“Laurel” or “Yanny”? The Audio Clip That’s Puzzling Us All
By Pippa RagaUpdated Nov. 18 2019, 2:39 p.m. ET
It’s been three years since the dress that stumped the internet.
When the mother of a bride sent her daughter this photo, causing a disagreement over its color that would spread so widely, its hashtag would amass over 10 million mentions within the post's first week.
This debate garnered viral attention after a friend of the bride’s posted the image on Tumblr and no one on the internet could agree on what they saw.
Earlier today, a new kind of controversy sparked across Twitter when people were asked to pick which of these words they hear in this clip:
What do you hear?! Yanny or Laurel pic.twitter.com/jvHhCbMc8I
— Cloe Feldman (@CloeCouture) May 15, 2018It’s basically the audio equivalent of the dress debacle all over again.
I'm flashing back to the white and gold dress or the blue and black dress, y'all. . .and I want to know if the people hearing Yanny saw a blue and black dress and the people hearing Laurel saw a white and gold one. pic.twitter.com/aBWpWJwzn6
— 🛰️Dani ♿/#NEVERAGAIN (@ThatRealDani) May 15, 2018Most of us can only hear one of the words (names?)
#TeamLaurel all the way.
laurel wtf
— Adelaine M♡RIN (@AdelaineMorin) May 15, 2018yanny....wtf y’all talking about? it’s definitely yanny! 😒
— lexy rose (@imlexyrose) May 15, 2018Others, after searching long and hard, are still torn between the options.
Does anyone hear both yanny and laurel? pic.twitter.com/lSxgohjt81
— Jynjo (@jynjo) May 15, 2018Admittedly, some are more dedicated to this debate than others:
If you pick up on the higher pitch it’s Yanny amd the lower pitch is Laurel. I heard Yanny 10 times before I could hear Laurel.
— Biscuits (@wiscoinferno) May 15, 2018And some people (especially Chrissy Teigen) are just over it
it's so clearly laurel. I can't even figure out how one would hear yanny.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 15, 2018I bought your cookbook. I loved it. And now you betray me? #yanny
— Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) May 16, 2018it’s time pic.twitter.com/1Fruru61kU
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 16, 2018But what is behind people hearing different names? As it turns out...
you can hear both when you adjust the bass levels: pic.twitter.com/22boppUJS1
— Earth Vessel Quotes (@earthvessquotes) May 15, 2018Apparently, you can hear “yanny” at a low volume with little to no bass and “laurel” when the volume and bass are high. There's also some variance in what you'll hear based on what device you're listening on. Some people on tablets and lower quality headphones are more likely to hear "yanny" over its counterpart due to the low bass on those devices causing the overall pitch of the recording to be higher.
The recording is also mediocre quality, making it much easier for there to be ambiguity on what you may or may not hear, especially if you've been told to listen for one or the other.
(Essentially, your brain is biased.)
But it's not stopping the internet from losing its mind.
My wife and I just listened through my laptop speakers -- she heard "Yanny" and I heard "Laurel" and now I feel like I'm living in a simulation.
— Michael Weiss (@RotationlSymtry) May 15, 2018I hear Laurel and Laurel only. pic.twitter.com/OxkqHkG9yC
— Kiara (@Kiara_monet97) May 15, 2018I don’t buy that people hear Yanny and frankly I’m pissed off https://t.co/Tev5prw3bd
— Cal (@whatupcal) May 15, 2018if you hear yanny 👏🏽 you 👏🏽 are 👏🏽 a 👏🏽 cop
— alexis nedd (@alexisthenedd) May 15, 2018Oh, internet, where will we go from here.
(Oh it's 100% Laurel btw)
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKyimrultc2gZmtoYW18cYGOamxosnJ%2Fr697y5qsq52cYryzediapaexXam1pnnArpuip12Yuaq8jK2fmqyjYr22xtmloKefXarAbq3LpQ%3D%3D