How do we hear multiple sounds when it’s just one air vibrating?

Question

Like for example when I’m listening to an orchestra I can hear a clarinet and a violin quite distinctly from one another, but they’re both sounds vibrating through the same air. Logically, shouldn’t one air only be able to carry one frequency (Vibrate in only one way)? How does the air contain so many frequencies simultaneously?

In: 80

Answer 1

Your brain has heard and already knows the sound of, for example, a violin or clarinet. So if you hear those two sounds at once, your brain is naturally capable of isolating them.