What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I
— Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018
The audio clip above — which appeared on Reddit last Sunday and went viral on Twitter Tuesday afternoon — has people arguing like it’s the dress all over again. Is that voice saying Yanny or Laurel? Technically, it’s probably both, but your ears, and your speakers, determine which you’ll hear. As with that dress [Ed. – which is blue and black, damn it], there’s a scientific explanation.
“Yanny” is in a higher pitch than “Laurel,” so if you’re using a speaker that doesn’t have great bass, you’re probably hearing “Yanny.” Younger people are also more likely to hear “Yanny” because our ears still pick up high frequencies easily. As people age, they tend to stop hearing the lowest and highest frequencies, but especially the high ones. You’re also more likely to hear “Yanny” if you’re listening at low volume or from a distance, due to the equal loudness curve. What you hear will also be affected by which word you expect to hear.
However, most people seem to be hearing “Laurel,” according to Google Trends. [Ed. – Those people are wrong.] Regardless of what you hear, folks on Twitter realized there are ways to hear the other name if you play around with the audio:
you can hear both when you adjust the bass levels: pic.twitter.com/22boppUJS1
— Earth Vessel Quotes (@earthvessquotes) May 15, 2018
Ok, so if you pitch-shift it you can hear different things:
down 30%: https://t.co/F5WCUZQJlq
down 20%: https://t.co/CLhY5tvnC1
up 20%: https://t.co/zAc7HomuCS
up 30% https://t.co/JdNUILOvFW
up 40% https://t.co/8VTkjXo3L1 https://t.co/suSw6AmLtn— Steve Pomeroy and 🤖 others (@xxv) May 15, 2018
People had strong feelings about it:
our entire newsroom right now divided by this #Yanny vs #Laurel debate pic.twitter.com/mt3w8C9yi5
— Alex Stockwell (@alexrstockwell) May 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/4evrmalone/status/996481878382301186
https://twitter.com/ambermruffin/status/996596860964962304
https://twitter.com/zachheltzel/status/996564530866962437
https://twitter.com/KrangTNelson/status/996608317874167808
https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/996580051851268096
I'm a Yanny with a Laurel rising
— Extra Credit (@ExtraCredit) May 15, 2018
Those who can hear yanny: put on your white and gold garments and ascend the nearest rooftop at 3:33 pm (yanny time) and we will choose the form of our new universe and star meat bodies together. It is time.
— John Hodgman (@hodgman) May 16, 2018
Thanos did not kill them. He sent them to the LAUREL universe.
— John Hodgman (@hodgman) May 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/fivefifths/status/996730451074211840
https://twitter.com/SarahSahim/status/996486283978559488
Future child: Mom how was the country divided?
Future me: Well child it all started with a debate of whether it was Yanny or Laurel. The rest is just darkness.
— Taylor Stern (@TayStern) May 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/slwein/status/996503103632543744
I just got really anxious that I might have lost the ability to hear "Yanny" so that's something new I learned about myself.
— Hank Green (@hankgreen) May 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/kellyoxford/status/996578397135425536
Seriously though, how are you hearing Laurel in this?" I'm sorry, I just hear Yanni. pic.twitter.com/xmRGHUoRO6
— Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) May 15, 2018
And some heard other things altogether:
Am I the only one who hears Yentl?
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) May 16, 2018
I heard “laurel” then I heard “yanny” then I heard “Look at me Damian it’s all for you"
— Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) May 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/zachheltzel/status/996609364126457857
you, a fool: it’s laurel
you, also a fool: it’s yanny
me, who is wise: it’s pic.twitter.com/Wa6e9By7h1
— @hayesbrown.bsky.social (@HayesBrown) May 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/HenryLovesYou/status/996537517900902400
https://twitter.com/andygoins19/status/996475971975991297
Weird, I don’t hear Yanny or Laurel anymore, just the long endless scream of a wasted life
— Patrick Lenton (@PatrickLenton) May 16, 2018
That audio clip *really* says "gif"
— Danny Bowes (@bybowes) May 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/WorldofIsaac/status/996730513867116545
Some got political
Yanny/Laurel 2020
— Aparna Nancherla 🇵🇸 (@aparnapkin) May 16, 2018
Yanni would have won.
— Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) May 16, 2018
Some looked on the bright side:
as polarizing as yanny-laurel may be, it's also the most constructive debate we've had in years
— Aparna Nancherla 🇵🇸 (@aparnapkin) May 16, 2018
While others were ready for it all to be over.
it’s time pic.twitter.com/1Fruru61kU
— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 16, 2018
And one artiste came along to settle the matter.
I only hear Yanni ;) hahaha https://t.co/WrMMVvl8iX
— Yanni (@Yanni) May 15, 2018