The Science of Sound

Produced by Bell Telephone Laboratories, the recordings in this two-disc set “describe and demonstrate various phenomena of sound as an aid to understanding how sound is put to work for the benefit and pleasure” of human beings. Interweaving narration with sound effects, this educational documentary covers frequency and pitch as well as the differences between music and noise. The descriptions of the science on the albums can be quite technical and often utilize scientific and mathematical jargon, but the frequent use of sampled sounds to demonstrate the concepts helps makes the information approachable. Liner notes include a complete transcript and a guide to Folkways’ “Science on Records” series.

Track Listing

101	How We Hear	Bell Telephone Laboratories	02:03
102	Frequency	Bell Telephone Laboratories	03:11
103	Pitch	Bell Telephone Laboratories	05:10
104	Vibration and Resonance	Bell Telephone Laboratories	03:32
105	Intensity	Bell Telephone Laboratories	06:26
201	Loudness	Bell Telephone Laboratories	07:39
202	Noise Measurement	Bell Telephone Laboratories	05:01
203	Masking	Bell Telephone Laboratories	02:02
204	Echo and Reverberation	Bell Telephone Laboratories	04:19
205	Delay Distortion	Bell Telephone Laboratories	02:45
301	Fundamentals and Overtones	Bell Telephone Laboratories	03:25
302	Quality	Bell Telephone Laboratories	02:47
303	Subjective Tones	Bell Telephone Laboratories	05:45
304	Music or Noise	Bell Telephone Laboratories	03:20
305	Filtered Music and Speech	Bell Telephone Laboratories	04:36
401	Dissonance and Consonance	Bell Telephone Laboratories	05:23
402	Music Scales	Bell Telephone Laboratories	08:14
403	Vibrato and Tremolo	Bell Telephone Laboratories	03:20
404	The Doppler Effect	Bell Telephone Laboratories	03:09
405	Narrator Closing Statement	Bell Telephone Laboratories	00:14