Thursday, 1 April 2004
In toyshops you'll sometimes see music boxes that can play tunes like My Way, Green Sleeves or other evergreens.
If you turn the crank of the music box, a metal roll will turn around slowly. Short pens on the roll will pluck a little harp, which looks like a miniature African comb. If you hold the music box in your hand, the sound will be weak and tinny.
But press the music box against the table, and the sound will become louder and fuller. This phenomenon of sound being amplified by a solid object is known as resonance.
In the case of the music box, resonance is usually liked. But there are cases in which resonance is definitely unpleasant.
One such case is when tools are used to work concrete. If a block of flats has a hundred inhabitants and one of them drills a hole in the concrete, all the other inhabitants will hear it. The building will act as a resonator. You must have heard the sound and will agree it's far from pleasant.
My experience is that builders do their drilling first thing in the morning. I asked several people about this and - believe it or not - they agreed builders do their noisiest work early in the morning. And builders do start very early.
I have no idea what could be the reason for this custom. Would builders realize that in this way retired and sick people are expelled from their beds early in the morning?
Sometimes, I agree, drilling in concrete is inevitable. But how long may one expose people to excessive noise? One week, one month, one year?
Quite normal things are sometimes forbidden by law. Im sure you'll know of
examples of this. You may, for instance, have heard that the
European Community forbids the use of ladders.
But suppose you are Cannons Fitness Club, and you decide to convert a
hall below fifty apartments into a fitness palace, and this would cause
terrible noise for a year to all the inhabitants. And suppose you
use machines running on paraffin so that the apartments above smell of
paraffin fumes. I don't know if you'll believe me: there are no laws that
forbid all this.
In my weblog of 19 January you could
read that building technology is retarded compared to any other
industry. I think it's clear why this is so: as long as the law puts no
limits to the nuisance the building industry causes, this
industry will never be motivated to stop their antisocial behaviour. After
all, working in an antisocial way is cheaper.
And don't they say money is the root of all evil?
