|
?:reviewBody
|
-
As the 4th of July approached in 2018, some social media users were surprised to learn about the existence of silent fireworks when they came across an article published by the web site DogTime a few years prior about a town in Italy which had supposedly switched to these seemingly noiseless pyrotechnic displays: The phrase silent fireworks, however, is a bit misleading. Many readers seemed to come away with the impression that these silent fireworks would appear just as big and bright as traditional fireworks, but without the loud explosive booms normally associated with them. That's not the case, however: No matter how advanced pyrotechnicians may be at developing fireworks, they haven't quite yet figured out a way to remove noise from these large explosions. In fact, these silent firework displays (which are probably better described as reduced noise displays) don't typically include the big aerial explosions found in traditional fireworks shows. Rather than employing some new form of pyrotechnology that dampens the noise of traditional fireworks, such quiet displays mostly make selective use of existing non-loud forms of fireworks: As such, these types of displays are generally more appropriate for smaller crowds rather than for large, city-wide celebrations: Although many readers may have only recently learned about the concept of silent fireworks, most of them have probably already seen forms of these relatively noiseless displays, such as roman candles and sparklers. Here's a video of the flying fish firework referenced above: https://youtu.be/qCIbDFxCHrgThus, reports about silent fireworks are less about the development of new noiseless products and more about how some towns are focusing on putting on quieter displays. These shows range from nearly silent displays featuring large sparklers, fountains, and roman candles, to aerial shows that employ most everything other than the massively loud aerial skyrocket shells. Paul Singh, the director of Epic Fireworks in England, said that his quiet firework displays are typically softer than the accompanying music and are well below the 120 decibel limit placed on fireworks sold in the UK: A 2012 video from Gala Fireworks shows just how quiet (or loud) these silent firework displays can be. This footage was taken during a wedding at Browsholme Hall in England, and the company explained that they used low-noise fireworks because the venue was surrounded by farm land and they didn't want to scare the livestock: https://youtu.be/s4EAYmB3itEAlthough companies may bill these displays as silent or quiet, the fireworks can still generate a good bit of noise. In fact, when the Birmingham Botanical Gardens advertised a quieter fireworks show in 2015, a number of parents still complained that the silent explosions were far too loud: So, the term silent fireworks does not refer to a new form of firework that produces huge explosions with little or no noise, but rather to shows that selectively utilize existing forms of relatively quiet fireworks.
(en)
|
![[This page as RDF]](http://data.gesis.org/claimskg/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}