‘Sound-related phenomena’

We are surrounded by many interesting phenomena related to sound. One of them is echo. Most of us have probably already heard about it. But do you know what the difference between echo and reverberation is?

Reverberation

Reverberation is most often found in big churches. Sounds produced inside them can reach our ears even after their source has already stopped. The reason this happens is that we can still hear the sound waves reflecting off the walls. We call this phenomenon reverberation. It makes the sound seem longer than it actually is.

Listen to the reverberation created inside the Poznań Cathedral.

Echo

Echo occurs when our ears pick up a sound reflected off some surface, for example a wall. However, we need to be at a right distance from it. Our ears need time to hear both the original and the reflected sound. Otherwise, they will interpret it as reverberation and hear one prolonged sound instead of two distinct ones.

We have prepared for you a recording of the echo produced under the nearby trestle bridge.