MIDLAND, Texas — Sometimes, you just got to let it out.
And now you can do that at the Museum of the Southwest.
"So the scream room is definitely the most popular attraction that we have during this exhibit," Director of the Blakemore Planetarium David Lasater said. "It's a soundproof chamber that you get to test the limits of that soundproofing by screaming as loud as you can inside, and the chamber actually records your decibel levels, how high you're actually screaming. "
The scream chamber has caused all sorts of family feuds.
"So we've had brothers and sisters, we've had moms and dads, we've had families competing against each other seeing how loud they can scream and like having contests, it's been really fun to see," Lasater said.
One of the workers there showed us how it’s done with a staggering 130.9dB
This is among the highest scores so far at this chamber, but being the competitor I am, I’m not one to step away from a challenge…
I only scored 108dB... but I tried.
The room is a part of the planetarium exhibit in the museum as part of the Sonic Sensation, and while the screaming room is a lot of fun, so is the rest of the exhibit. This area teaches all sorts of information about sound.
"So we're in the Brown Science Center of the planetarium where we have our rotating exhibits come in and out," Lasater said. "And we are in 'Sonic Sensation', which is an exhibit from the Science Center in Ithaca, New York, which talks about the science of how sound works, sound waves, frequencies, and other ways music and all kinds of different stuff like that."
If you’re a visual learner, the sound exhibit allows you to see, and hear, how sound works.
"So we have different exhibits around here that show different types of areas of sound," Lasater said. "Whether a sound is a high pitch or a low pitch, allows people to identify different types of sound, whether it's maybe coming from the same source or something different, how the ear works, you can actually see sound waves and how they can actually move objects from like one area to another. And we also have an area of 'Music in Motion' that actually allows kids to walk along musical notes and actually create their own music."
This area is a fun way for kids to learn about sound, something that happens all the time, every day.
"One of the things that I like about this exhibit is it shows the science of things that we take for granted every day," Lasater said. "A clap or a cough or someone yelling across the room to get someone's attention, and just everything that goes- that's involved in that you know, the air leaving your lungs and heading out of your mouth, the ear picking up the screams that travels across the room, and just learning about the science of that. And I think that really makes you feel small in a way, just know that all this stuff is happening around you all the time. And I think this exhibit has really kind of opened people's eyes and ears about that kind of stuff that happens around you every day."
If you ever need to let out some frustration, or just want to see how sound works, you might need to drag yourself to the Museum of the Southwest and participate during "scream season."