YouTuber Tom Scott takes you into the Inchindown Oil Tanks, a video championing the power of sound as he investigates the “world’s longest reverb”.
First investigated by Trevor Cox in his novel Sonic Wonderland: A Scientific Odyssey of Sound, the Inchindown Oil Tanks were deemed to hold the world’s longest-running reverb.
Using music, physics, archaeology, neuroscience, biology and design, Cox’s mission was to celebrate the sonic treasures of the world, exploring how sound is made and its interactions with surrounding environments. The results — as evidenced in the video below — are mind-blowing.
The Inchindown Oil Tanks consist of six cylinders, five being 237 metres long and 9 metres wide and were originally made to be bomb-proof during the war. However, this oil depot is better known as the holder of the longest reverb record.
With a desire for aural discovery and investigation Tom Scott, a young and enthusiastic YouTuber, has since been inspired to make a visit to the disused underground oil depot in Scotland, to live out this record-breaking reverberation for himself.
The video depicts Scott and some guides wearing white hazmat suits, climbing into the tunnels and firing a blank pistol shot with the sound carrying for 112 seconds at 125 Hz.
Not sure what that sounds like? Imagine the big bass kick of the speakers while you’re dancing in a club, feeling the sound rampage through your chest and stomach upon impact. Now imagine that feeling lasting for 1 minute and 52 seconds slowly getting further away as it travels down the tunnel. It’s pretty crazy stuff.
It is clear why Scott wanted to be apart of the action and experience this aural thundering for himself, it’s not every day you get to visit an abandoned old fuel depot in the name of sonic science.
Check out the incredible video here. You won’t quite believe your ears:
