4 Sound Superpowers You Didn’t Know You Had

Learn about the amazing powers of hearing and sound at the NMC’s newest production

Do you have superpowers? Evan Rothery, the education program leader with the National Music Centre, seems to think so. He’s developed a one-man show to educate and inform people about the wonders of hearing, sound and humans’ incredible capacities to make and detect it.

Rothery set out to adapt the content of the NMC’s popular “Good Vibrations” program, in which teachers explain hearing and sound to their class when he came upon the idea.

“I found it very interesting,” says Rothery. “The more I researched it, the more I learned about sound and I just thought it was kind of amazing what you could do with hearing and sound.”

He liked what he found so much that he decided to share the discovery of our sound superpowers with everyone. These are four of our sound superpowers.

Spatial Hearing

The ability to build a three-dimensional map of the world around you, based on the sounds you hear, even if you can’t see things around you.

Timbral Telepathy

You can hear someone’s voice, and even if they’re saying one thing, you can discern how they really feel; they can say that they’re very happy, but you can tell by the sound of their voice whether or not they’re really happy. Our ability to detect timbres is quite interesting.

Amplitude

The ability to make louder sounds than any other creature on the planet, sometimes with use of gadgets. Rothery brings in gadgets because some superheroes, like Batman, use gadgets. Not all superpowers are things you’re born with.

Music

Rothery says he often has to justify this to people, but it really is a power when you consider our ability to play with sound in such a complex way.

The NMC Superheroes of Sound will have a free demonstration night this Thursday, November 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the National Music Centre (134 11 Ave S.E.).