Why Christmas Music Sounds So Distinct
Sleigh bells certainly help make Christmas music sound so Christmassy. But it’s a little more complicated than just that.
Sleigh bells certainly help make Christmas music sound so Christmassy. But it’s a little more complicated than just that.
A man pretending to be eaten by an alligator made movie history.
Cricket chirps can reach 100 decibels. So why do we use them as a byword for ‘silence’?
From the whirr of a film projector to the click-clack of a mechanical typewriter, these sounds will likely leave the youth of today scratching their heads.
“Pomp and Circumstance,” also popularly known as “The Graduation March,” is typically used during graduation processionals. Here’s why.
Taylor Swift is just the latest in a long line of musicians who like to employ a “fade-out,” where the song gets gradually quieter in the closing seconds.
Personality and anatomy play a role in determining sneeze volume.
Birds are a noisy bunch, and there's a lot of variation when it comes to avian vocalizations.
Owl feathers’ special structures help the wise birds sneak up on their meals.
English speakers may be familiar with onomatopoeias, but they’re only a very small subset of ideophones, a broader word class can also convey other sensory experiences unrelated to sound. These Korean ideophones are sure to make your language sparkle.
Someone gets nominated twice in the same Oscar category nearly every year, surprisingly.
Uncover the secrets of the dawn chorus and why birds choose to sing in the early hours.
There are some psychological reasons why being put on hold is such a frustrating experience.
Modern technology has helped these dolls find their voices—and when they speak, it’s downright creepy.
Ambiphone is the DIY white noise machine you didn't know you needed.
Now’s a good time—so good, so good, so good—to dig into the rich history of Neil Diamond's iconic tune.
Don't worry: It's not because sirens hurt dogs’ sensitive ears.
Solmization, or the practice of assigning syllables to the different “steps” of the scale, originated in ancient India.
Dropping that ‘t’ sound is an example of what linguists call glottalization, or replacing a sound with a pause in the vocal cords.
Red foxes, barn owls, and American alligators are just a few beasts that make scary sounds.
Whether you think it's saying "chi chi chi, ha ha ha" or "ki ki ki, ma ma ma," you know the one we're talking about.
The theremin—a spooky instrument that scored the biggest sci-fi films of the 1950s—was invented by accident.
The campaign to ban “Sound Effects No. 13 – Death & Horror” didn’t stop it from becoming the first sound effects album to break the UK Top 100 charts in the 1970s.
Cats and “Pspsps” go together like toddlers and the crinkling wrapper of a candy bar that you were trying to eat in secret. What gives?