, Max").
Other creators of outdoor water sculptures include Luis Frangella, whose "Rain Music II" exploits the possibility of precipitation on resonant surfaces in conjunction with antenna-like beaters, and John Latham, whose "Big Breather" consists of enormous tide-inflated bellows on top of a tower some seven meters in height which cause a large reed to be sounded (Ibid., s.v. "sound sculpture").
One of the brightest lights among the younger generation of sound sculptors is Doug Hollis (b. 1948), whose outdoor installations include giant aeolian instruments, singing bridges, and a wind gate for the main entrance of San Francisco's Candlestick Park in collaboration with landscape architect George Hargreaves and architect Mark Mack (Ibid, s.v. "Hollis, Douglas"; Boles, 6 (C)). Hollis's "Sound Garden," near the shores of Lake Washington on the grounds of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, consists of steel towers with wind-actuated organ pipes (Swift and Wilkinson, 98-99.).
Other creators of aeolian instruments are John Paul Rhinehart and Stanley Marsh III, whose "Chromatic Tree Harp" consisted of five sapling trees (one uprooted) and twenty-two rubber strings; David Wheeler, inventor of a "Wind Machine" (1974) whose eight constituent units (including bells, chimes, a drum, a monochord, and a two-reed horn) were sequentially activated by windmill power; and Mario Bertoncini, whose Vele (1974) featured an ensemble of aeolian harps up to seven meters in height, all curiously shaped and tuned (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "sound sculpture").
The Music of Modern Fountains
Lawrence Halprin's Lovejoy Plaza in Portland, Oregon (1961), is especially notable for its sonorous water features inspired by the rivers and falls of the High Sierras. Halprin's spatio-temporal "scores," analogous to music notation, present the possibility of orchestrating the landscape just as composers and conductors determine instrumental combinations and seating plans.
Bernard Baschet (b. 1917) and François Baschet (b. 1920) developed a number of structures sonores used as sculptural elements both indoors and out-of-doors. Among their best-known works are the interactive stainless steel HemisFair 68 Fountain at San Antonio and an assortment of innovative campaniles, clocks, and windmills. In their musical fountains, gongs, and chimes sound as water is emptied from a system of pivoted containers (Ibid., s.v. "Baschet"; "structures sonores").
Richard Huws's Tilting Fountain (1968) at the back of the Liverpool City offices offers the audiovisual entertainment of a series of buckets being filled and tilted in an irregular sequence (The Oxford Companion to Gardens, s.v. "water"). The Quiet Water Pool in Philip Johnson's Water Garden (1966-1974) at Fort Worth is like a pianissimo passage in a great symphonic score, contrasting vividly with the distinctly audible sonic events of the Active Water Pool, the Cascade Pool, and the outdoor stage area.
Fortissimo "surround-sound" cascades distinguish this famous fountain at the Fort Worth Water Gardens
Sir Geoffrey Alan Jellicoe demonstrated mastery of the water music concept in his musical cascade for Shute House in Wiltshire, England, in 1970.
The automated creatures which speak, vocalize, dance, gesticulate or spray water at Walt Disney World and American theme parks recall renaissance gardens where giochi d'acqua and fanciful automata similarly conspired to delight the mind and senses. Indeed, the difference between popular entertainment and high art has become increasingly blurred. What, for example, does one make of the Rite of Spring Fountain at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, in which Niki de Saint-Phalle's brazen sculptural creations, animated by Jean Tinguely's maniacal technology, wantonly celebrate Stravinsky's scandalous orchestral score?
The serious and the playful likewise conspire in the work of Joan Brigham, who explored the possibilities of tapping into the underground steam systems that once provided central heating for older American cities (Krauss 1988 , 36). With Christopher Janney, Brigham planned "the first permanent winter participatory steam/sound fountain" for Boston's City Hall Plaza. Their design calls for a Macintosh computer controlling sixteen jets of steam and an eight-speaker sound system to interact with pedestrians. Two-foot-square glass bricks set at predetermined intervals around the perimeter of the fountain house both sensors and neon lights which glow as steam and sounds are released. A riddle etched on a bronze plaque is set into the wall of the Plaza, and anybody solving it who triggers the eight brick lights in the correct sequence causes the whole fountain to "go wild" (Ibid.).
The introduction of water technologies from non-Western cultures is increasingly common. If traditional devices like the shishi odoshi and suikinkutsu of Japan have already found their way into Western gardens, then the tang koa of Viet Nam, the nakpéa of Vanuatu, and the aeolian instruments of Guyana will likely follow.
Electronic Installations, Sculptures, and Equipment
Texan Max Neuhaus (b. 1939) created an installation at Times Square (1977) in which a large loudspeaker concealed below a ventilation grille on a traffic island emits a rich low sound affected by temperature and wind, (The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, s.v. "Neuhaus, Max"). At Kassel's Documenta 6 exhibition (1977), Neuhaus placed loudspeakers emitting subtle sounds high up in a large tree in a wooded park (Ibid.).
