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The Science of Sound

Various Artists
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

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