#sonic blaster

Why Sound?

So, as usual, we start from simple to complex. The main question that you immediately want to ask when looking at this thing is, why couldn’t they just make it an energy-based blaster? Like all self-respecting blasters. And, surprisingly, unlike other wunderwaffe, there’s a fairly obvious and, more importantly, rational explanation for this seemingly strange decision:

As we can see, Ravess is quite a clever person and foresaw that her toy is, in general, quite vulnerable, as is Polaris Pointe itself. And, it must be said, she found a rather elegant solution to this problem.

However, everything comes at a price, and, judging by all accounts, the price for this shield was that… it’s impenetrable from both sides. That is, if this cannon were energy-based, it would either be completely useless, because it would be hitting its own shield, or our favorite squadron would simply blow it up in a couple of seconds through a window, or by catching the moment when the shield is deactivated for firing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But for sound, it seems to be very permeable. So, we can confidently say that this choice was dictated not by Ravess’ passing whim, but by stark necessity.

Symphony of Ruin

Now, let’s figure out how you can destroy anything with sound. And, it must be said, Ravess chose a very accurate name for her symphony. You don’t have to go far for examples; just remember the Mythbusters episode where the singer Jaimie Vendera managed to break a glass with his own voice, even without an amplifier! :D

This is so-called resonant destruction. In short, it happens because all objects have their own frequency of oscillation, and if you play a loud enough sound at that frequency, it causes very strong vibrations, which eventually lead to destruction.

Most likely, the Atmosian engineers, when designing ships, didn’t expect them to be shot at with sound cannons, so it’s not that hard to imagine that Ravess found a frequency that makes ships fall apart. Well, then, as they say, it’s a matter of technique. However, Ravess seems to have her own methods.

Sound Laser

But no matter how much of a musician Ravess is, she’ll still need a very powerful amplifier to destroy a ship that way. And a sound laser, or, more intelligently, a saser, is perfect for this role. In reality, such a device doesn’t exist for some reasons, but to understand what it is, we can get by with a perfectly ordinary light laser.

Let’s start with the fact that the word “laser” itself is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. In simple terms, it’s a source of pure light, that is, it shines only in one strictly defined color, for example, green. In the case of a sound laser, this means that it’s a device that generates pure sound of one strictly defined frequency – for example, the one needed to destroy a ship.

This purity is achieved through a phenomenon called stimulated emission. This is an effect from quantum mechanics, and I certainly won’t tell you what it is, but we just need to know that to use it, we need to pump energy into a medium that, under certain conditions, will become the source of pure sound. Then all that remains is to attach an acoustic lens to it – and voila, a sound beam generator is ready.

nd in this case, it becomes absolutely clear why this cannon needs time to recharge. Because we need energy pumping and a very powerful sound beam, this thing needs a lot of energy! :D Well, and with large amounts of energy on Atmos, as we know, things are very bad, and after all, you also need to power the shield in addition to the cannon. So, this is just another time when technical limitations play into the hands of our favorite squadron. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Can You Protect Yourself from Sound with... Sound?

Well, we’re finally moving on to the most interesting part! :D Could Finn’s music really save the Condor from this machine?

And the correct answer is… yes! :D BUT! – with some serious caveats. >:D

First, let’s listen to what Stork told Finn about this…

…and let’s just say that he’s absolutely right! This phenomenon is called interference. Let’s look at a simulation of how this happens. Follow the white color.

Between two sources of waves, so-called standing waves are formed. And this really could prevent the destruction of the Condor, BUT…

Firstly, power. In order to extinguish the cannon like that, Finn’s speakers must deliver the same power as it does. Otherwise, there will be no interference. And the point is not even whether the Condor had enough energy to match the cannon, but that… these speakers just couldn’t help but affect the Condor itself. >:D

It seems that behind the scenes, the Condor’s hangar was thoroughly insulated with something, for example, by surrounding it with a vacuum gap, otherwise the Condor would have been destroyed by its own music.

Secondly… no, no, pinch me! I can’t believe I’m praising Finn! :D

In general, I asked a musician friend if Finn could really just play in such a way as to correctly add the waves, and he replied, and I quote:

I think that if you try hard enough, you can achieve a relatively high degree of compliance. But to get straight into counter-phase – that won’t work unless you use a copy of the same recording. Because in different ones there will still be some deviations (at least because it’s impossible to perfectly tune a guitar).

And the fact that Finn COULD do it, and TWICE at that… Well, either Finn was playing to a backing track, or… my respect. :D And since I’m nice today, let it be the second option. Finn is simply an excellent musician, you can’t deny it.