The vuvuzela poll

[Faustus]

Not arsed by them. I've kind of gotten used to them now.

[OmarVizquel]

They ruin the cadence of any crowd-pitch interactions. No boos, no cheers, no chants, no songs, fuck all apart from the constant drone.

 

 

Yeah. I've gotten used to them by now because of the Confederations Cup last year and these first few games....but you lose the organic feel of a crowd rising to an occasion (an attack, nice save, etc.). No "oooh"s or "aaah"s. Just the drone getting slightly louder or quieter.

[The Dude Abides]

The "no worse than the commentary" reasoning is a lame and irrelevant one.

 

I'm definitely getting better at zoning them out but then that's not really the point either. They are preventing the other nations from bringing and sharing their own flavour with the rest of the world.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Didn't a Ghanaian player get booked today for playing on as he couldn't hear the whistle?

 

Picture the scene, 89th minute of the semi-final. Game tightly poised at 1-1. The ball gets played through to a player already on a booking, who is just off side. Flag goes up, ref blows his whistle. The player in question doesn't hear this because of the Vuvuzelas, plays on and slots the ball in the back of the net, with the only thought in his head being scoring the goal that puts his country in the World Cup final. He subsequently picks up a yellow card/second yellow and misses the final all because he couldn't hear the whistle because of the cunt-cornets.

 

Get these bloody monstrosities of a creation banned now!

[Funkasy]

Two of the worst things came out of africa aids and vuvuzela horns

[Original202]

BBC Sport - Football - World Cup 2010: South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban

[RoboRiise]

BBC Sport - Football - World Cup 2010: South Africa ponders vuvuzela ban

 

 

Headline now changed to World Cup 2010: Organisers will not ban vuvuzelas.

 

Check this though:

 

England defender Jamie Carragher said the noise did not bother him when he came on as a half-time substitute during the 1-1 draw with the United States and he said he had already bought two to take home to his children in Liverpool.

 

"When I came on I didn't notice it too much. I think you notice it more when you are watching on TV," he said.

 

"But my kids have been on the phone and asked for two so I'll have to take two home for them. I've got two in my bag already.

 

 

Jamie.

 

*shakes head*

[Guest PurpleNose]

I'd rather bring back bad aids.

[RedinSweden]

I will say it again, they are fucking awful. It is basically a noise blanket that drowns out all other crowd noise. For me the proper crowd noise is part of the enjoyment of watching the game. As someone said, if it was just the South Africa games, it would be fine. But it isn't. Stupid fucking idea. As for the "part of the culture" argument, get fucked. They've been doing it for about 8 years tops. Cunts.

[Jose Jones]

They are shit, embraced not only by the South Africans, but also every other nation’s supporters that are the equivalent of the Ingerlund fans who don’t understand football or actually have any songs other than Rule Britannia or the National Anthem so think making any kind of noise with these traditional Chinese manufactured plastic African horns is a good idea.

Anyone who says they like them or don’t mind them is basically volunteering to be a candidate for euthanasia when the revolution comes.

[RedinSweden]

[science]

 

 

What makes the sound of vuvuzelas so annoying? - health - 14 June 2010 - New Scientist

 

 

What makes the sound of vuvuzelas so annoying?

 

17:54 14 June 2010 by Trevor Cox

Love 'em or loathe 'em, the blaring plastic trumpets have become the hallmark of matches at the 2010 World Cup. We asked Trevor Cox, president of the UK Institute of Acoustics and an acoustic engineer at the University of Salford, UK, to explain their appeal – or otherwise

 

How do vuvuzelas make their sound?

 

The vuvuzela is like a straightened trumpet and is played by blowing a raspberry into the mouthpiece. The player's lips open and close about 235 times a second, sending puffs of air down the tube, which excite resonance of the air in the conical bore. A single vuvuzela played by a decent trumpeter is reminiscent of a hunting horn – but the sound is less pleasing when played by the average football fan, as the note is imperfect and fluctuates in frequency. It sounds more like an elephant trumpeting. This happens because the player does not keep the airflow and motion of the lips consistent.

 

But that din sounds nothing like a trumpet or an elephant.

 

When hundreds of the vuvuzelas are played together, you get the distinctive droning sound. People in the crowd are blowing the instrument at different times and with slightly varying frequencies. The sound waxes and wanes. The overall effect is rather like the sound of a swarm of insects.

 

Why are they so loud?

 

The loudness can be explained by the bore shape, which is roughly conical, and flares. As well as creating sound at a frequency of 235 hertz, the instrument generates harmonics – sound at multiples of the fundamental frequency. We have measured strong harmonics at 470, 700, 940, 1171, 1400 and 1630 hertz.

 

A flared instrument has louder higher-frequency harmonics than a cylindrical one. The flared instrument is perceived as louder because the higher harmonics are at frequencies where our hearing is most sensitive. This is partly why the conical saxophone sounds louder than the cylindrical clarinet.

 

Since it produces 116 decibels at 1 metre, prolonged exposure to the vuvuzela poses a risk to hearing, according to a study by the Department of Communication Pathology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Listen to just one instrument for 7 to 22 seconds and you exceed typical permitted levels for noise at work. A whole crowd produces even higher levels, and measurements at a training match have shown temporary hearing loss among spectators.

 

Is it annoying because it is loud?

