For years George had been obsessed with the stories of two sound chambers on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. Known as ‘acoustic test chambers’ around the campus, the two rooms (at least in George’s case) have been shrouded in mystery, rumor and intrigue. Recently included as part of the IU Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, what are actually called the anechoic and echoic test chambers are now being used for sound localization research.

On this week’s show, find out the history and debunk the rumors of these chambers, while experiencing two of the most unnatural sounding rooms on earth.

Note: When the episode was originally published, we incorrectly stated that the chambers were built in the 1970′s. The chambers were built in the 1950′s and the episode has since been corrected. We regret the error.

19: Sound Chambers

Everything Sounds is a podcast and short-form radio program exploring the role of sound in art, science, history, culture, and our everyday lives. 
Even silence has a sound.