ABSTRACT
Introduction: If a Tree Falls in the Universe…
Our story begins with the Big Bang, in which scientists argue time originates. We explore the implications of this for the very definition of sound, and relate the quandary created by defining sound to the difficulty of supporting the larger thesis upon which our book is based: that theatre is a type of music. Nevertheless, we insist the support of the book’s thesis starts with the nature of time itself, and that’s what we’ll explore in this chapter.
The Nature of Light and Sound
I acknowledge my mentors who introduced me to a similar conception of the nature of visual art that compelled me to investigate the corresponding nature of audible art. The relationship between light and sound led me to a fundamental realization that their natures are not just fundamentally different, but extraordinarily complementary. This section explores that relationship between light and sound.
The Evolution of Hearing and Speaking
Billions of years after light and sound waves first manifested themselves, early forms of life appeared on earth and evolved primitive mechanisms for perceiving light and sound. This section explores the earliest evolution of these sensory mechanisms.
The Evolution of the Brain Leads to the Ability to Communicate Emotions
From such primitive organisms, animals developed primitive brains. Some of those primitive characteristics of these earliest brains are still with us, and we use them to manipulate our theatre audiences with every sound score we create. In this section we introduce the biological mechanisms of startle and habituation, and the emotional seat of that primitive brain, “our old friend, the amygdala.”
Eyes and Ears, Space and Time
We introduce the critically important concept that the eyes evolved to perceive the electromagnetic waves that primarily reveal space, while the ears evolved to perceive the mechanical waves that primarily reveal time. We compare the two senses that have been characteristic of virtually every creature in the animal kingdom. We conclude the chapter by revealing that the rest of our journey in this story will explore the primary characteristics of the human ear in its perception of time.
