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Digitally Filtering Out the Drone of the World Cup
qubezz writes "World Cup soccer fans may think a hornet's nest has infiltrated their TVs. However the buzz that is the background soundtrack of the South African-hosted games comes from tens of thousands of plastic horns called vuvuzelas, that are South Africa's version of ringing cowbells or throwing rats. It looks like the horns won't be banned anytime soon though. A savvy German hacker, 'Tube,' discovered that the horn sound can be effectively filtered out by applying a couple of digital notch filters to the audio at the frequencies the horn produces (another summary in English). Now it looks like even broadcasters like the the BBC and others are considering using such filters on their broadcasts."
My TV already has a digital filter. Its called the off switch.
Because it is something foreign, and probably also because it is African, they're all upset.
Bull shit.
People are upset because the noise is extremely distracting, conveys nothing about the fans' excitement with the game, and according to a South African audiologist who was on the news yesterday, the sound is well past the threshold for causing hearing damage.
It would be one thing if the sound changed to reflect the excitement of the crowd during the game, but it doesn't. It's just a constant loud wall of sound at basically the same level from the start of the game to the end.
It's similar in level and monotony to running jet engines at full throttle on test stands in the stadium, throughout the entire game. It doesn't add, it detracts.
What you are saying is that traditions have to be respected, no matter how stupid or disruptive they are.
I propose an alternative. All other countries should create a tradition of randomly setting explosive charges off in their stadiums whenever the South African team is there.
It's our tradition, and you have to respect it.
Putting moderation advice in your
The human brain is actually pretty good at filtering out noise if you give it a chance.
Well, that and progressive hearing loss.
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Chatroulette and sports broadcasters all trying to filter out the horn on the same day?
What?
if the BBC and others are going to start filtering them, we get the best of both worlds
Except we don't. The players are unable to communicate on the pitch in any way, leading to the worst standard of play. As players cannot be warned when somebody is behind them, they just play safe and hoof the ball up the pitch just in case. The world's top players are being made to look like talentless hacks in dull low-scoring games. This may well go on to be the worst World Cup, and after this the Champions League finals may go on to eclipse the World Cup finals.
Phillip.
Property for sale in Nice, France
An earlier poster wrote:
I've seen a lot of comments around the Internet insinuating that if you hate the sound of vuvuzelas, then you're a colonial racist who hates South African culture.
The funny thing is that the vuvuzelas are a recent introduction into South African culture. They are not only post-Colonial, they are post-Apartheid.
The maker of the horns admits that the prototype came from the USA... http://www.boogieblast.co.za/vuvuzela.htm
and this has been known in wider soccer circles for at least a year... http://www.footballiscominghome.net/the-hosts/the-vuvuzela/
and while the plastic horns have been around since the late 90s in South Africa... http://www.southafrica.info/2010/vuvuzela.htm
the current mass-producer only started up in 2001... http://www.vuvuzelas.com/about.html
Additionally, there's the blaringly obvious notion that the vuvuzela looks nothing like the kudu horn it allegedly comes from and looks everything like a cheap rip-off of the sort of long thin horns you see draped with flags playing fanfares when kings enter in films set in the middle ages, but I suppose it's expecting a lot for everyone to think critically. Last time I checked, kudu horns didn't have embouchures, either, which is what allows the plastic horn blowers to last all game.
It's not a tradition it's a fad. These stupid things only began to be made and sold in south africa around 2001. That's not tradition. That's a fad. They never stop. It's not just during the game.. they NEVER stop. It's dangerous to be around them without hearing protection. They've been measured at 127dB. That's louder than a rock concert.
And would I want to see a ban on fan traditions in my country? Um.. yeah. Yeah, that would be a good idea. FIFA really SHOULD start cracking down on fans acting like self-indulgent assholes and feeling entitled to act that way because, holy shit it's FOOTBALL and obnoxious hooliganism is part of the TRADITION dontchaknow.
At what point should they step in? How about when fan behaviour actually starts HARMING OTHER FANS.. which these horns do.
frankly I'd be overjoyed if this world cup turns out to have received abysmally poor viewership due to these things. Maybe then they'll act.
... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about.
"Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?"
Like a ban on thundersticks? Yes, yes I would. Those things are horrible.
"Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?"
Only the fucking stupid and purely assholish ones.
This qualifies.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
The american viewership will be abysmal because the coverage is not even at the standard of american football 40 years ago. What they need is more angles, more cameras, flying cameras, cameras on players, gyroscopic camera in the ball, cameras on the fans, cameras on the refs, cameras on hot babes, cameras cameras cameras... and someone that is good at producing to throw it all together live, so the thing flows and isn't confusing.
Sure, the way they shoot your football now it's like you're actually there... in the nose bleeds on one side if the field or the other. That shit is boring. I simply don't understand how there's all that money your football games, world cup... it's so much bigger than american football most Americans aren't aware... and they can't seem to understand that only Hollywood and it's decendants are any good at television, and in particular, sports coverage... I guess my point is, when you're that rich, you don't chince on the part that will make you richer... you buy the best, and instead, the foreign football games are produced by Mr. Magoo.
Btw, not sure why they haven't been notching these frequencies out... I mean, I can't believe the first engineer (or any of the engineers since) at the first broadcast of these obnoxious and meaningless noisemakers didn't just dial them in and drop them out... seems like it'd almost be a reflex to do that, so I call WTF on inexperienced foreign broadcasters.
The Admin and the Engineer
Then I saw the bullfight.
It was torture, plain and simple.
I'm glad I saw it to witness the reality of it and next time I'm there, I'll join the protest.