Thump . . . thump . . . thump . . .

Bassy sound bleeds from from Rhythm Hall to the Gottwald Playhouse at Richmond CenterStage, Will Jones reports in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/news/2010/sep/18/stag18-ar-511835/

Apartment and condo dwellers are familiar with the phenomenon, only it seems to be reversed at CenterStage. The most annoying bleeding thumps typically emanate from the floor above; but Rhythm Hall is below the Gottwald Playhouse. Technicians are working on the problem.

* * *

In vaguely related news, composer David Prior and architect Frances Crow have won Britain's biennial New Music Award of £50,000 (about $78,000) for creating the Organ of Corti, which recycles ambient mechanical and environmental noises for musical purposes, The Guardian's Mark Brown reports:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/16/organ-wins-new-music-award

The instrument is named after the part of the inner ear that contains auditory sensory ("hair") cells, sometimes described as "the body's microphone."