 

Experiments on other noise sources show that louder sounds are more annoying. Our hearing is an early-warning system: we listen out for sudden changes in the sounds around us which might indicate threats, and ignore benign, persistent noise. When noise becomes as loud as a vuvuzela, however, it becomes impossible to habituate to the sound.

 

What else about the sound makes it annoying?

 

The droning quality makes it more annoying – the fact it has a distinct pitch or note. Investigations into many noise annoyance problems have demonstrated this. Indeed some noise standards and regulations have corrections to allow for the additional annoyance from such sound. Droning sounds are harder to ignore and more alerting than broadband noise such as the hiss of a badly tuned radio. This might be because tones can carry useful information in the vowel sounds of speech. But it might also relate to threat detection – because predator sounds like a lion's roar has tonal components – but I'm speculating.

 

What can be done to make it less annoying, especially on TV and the radio?

 

Broadcasters have to balance how much crowd sound to use compared to the commentators' voices. If they make the crowd too quiet then the game lacks atmosphere, so they can't turn it off altogether. If you are watching the match on a computer, you could try this, from the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London. Otherwise, you might just have to try and accept the sound as being part of the background. Lack of control over a noise source has been shown to increase its perceived annoyance. So your best bet might be to crack open another beer and try your best to enjoy the atmosphere.

 

[/science]

[Haan'sThunderbolt]

I did wonder why they were named after the former German striker Uwe Seeler......

[zico]

If I ever experience a v********** in a European stadium I will smash whoever uses it's face in - just saying like.....

 

I hope to God that Africa never gets to host another WC if this is the expected result....(But I guess Blatter needs to buy some votes later on so I am not to hopeful).

 

Listen to the players for God's sake.....

[Dicko]

If I ever experience a v********** in a European stadium I will smash whoever uses it's face in - just saying like.....

 

I hope to God that Africa never gets to host another WC if this is the expected result....(But I guess Blatter needs to buy some votes later on so I am not to hopeful).

 

Listen to the players for God's sake.....

 

I can see fights in the lower anny next season.

[Antynwa]

[RedinSweden]

 

Rather be a grumpy old bastard than someone who thinks cheap plastic horns are culture. Fuck the lot of them.

[Anny Road]

I blame the blicks.

[Xherdan]

Football365 | World Cup 2010 in South Africa | News | BBC investigate vuvuzela-free option

 

The BBC are investigating the possibility of offering vuvuzela-free coverage of World Cup matches on the red button.

 

The Guardian claim that while the BBC are committed to reflecting the atmosphere within the stadiums on their main coverage, they could also offer a 'clean' feed that wipes coverage of most crowd noise.

 

They have received 220 complaints from viewers incensed at the noise from the horns, while many are choosing to listen to Radio 5 live commentary because they use a cleaner feed.

 

Many footballers at the World Cup would like the option of a red button, with Thomas Sorensen, Lionel Messi and Rovin van Persie among those complaining about the noise.

 

Argentina's Messi said: "It is impossible to communicate, it's like being deaf."

[Guest davelfc]

Football365 | World Cup 2010 in South Africa | News | BBC investigate vuvuzela-free optiono Radio 5 live commentary because they use a cleaner feed.

 

Many footballers at the World Cup would like the option of a red button, with Thomas Sorensen, Lionel Messi and Rovin van Persie among those complaining about the noise.

 

Argentina's Messi said: "It is impossible to communicate, it's like being deaf."

 

Not the first time van Persie has complained he couldn't hear someone saying 'no'. :whistle:

[Elmyn Noos]

I love 'em. The noise itself doesn't bother me either way in the slightest, but I do love that they piss off sort of cunts that moan at just about everything anyway...

 

"look at them cunts painting their faces"

"look at them cunts wearing replica shirts"

"look at them cunts doing a mexican wave"

"look at them cunts singing that chant I don't like"

 

Long live the fucking supremely irritating vuvuzela I say.

[Guest davelfc]

I love 'em. The noise itself doesn't bother me either way in the slightest, but I do love that they piss off sort of cunts that moan at just about everything anyway...

 

"look at them cunts painting their faces"

"look at them cunts wearing replica shirts"

"look at them cunts doing a mexican wave"

"look at them cunts singing that chant I don't like"

 

Long live the fucking supremely irritating vuvuzela I say.

 

Because all of those other things make an annoying droning noise from a cheap tacky plastic horn. Great argument there.

 

Just wait until some cunts start using them at league games.

[Xherdan]

Because all of those other things make an annoying droning noise from a cheap tacky plastic horn. Great argument there.

 

Just wait until some cunts start using them at league games.

 

 

 

I agree. It could well become a european wide epidemic. Then the killing will start.

[Caramac]

Says it all when we need scientists to tell us why vuvuzelas are annoying.

 

Latest news...

A party of local councillors are to make a trip to South Africa to try to understand why vuvuzelas are annoying.

[Rising_Phoenix]

I used to find it unbearable, now I LOVE IT! Its makes us unique. The opinions expressed here are Euro-centric! Its our own African way of expressing ourselves and exerting our own intensity, animation and colour. VIVA VUVUZELA!

[DJLJ]

Prosoniq VuvuX

 

For the Mac only, but this will hijack any streams and filter out most of the vuvuzela noise.