how can lots of different sounds like a band be recorded onto a single sound wave? Or is it actually lots of different sound waves and then “generalized” into one wave?

Question

I understand how a single sound wave works, but I’m picturing the track on a vinyl record. How is a needle riding a single soundwave playing back all of those uniquely different sounds?

In: 4

Answer 1

All the waves just add together, because I’m the end is just compression of air. There’s not two different air mediums to carry sound to your eardrums, and when it gets there, you don’t have multiple eardrums.

The truly amazing thing isn’t how they add together. It’s how your brain can take them back apart. That part is complex and still not very well understood. We know that it happens, we have clues about the way it works, but it’s really only modern neural networks that would come close to replicating the ability synthetically.