It doesn't happen often, but now and again a neighbor some houses down has a party or for some reason turns up the music really loud.  And it's the worse possible music to pick because it has a very loud bass drum on every beat.  Probably techno.  So all I hear is boom-boom-boom-boom,boom-boom-boom-boom,etc.

It's worse than Chinese water torture.

Anyway I was trying to understand why I only hear the bass.  Is it because of the length of the wave that it travels farther or through more things than the higher notes?  I was trying to make a comparison for example between AM radio waves, FM, and cell phones in the gigahertz range.  Or is it because there is so much more energy in the bass?  But then I though how far away one can hear a mosquito with a high pitch in a room or how far a piccolo or fife will carry.  

Does anyone have a theory or answer as to why the bass carries so far?  At least thinking about the physics keeps me from going postal.  (-:

Lindy

-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist