View Full Version : Sounds Louder at Night???
Peanut
03-22-2002, 02:03 PM
Reading that post about music carrying well over the water reminded me of one of those questions that gets dragged out every couple of years after many beer, never seeming to get resolved.
Why is it that sound seems to carry much better at night than during the day? You know what I mean - sometimes at night you can hear people from across the lake, or a boat coming in from miles away.
What's up with that? Does sound actually carry better at night? Is it the absence of ambient noise?
This year I want to be able to wow my fishing buddies when this "deep thought" is raised at 3:00 in the morning.
derrek.
CANADIAN WALLEYE OPEN UP AND SAY "EH"!
gilly8000
03-22-2002, 02:05 PM
IMHO I would think that everything around is just more quiet. So we just think it carries better. Just a guess though.
spooled
03-22-2002, 02:17 PM
Once when hunting ducks on a large body of water in Canada, I had a conversation with someone who was 1/2 mile away. It was about 4 p.m. in the afternoon around 70 degrees and absolute glass on the water. It was like having a conversation accross the dinner table. Except for the time delay. I think it has something to do with the fact that sound travels 5 times faster in water and since there is usually no waves on a calm night that the sound can travel easier. No waves to break up the sound waves crossing over that water. Thats my theory. I aint' no professor tho'
stewart
03-22-2002, 02:22 PM
How 'bout cooler, so air molecules closer together and transmit sound better?Probably just because there is less other noise, but this sounds more 'scientific' ;)
I'm going with less ambient sound. Not too many folks cutting their lawn at night, or kids playing running around and such. The hum from the highway is less(usually).
It is true that not all sounds travel at the same rate. Low tones travel further than high sounds. Notice those subwoofers in kids cars. You can hear the low end bass and bass drum, but you really can't hear the cymbals and other high sounds.
Goose hunting I use a goose flute for long range, but once in range I change to a regular goose call. The flute has a distinctively lower tone, so low infact I was a doubter at first, but they do work. The flute gets their attention from a distance, and when they start coming in, I switch to a tradition call, which has exact goose tones.
Pitts
03-22-2002, 02:25 PM
On a calm night the water reflects the sound and does not absorb it. Just like skipping rocks or shooting a rifle across the water the sound bounces off the water and is not absorbed so it can be heard clearly at much farther distances.
I am no scientist either but that is my conclusion :)
Pitts
gilly8000
03-22-2002, 02:30 PM
Thanks for the goose hunting tip, Sib. I'm gonna have to try that next time I'm out.
EricCO
03-22-2002, 02:52 PM
I think at night your eyes become less usefull, so more neurons are spent processing sound received by your eardrums.
Just like ice fishing, when you're preoccupied by catching fish, you don't realize how cold you are.
"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"
EyeJacker
03-22-2002, 03:15 PM
That's when froggy goes a courtin' and s.f. #49 parties! :)
Jack
next time pay attention to the clouds or lack of them, i used to be a caretaker of a hunting and fishing club and there was a outdoor music hall about 4 miles away, at night i would go sit up by the lake and noticed that whan it was cloudy out that i could hear the music quite good but on a clear night i couldn,t hear a thing.
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