Composer Jon Hassell has produced numerous interesting large-scale outdoor sculptures, including the minimalist soundscapes in the "Landmusic Series" (1969-72). One of the latter requires a "compact battery-powered speaker, microphone, [and] amplifier combinations to be planted in trees to produce subtle sound amplifications of 'wind, leaves, birds, and squirrels who come near. . . .'" (Cope, 323).
Similarly, the late John Cage once planned to amplify a park for children in Ivrea, Italy:
There is a marvelous hill in the center of the city that is high and has a beautiful view of the Alps and is isolated enough from the traffic sounds so that you hear the sounds of the plants. . . . I was spoiled by the marvelous situation in Ivrea where the silencewhen you weren't playing the plantswas very audible and beautiful; you could hear it as if you were in a concert hall. In other words, I wanted the silence of the mountain to be heard by the children after they had heard the sounds that they themselves had made by playing the plants. . . . Every now and then the plants were going to become unplayable, and the children would be obliged to hear the silence (Ibid., 317).
David Dunn (b. 1953) has planned a large-scale utopian project in which a stationary cybernetic sound sculpture will be satellite-uplinked to analogous structures in other locations. These systems would serve as sonic mirrors to process electromagnetic data from a given environment. The sculpture could serve as an autonomous entity interacting within an autonomous environmental intelligence. Dunn perceives this "interactive reflection back into the environment" as a means of rediscovering natural magic, invoking a primal relationship to nature by uniting music and leading-edge technology (Lampert, 102).
New York engineer-sculptor Wen-Ying Tsai has created an astonishing number of kinetic and cybernetic sound sculptures, many of which are eminently suitable for indoor landscape projects. Some of these are interactive, including a small fountain which can be activated simply by clapping hands (Fodor, 51-55).
In "Steamshuffle" by Christopher Janney and Joan Brigham, produced in Philadelphia in 1987, photocell reflectors were interfaced with a computer, enabling pedestrians to collaborate in a multimedia work featuring music, jets of steam, stroboscopic effects, and projections of poetry (Krauss 1988, 36).
Bioacoustician Bernie Krause designed an "eight-channel, holophonic-type sound sculpture, done with octagonal rows of speakers" for the St. Louis Zoo's new education center (Oppenheimer and Karlberg 1989, 69). Those experiencing the sculpture might well imagine that whales are navigating through their heads, and even the relative perching distances of different bird species are accurately simulated.
At Cornell a Library of Natural Sounds on 65,000 recordings has been accumulated over a period of over sixty yearsthe largest collection of its kind in the world. Computer technology in a new bioacoustics laboratory is now used to analyze and synthesize wildlife sounds in an effort to explain the behavioral mysteries of language, sound, and music. Scientists have introduced recordings of specific birds species at appropriate sites to encourage nesting and egg-laying (Raymond, 7-8 (A), 10 (A)).
In the Parc de la Villette at Paris, nestled in a bamboo-filled valley, is Le Cylindre sonore, which demonstrates the importance of sound in spatial design. An integral component in the park's promenade, the top of the double cylinder is at grade, and one must descend into its acoustical space to access and leave the bamboo garden. Behind each of the eight perforated precast concrete panels comprising the innermost cylinder are three speakers mounted at varying heights (Leitner 1994, 28-31).
In Geneva, the claustrophobic tunnels which interrupt the scenic Swiss landscape along N 1a Highway became the focal point of the Geneva By-Pass project, which set out to "physically improve and aestheticize the motorist's transit through three subterranean passages by using sound and light to emphasize the kinesthetic experience of traveling" (Ibid., 36). Drawing upon the emerging technology of active noise control, the project was to allow externally produced tones to interact with unaccompanied vocal music similar to that of the Franco-Belgian renaissance composer Josquin Desprez. A multiple CD player would be connected to numerous high-output audio amplifiers which powered a series of weather-proofed loudspeakers suspended at fifty-meter intervals from the tunnel ceilings. The volume of the recorded music would be automatically adjusted to the loudness of the traffic noise. Unfortunately, political developments resulted in premature termination of the project in 1994 (Ibid., 39-40).
Recent development of the audiosphere in France could enable landscape designers to study the problems of urban noise pollution. Through additive and subtractive audio simulations of a variety of street sounds, this technology provides a basis for making informed decisions about design proposals which could impact the urban landscape. The aesthetic and functional efficacy of acoustic crosswalks which signal pedestrians through buzzes, pips, and ticks, such as those which have already been tried in New Zealand and Europe, might be efficiently tested by such devices (Schafer 1993, 41; Schafer 1994, 240-41).
Comparatively few contemporary landscape architects normally concern themselves with the aural quality of a site beyond addressing the technical issues of noise abatement or acoustics (Schafer 1994, 222). This neglect probably stems from a general visual bias resulting at least in part from the gradual deterioration of the sonic environment since the Industrial Revolution, a development which in spite of decades of legal countermeasures has increasingly made the aesthetic use of outdoor sound seem like an exercise in futility. Many professionals would probably agree, however, that sound should no longer be dismissed as an accidental, incidental, optional or otherwise inconsequential aspect of the landscape. The recent proliferation of cassette tapes and compact discs featuring natural environmental sounds suggests that although quality soundscapes, whether natural or man-made, have become increasingly rare or difficult of access, they are still perceived as valuable by a sizable percentage of American consumers.
