science

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Twenty Thousand Hertz is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Twenty Thousand Hertz rather than just read about it. In short: Twenty Thousand Hertz is a podcast about "the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds". Episodes are published every other Wednesday .

Key takeaways

Twenty Thousand Hertz belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Twenty Thousand Hertz to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Twenty Thousand Hertz from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Twenty Thousand Hertz is a podcast about "the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds". Episodes are published every other Wednesday .

Overview The show's title refers to highest frequency that can be perceived within the human hearing range (without hearing loss). It grew out of host Dallas Taylor's admiration for the podcast 99% Invisible and a desire to hear more stories like the ones they produced about audio design. The show is hosted and produced by Dallas Taylor and the writer of the episode, with help from Sam Schneble. Though the audio production company Defacto Sound, which is owned by Taylor, is the production headquarters for Twenty Thousand Hertz, he has said that the podcast is not intended as content marketing. Instead of focusing on the industry of sound design exclusively, episodes focus on a variety of topics related to sound. The podcast has covered topics such as the THX Deep Note, misophonia, the Voyager Golden Record, the Shure SM7 microphone, ASMR, and advertising jingles. "Theater of the Mind", a crossover episode with the podcast Imaginary Worlds, was produced in 2018. The episode explored the history of radio dramas. Episodes of Twenty Thousand Hertz have also been featured on the Radiotopia productions 99% Invisible and The Allusionist. In May 2020, host Dallas Taylor delivered a TED Talk, "What silence can teach you about sound." The talk discussed John Cage's composition 4'33", a topic which had previously been explored in an episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz. In August 2020, the podcast joined the TED podcast network, but left due to unexplained reasons. In October 2020, host Dallas Taylor was featured in "Sound and Silence," an episode of the TED Radio Hour, drawn from his TED Talk. Following a Twenty Thousand Hertz episode about audio deepfakes, host Dallas Taylor was featured in a September 2020 segment of NPR's Here & Now, discussing the topic. Taylor was featured in a November 2020 episode of the Popular Science podcast The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week, discussing the use of animals noises in sound design.

Reception The podcast was featured in Esquire magazine's list of "The 63 Best Podcasts You Can Listen To In 2020," as well as Discover Pods "The 71 Best Podcasts of 2020." In 2017, OZY listed Twenty Thousand Hertz as one of "4 Podcasts that'll Make You Wish Your Commute Were Longer." Doug Fabrizio of KUER-FM says the show "challenges listeners to refine their sense of hearing." In a review for 34th Street Magazine, reviewer Caylen David writes, "Twenty Thousand Hertz presents the stories of iconic sound designs in a creative way that keeps listeners wanting more. Give it a listen—you might find that the journey to create pop culture's greatest sounds is more interesting than the finished product." The show's "I'm Lovin' It" episode was chosen as one of Spotify's "Best Podcast Episodes of 2021."

Awards

References

External links Official website Defacto Sound website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Twenty Thousand Hertz

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Twenty Thousand Hertz claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Twenty Thousand Hertz before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Twenty Thousand Hertz ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Twenty Thousand Hertz

In research: Twenty Thousand Hertz appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Twenty Thousand Hertz in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Twenty Thousand Hertz is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2016 podcast debuts, American technology podcasts, Audio podcasts, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Twenty Thousand Hertz outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Twenty Thousand Hertz in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Twenty Thousand Hertz means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Twenty Thousand Hertz out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Twenty Thousand Hertz in simple terms?

Twenty Thousand Hertz is a podcast about "the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds". Episodes are published every other Wednesday .

Why does Twenty Thousand Hertz matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Twenty Thousand Hertz?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Twenty Thousand Hertz.