Do You Hear 'Yanny' Or 'Laurel'? A Viral Audio Clip Spurs Ear-Splitting Social Media Debate

The Laurel vs. Yanny debate is taking the internet by storm. It all began on Reddit and expanded across social media.

This voice is either saying the word “laurel” or “yanny” -- and no one can agree which it is.

The most general reason for this seems to simply be that we all have individual brains, ears and audio playback systems -- it’s a complex combination of frequencies that separates the two words, with a lot of variability involved.

Listen for yourself below:

 

What do u hear? #YANNY OR #LAUREL #whatdoyouhear #YannyLaurel #weird

A post shared by Darpan Magazine (@darpanmagazine) on May 17, 2018 at 12:06am PDT

According to the Redditor who started this whole mess, the viral audio was recorded from the Vocabulary.com entry for the word "laurel," meaning that those Team Laurel stalwarts are technically correct.

But that doesn't mean it's not an ambiguous recording. And if you're still just hearing Yanny? That's (probably) totally fine too.

it's so clearly laurel. I can't even figure out how one would hear yanny.

— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 15, 2018

Whether you hear Yanny or Laurel is in part due to the volume at which you perceive certain frequencies. The sounds that compose the tinny "Yanny" sound are of a higher frequency than those that compose "Laurel."

Ok, so if you pitch-shift it you can hear different things:

down 30%: https://t.co/F5WCUZQJlq
down 20%: https://t.co/CLhY5tvnC1
up 20%: https://t.co/zAc7HomuCS
up 30% https://t.co/JdNUILOvFW
up 40% https://t.co/8VTkjXo3L1 https://t.co/suSw6AmLtn

— Steve Pomeroy (@xxv) May 15, 2018

That's why when some people turn the volume down — thus ridding the clip of much of its bass — they'll hear Yanny. When the volume is turned back up, or if the audio is played on speakers with a higher bass response, they'll probably hear Laurel.

It's also important to remember that no two people hear the same things when listening to any given piece of audio. People have varying sensitivities to different frequencies, so your brain may interpret noises differently than others.

Another factor is personal expectation. If you're interested in hearing Laurel, your brain is more likely to pay attention to those sounds. If you're interested in hearing Yanny, it's more likely your brain can pull it off under the right circumstances (sound mixing, speakers, headphones, et cetera).

While there may be more science to it than meets the ear, many artists took to Twitter with their definitive answers on the debate.

Katy Perry and Zedd were both team "Laurel," whereas Ryan Adams said it was definitely "Yanny." Like Perry and Zedd, Josh Groban was also team "Laurel" and in his tweet, he recalled the 2015 debate on the dress, which according to him was blue.

Kehlani weighed in that it could be both depending "on what frequencies ur ears pick up." Jesse McCartney also mentioned that it was a matter of frequency, but that he heard "Laurel." Very fittingly, Yanni said that he could only hear "Yanny" -- and that it was #YanniToBeExact.

Ellen DeGeneres tweeted everything at her show stopped to see what people heard. She said she heard Laurel. But New Age musician Yanni was in the Yanny camp.

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

pic.twitter.com/kRGBixcBTg

— Yanni (@Yanni) May 16, 2018

It’s Yanny pic.twitter.com/p03ljzpomJ

— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) May 16, 2018

It’s YANNY

— Bebe Rexha (@BebeRexha) May 16, 2018

I hear #LAUREL, but @AlexShibutani thinks it’s #YANNY.
And I’m like... pic.twitter.com/MHjd8oCHuN

— Maia Shibutani (@MaiaShibutani) May 16, 2018

LAURELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) May 16, 2018

Laurel.

— Zedd (@Zedd) May 16, 2018

Yanny!!!
This is really weird. How is anyone hearing Laurel? Is this a trick thing like the blue and gold dress? https://t.co/jr3k0oJIiI

— Ryan Adams (@TheRyanAdams) May 16, 2018

yanny n laurel fasho depends on what frequencies ur ears pick up

if you listen to it and focus on the high pitched or low pitched u can hear both. it’s hard as hell but u can do it

CMON WHERE MY MUSICIANS AT

— Kehlani (@Kehlani) May 16, 2018

The reaction you make when people think it’s Laurel and not Yanny... #YanniToBeExact pic.twitter.com/Zp1hbvK2AP

— Yanni (@Yanni) May 16, 2018

Started off as a Yan-man. Now I'm a Laurel-lord and I can't go back.

— Jared Followill (@youngfollowill) May 15, 2018