Written by Sue Crowley, Executive Director
For me one of the best parts about winter are the sounds, specifically the sound beneath your feet. As the first couple of snowstorms roll in and you wake to a fresh white blanket, it is always wonderful to make first tracks. I am always excited for first tracks. What kind of snow did we get? Is light and fluffy, where you just poof your way through it? The wonderful, muffled sounds of a blanketed landscape and the fresh crisp chilled air filling my lungs are wonderful sensations.
I know for some people that might make you want to turn right back around and settle in with a good cup of your favorite hot beverage accompanied by a good book or movie. But for others it makes for a peaceful day to make those first tracks and absorb the quiet noise of a snow-covered world.
Perhaps the kind of snow that fell is the crunchy seemingly hard pack with even colder temperatures. When your truck rolls down the padded street and it has this sound of rattling and shaking of the loose articles stored in the car. The noises just seem to have a welcoming and buffered din to them; sometimes a bit of squeak as you roll to a stop.
It made me think why do our footsteps make the sounds they do in the winter wonderland. Turns out the science behind the sound has to do with sintering. What is sintering? First, it is a fun sounding word and from what I gathered, it is the snowflakes touching each other and kind of melting together or joining in some connection. Sintering can happen with items other than snow as well. If it is only moderately cold, there is moisture present. With moisture there is slipping and when you step onto the snow it makes more of the sound of fluffy snow. But as it gets colder and the snowflakes settle, they make more connections (sintering). The connections are like brittle ice crystals and less slipping happens and more breaking of the connections occurs. This breaking sound is the sound of that crunchy snow.
In learning a bit more about the sounds of footsteps in the snow, I came across several recommendations of how to make this sound effect for a video or movie. For the crunch sound effect, it turns out that squeezing a bag of cornstarch or flour does the trick. There is also a plethora of pre-recorded walking-in-snow sound effects available. I found out that the Japanese call the silent snow or fluffy snow shinshin. What a wonderful term for that sound.
Lastly, in my quest to find out more about this sound, I read that for all the people like me that find this sound endearing and comforting there are an equal number of humans that this sound really drives them crazy, like fingernails on a chalkboard. This diversity of reactions to the sound of footsteps in snow affirms how we all experience the world from different perspectives. A good reminder is that one person’s snowy walk may be peaceful and exhilarating while for another it is complete torture.
I am so grateful that I fall into the enjoy it category and yes I am hoping for more snow soon.