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The unit of loudness is called a “phon”.Īs we saw with the example above, for the same sound pressure level, the loudness of the sound is greater between 1,000Hz and 4,000Hz. What is perceived by the listener can be described as “loudness”. The intensity of sound vibrations actually produced is often stated as “sound pressure level”. When sounds (vibrations in the air) are produced at the same intensity right across the audible frequency range, we perceive sounds within this range to be louder. We are particularly sensitive to sounds between 1,000Hz and 4,000Hz. We are more sensitive to some frequencies than to others. Within the audible audible range our hearing isn’t sensitive to all frequencies equally. they are aware of them) even if they can’t actually hear them. Similarly, sounds above 20,000Hz do seem to be perceived by people (i.e. When the frequency of a sound is below 20Hz we can often feel it rather than hear it. This means we can’t hear sounds below 20Hz or sounds above 20,000Hz.
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The range of audible frequencies is normally stated as 20Hz to 20, 000Hz (20kHz). This is sometimes called sound perception Sound Perception – We Hear Some Frequencies Louder Than Others It’s only when your brain receives the nervous impulses generated by your ear that this is turned into sound. What is coming into your ear is just vibrations. The auditory cortex in the brain then translates these nervous impulses into something meaningful, which is the sound you hear. These little nerve endings in the tube transmit nervous impulses along the auditory nerve into the brain. This means different nerve endings are stimulated by different frequency sounds. High frequency vibrations don’t travel very far into the tube of the cochlea, medium frequency vibrations travel further in, and very low frequency vibrations make it all the way to the end. The sound waves travel into this tube and stimulate tiny nerve endings, called hair cells, in the walls of the tube. The vibrations of the oval window are transmitted into the cochlea, which looks like a snail’s shell, and is actually a tube all coiled up. The three ossicle bones transmit the vibrations from the ear drum to the oval window, which is made to vibrate. The stapes (stirrup bone) is connected to the oval window on the other side of the middle ear. The individual bones are the malleus, incus and stapes (also called hammer, anvil and stirrup bones). The vibrations are transmitted through the middle ear by three tiny bones called the ossicles that are connected together. The sound waves cause the ear drum to vibrate according the the frequencies in the sound waves. Sound waves enter your ear through the external auditory canal and hit the ear drum (also called the tympanic membrane). How your ears work – information flow The Outer Ear The image below shows the flow of information: vibrations in the air being translated into nervous impulses that are sent to your brain, which interprets these signals as sound. We’re going to start with a quick summary of how your hearing works, then move on to talk about ear training and how it can help you to be a better music producer. So, wouldn’t you like to have magic ears too? Well ear training will help you to achieve this. There will be plenty of other examples of producers with magic ears. I have heard Rod Stewart say this about Tom Dowd, and David Bowie said it about Tony Visconti. They sometimes describe the producers as having amazing abilities and “magic ears”. You may have heard famous musicians talk about record producers with awe. Then they wonder why the music they produce doesn’t get the love they think it should, especially from other musicians and producers. They don’t think it’s a particular skill, and they don’t think it’s something you can learn. People often think that understanding pitch, harmony, rhythm, and the overall sounds in music is just something you’re born with. Or, they might have undertaken a specific ear training program to develop their skills. They may have done their ear training without realizing it, soaking up the knowledge as they worked in music production over a long period of time. It’s ear training that lets these musicians and producers hear things other people can’t hear. Maybe you can tell that it sounds a bit off, but you don’t know why. They can hear when someone is singing slightly flat, or when the drummer is dragging the beat, or the piano sounds too harsh. When you work with experienced musicians and music producers they often seem to have the instinctive ability to recognize things in the music that others can’t.