Spiderant wrote:
I once had a philosophy professor who casually mentioned to the class that
when we listen to a recorded piece of music, we don't hear the entire
spectrum of the music, but only the outer shell. He explained that when,
for example, a classical symphony is recorded, only the extreme peaks and
valleys of the signal are picked up and when the recording is played back,
because the speakers can only move in one direction at any given moment, you
will only hear these peaks and valleys, and none of the filler in-between.
I know that I'm not explaining this using proper audio terminology, but his
explanation seems logical to me. If, for example, a clarinet and a flute
are playing at the same time, all we will ever hear from the recording is
the "combined" signal.

What did your professors of biology and physics think of your
philosophy professor?