Picture this: you’re a person that has the full capabilities of your ears intact. You’re just
walking around the Communications Building. You can hear the footfall on the floor, the
hum of the lights, and maybe the jingling of keychains on your peers’ backpacks. You walk
in to a strange room. The floor is about three feet off the ground, there are wedges of foam
in an alternating pattern on the wall, and suddenly, the world feels quieter than it has ever
been. You can’t hear the birds chirping, the air conditioner running, or even the lights
humming. All you can hear are the sounds you make, both intentional and not, and even
those feel distant.
Anechoic chambers are rooms made to purposefully stop the echoes and reflections of
sound. On our campus, in the communications building, we have one of our very own that
some of my peers and I got to explore. The effects the chamber had on us varied in such a
fascinating way and I just knew I wanted to write about it.
Stepping into the chamber felt like a dramatic shift. Everything felt surreal because of the
quiet. We tried playing music and it sounded muffled. It was so quiet that I could hear my
blood moving through me and I became very aware of my organs. I could hear my heart
pumping.
A few people left early, saying that the room made them feel sick. One person claimed that
their pain had gone away, and it was a toss-up between the people that felt disturbed by it,
and the people that found comfort in it. I personally loved it. I thought it was so comforting
and had never known such beautiful silence before.
It was after leaving the chamber that I became severely overwhelmed. All the sounds
rushed back. Every sound, loud or quiet, felt like an assault on my ears, and I found myself
desperately wanting to return to the comforting quiet I had grown accustomed to in those
short five minutes.
I was still a little cranky by the time I got to my room, still feeling overwhelmed and wanting
that sweet silence again. Luckily, I felt better after a nap and a snack, so all was well.
The anechoic chamber is an interesting experience that I’d recommend trying out if you get
the opportunity. It was amazing listening to my peers as they spoke about their experience.
The results varied from person to person in such shocking ways. Deep in our own
communications building on the ground floor is a room that can make people feel varying
degrees of discomfort or peace, and it does not get talked about nearly as much as it
should.
written by: AJ Sauerhage
