May 16, 2018
Tuesday was voting day in Pennsylvania and three other states as the country undergoes one of the most contentious times in recent American history, but it was a different nationwide debate that captivated the minds of citizens as returns rolled in:
Do you hear “Yanny” or “Laurel?"
Just as “The dress” of 2015 sparked debates across social media, offices, and classrooms, giving way to a hundred different think pieces, this audio discrepancy is already having the same effect.
First posted on Reddit and then Twitter, the audio clip streams of seemingly distorted recording of someone saying … something … that has people divided.
Listen below for yourself then scroll to the poll at the end of the article to let us know what you hear.
What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I
— Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018
As of Tuesday night, the Twitter debate was alive and well as users weighed in on being Team Yanny or Team Laurel.
it's so clearly laurel. I can't even figure out how one would hear yanny.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 15, 2018
It’s Yanny.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 16, 2018
Literally everything at my show just stopped to see if people hear Laurel or Yanny. I hear Laurel. https://t.co/efWRw1Gj0L
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 15, 2018
You either die a Yanny or live long enough to see yourself become a Laurel.
— Madison Malone Kircher (@4evrmalone) May 15, 2018
Whether you’re Team Yanny or Team Laurel, we’re just happy you’re listening to audio on the Internet. https://t.co/HkCbDGifpW
— NPR (@NPR) May 15, 2018
If you wanted to know whether I hear Yanny or Laurel here's your answer. 😎☕️ pic.twitter.com/xnrIby2kmd
— Kyle MacLachlan (@Kyle_MacLachlan) May 15, 2018
Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone who thought it was Yanny, who thought it was Laurel, who thought the dress was blue or gold... lived there, on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. pic.twitter.com/31HFRQmLbT
— Charles Bergquist (@cbquist) May 15, 2018
I know this is a very niche tweet, but can I just say that #YannyOrLaurel is my favourite Sufjan Stevens album.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) May 16, 2018
I don't hear Yanny or Laurel, I only see a dress
— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) May 16, 2018
The people who said they heard "Yanny" are the same people who said the dress was white and gold DON'T @ ME
— Lily Herman (@lkherman) May 16, 2018
Just as the blue-and-black vs. white-and-gold dress debate turned out to have some reasoning and science behind it, many have already delved into what makes some people hear “Laurel” versus “Yanny,” and which one was actually said in the original record.
One expert told CNN that the poor quality of the recording lends itself to the debate. Depending on the pitch of the recording, you can hear either word, as demonstrated below.
Yanny/Laurel MYSTERY SOLVED! I messed with the audio file and discovered that basically, the lower frequencies say “Laurel,” and the higher frequencies say “Yanny.” Here’s some audio I messed with that lets you hear both sides. #yannyvslaurel #yannyorlaurel #yanny #laurel pic.twitter.com/eyybCNLnQi
— jacob livesay (@JFLivesay) May 16, 2018
Okay, you're not crazy. If you can hear high freqs, you probably hear "yanny", but you *might* hear "laurel". If you can't hear high freqs, you probably hear laurel. Here's what it sounds like without high/low freqs. RT so we can avoid the whole dress situation. #yanny #laurel 🙄 pic.twitter.com/RN71WGyHwe
— Dylan Bennett (@MBoffin) May 16, 2018
An expert analysis of the clip, however, showed that it was most likely “Laurel” during its original recording, according to CNN.
Regardless… which do you hear?
Vote: What do you hear?
— PhillyVoice (@thephillyvoice) May 16, 2018