The creation of acoustically pleasant and appropriate landscapes represents a significant opportunity for those who recognize that a design which delights the eye but neglects the ear is likely to be as well-received as a handsomely costumed actor who mumbles, butchers or forgets his lines. An excerpt from Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism (part II, line 62) seems especially appropriate in this connection: "Tis not enough no harshness gives offence; / The sound must seem an echo to the sense." Those landscape architects who fully appreciate the historical role of sound as a design element essential to the creation of a strong sense of place and who accept the considerable technical, aesthetic, environmental, and legal challenges required to renew the soundscape, will have the distinct satisfaction of extending their art into new, ever-richer realms of poetic experience.
Project for Astronauts Memorial (1987), Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Total soundscape design features site-specific music (score not shown) with kinetic sculptural choreography. Joseph Dillon Ford with Leonardo Alvarez, Marta Canaves, & Javier Delgado.
The American Foundation. 1981. Bok Tower Gardens. Lake Wales, Florida.
Baines, John, and Málek, Jaromír. 1980. Atlas of ancient Egypt. New York: Facts on File.
Berlioz, Hector. 1969. Evenings with the orchestra. Translated and edited by Jacques Barzun. New York: Knopf.
Blumenthal, Arthur R. 1973. Italian renaissance festival designs. Madison: University of Wisconsin.
Boles, Daralice D. 1988. Lords of landscaping: artists and architects combine skills in a revolution that's as big as all outdoors. The Chicago Tribune, 20 November, 6 (C).
Brewster, Michael. 1994. Geneva By-Pass. In Architecture as a translation of music. Pamphlet Architecture 16: 36-40. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Cope, David H. 1984. New directions in music. 4th ed. Dubuque: William C. Brown Publishers.
Descartes, René. 1972. Treatise of man. Translated by Thomas Steele Hall. Cambridge: Harvard.
Dorian, Frederick. 1942. The history of music in performance: the art of musical interpretation from the Renaissance to our day. New York: Norton.
Evelyn, John. 1955. The diary of John Evelyn. Vol. 2, Kalendarium, 1620-1649. Edited by E. S. De Beer. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Exploratorium. N.d. Exploratorium: the Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception. San Francisco.
Fodor, Joe. 1988. Wired for sound: art by Wen-Ying Tsai. Omni 10 (September): 50-55.
Forsyth, Michael. 1985. Buildings for music. Cambridge: MIT.
Jashemski, Wilhelmina F. 1979. The gardens of Pompeii, Herculaneum and the villas destroyed by Vesuvius. New Rochelle, New York: Caratzas Brothers.
Krauss, Bill. 1988. Steamshuffle and Winterbreath: notes from the underground. Music, Computers & Software 3 (April): 36.
Lampert, Michael R. 1989. Environment, consciousness, and magic: an interview with David Dunn. Perspectives of New Music 27 (Winter): 94-105.
Lazzaro, Claudia. 1990. The Italian renaissance garden: from the conventions of planting, design, and ornament to the grand gardens of sixteenth-century central Italy. New Haven: Yale.
Leitner, Bernhard et al. 1994. Le cylindre sonore. In Architecture as a translation of music. Pamphlet Architecture 16: 28-31. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
de Montaigne, Michel Eyquem. 1967. The complete works of Montaigne: essays, travel journal, letters. Translated by Donald M. Frame. Stanford: Stanford.
Northrop, Henry Davenport. 1900. Wonderful Developments of the nineteenth century . . . etc. Philadelphia: World Bible House.
Oppenheimer, Steve, and Carlberg, Robert. 1989. Making music with nature: Bernie Krause samples life. Electronic Musician 5 (May): 33, 35-36, 64-65, 67-69.
Raymond, Chris. 1990. Acoustic technology allows Cornell scientists to analyze and synthesize wildlife sounds. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 January, 6-7, 10 (A).
Schafer, R. Murray. 1993. Sound barriers. The Unesco Courier (July/August): 41-45.
Schafer, R. Murray. 1994. The soundscape: our sonic environment and the tuning of the world. New York: Knopf, 1977; reprint, Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books.
Spreckels Organ Society. 1990. World's largest outdoor musical instrument. San Diego.
Swift, Barbara, and Wilkinson, Rob. 1988. The NOAA program: public art on a shoreline site. Landscape Architecture 78 (September/October): 98, 100, 102.
Vitruvius. 1960. The ten books on architecture. Translated by Morris Hicky Morgan. [Cambridge]: Harvard, 1914; reprint, New York: Dover.


text:
A Turkish Court Has To Decide If Gollum Is Good or Evil
Is Gollum a good guy or a bad guy? It's a complicated question. At times, the former Hobbit is nothing but pure venom. Other times, he's kind, sweet and caring. Plus he can change between the two in an instant. Finally, a court of law will tell us if the former ring-bearer is good or evil.