1978
In his June 12, 1978, Hartford Courant article “Sirens May Be Tuned to Please,” journalist Joel Lang introduced the public to Max Neuhaus’s radical Siren Redesign project, which sought to overhaul the acoustic profile of emergency vehicle warnings.
The Siren Redesign (1978–1989)
Neuhaus argued that traditional sirens were "authoritarian" and psychologically stressful without being functional. He noted they were often impossible for drivers to locate in complex urban environments, leading to accidents.
Rather than a simple wail, Neuhaus designed sounds that were locatable, allowing pedestrians and drivers to pinpoint exactly where an emergency vehicle was coming from.
The title "Tuned to Please" reflects Neuhaus's belief that a siren could have "authority without being authoritarian". He sought sounds we could "live with" in our urban soundscapes, viewing sirens as part of a man-made environment that we have the power to change.
While he worked with computer-controlled multisynthesizers and received a patent for a sound in 1991 as a result of this project, Neuhaus maintained that his approach was fundamentally artistic, relying on intuition rather than just "numbers and charts".