Listen differently
Sonic Illusions
Listen as the same sound acquires a different shape, location, or meaning in your ears.
Dallas Taylor; produced by Twenty Thousand Hertz · Podcast
A way in
Start at the beginning, with comfortable volume and headphones available. Follow each demonstration's setup and notice which sound or word you hear. Do not read the transcript ahead unless you need it.
Free on the publisher site with a transcript. Headphones help with many demonstrations. The episode includes sirens and a crash; start at a comfortable volume. Player length varies between services.
Afterward
Why we chose it
A voice, a rising tone and repeating syllables can sound different as you listen. This episode moves through demonstrations with researchers who help explain what listeners report. The explanations matter, but so does the gap between knowing the setup and hearing it for yourself. Headphones and speakers reveal different parts of the sequence. You may disagree with another listener, or find that your own answer changes.
What it may shift How much listening contributes to what a sound seems to be.
Choose one example that changed for you. Did the signal change, your expectation change, or both? If an effect never arrived, keep that result too.