Redwoods and Pine
Sequoia National Park, California
So, the answer to the age old question, If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? is, No it doesn't. As illogical as it 'sounds' the tree only vibrates the surrounding air during its descent and ultimate crash. Only if a being with an operating tympanic membrane is within 'earshot' to receive the vibrations, transmit those vibrations to the middle ear, then to the fluid-filled cochlea where the auditory nerve feeds said vibrations to the brain will the tree's racket be 'heard.' Beethoven, while composing his 9th Symphony, probably would not have heard it, so for him it made no sound. Unless someone or some thing is there to actualize the vibrations through their sense of hearing all it is is violently moving air.
That was Christmassy wasn't it!
I got to thinking about it while listening to my stereo this morning. The loudspeakers reproduce sound via vibrating membranes that pulse the air according to the amplitude and frequency driving them. There is no music until my brain interprets those vibrations. Until then it's just air in motion. We spend a lot of money to vibrate air in a pleasing way.
Coming in 2021: Conclusive scientific proof on Why the Chicken Crossed the Road.
See you then.
Oh, and Merry Christmas!