the latest distraction: "yanni versus laurel"

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no offense intended, this is a quasi-technical explanation only, but when you lower the pitch it brings the upper harmonics down within the frequency response range of people with high-frequency hearing loss [most of us]. that is why you could hear "yanni" on the down-pitched sample.

when i'm tired, I hear "laurel."

Sumpin' like that.

In theory the human ear can hear every frequency from 20 vibrations a second up to 20 thousand a second.

But with age, and going to too many rock concerts, and or working in factories, you may not be able to hear that high any more, (may drop to 15 K or less).

The highest note on a piano is about 4000 cycles. Less the 4K are 'the fundamentals' ( the actual notes played). Above 4000 are the upper harmonics (the higher tones generated by instruments that resonate with the fundamentals).

The fundamentals are how you know both a trumpet and a violin are playing the same tune. The upper harmonics are why can tell the difference between a trumpet and a violin. The two have different timbres. The differing timbres are caused by differing stressed tones within the upper harmonics - differing patterns of stress characteristic of the particular instrument.

The Human voice is an even a smaller range than the range of musical instruments. The highest female singer can only hit about 1000 cycles.

The "Laurel" was presumably recorded in the male vocal range (maybe less than 500), and the Yanni might have been recorded way up in the upper harmonic range (maybe 10 thousand cycles). So the Yanni would be above the highest note on a piano, and higher than any human can actually speak. If that's the case then the Yanni would be like the timbref of instrument and not the fundamental notes of the melody played by the instrument, and thus would have to compete with Laurel (well within the fundamental range) to be heard, and would tend to get masked. Even young virgin ears would be strained to hear it, and older folks might not even hear it at all even if it were played by itself.

But if you play back the audio at half speed then both go to a lower pitch then it might make a difference in the ratio of how well the human ear could hear both signals. The lower you go the more Yanni might compete and overpower the Laurel sound.

I also heard "yelli." My wife heard "yammy."

^^^Kraich, did you ever find that repeated listening under different conditions gave you different results?

Y'know, I never thought about it, but that might cause something to sound different.
My wife and I can listen to the same song and hear different lyrics, which shows how something could be perceived differently.

so which one of you is more prone to mondegreens?

I hear Yanni,on my smartphone and on the tv.

The guy had to make it say laurel by playing with the sound ... I guess its Yanni after all then

^^^no, it is both- "Yanni" lives in the upper part of the spectrum, "Laurel" lives in the lower end of the spectrum.

Well, I’ve had painful ear infections that probably destroyed my hearing. It’s upsetting if it means I’m even hearing music wrong.

take cold comfort from the fact that many many others also have some kind of hearing damage, my own ears have rung like a bell since my DOD [Dear Old Dad] fired off a 30:06 rifle just feet from my 4 year old unmuffled ears. that was the sharpest CRACK!! !! ! I've ever heard before or since. since then, with very few exceptions, I have not known total silence.