738d0481_sound_recording_as_wave_phenomena

When the microphone captures alterations in sound pressure and converts it into an electric signal, we have a scenario where the same formal or mathematical relationships in the phenomena (amplitude, frequency, wavelength) are being expressed in two different modes of matter.

This is quite profound especially as the resulting electrical waveform is identical to the original sound wave. This is effectively what enables accurate playback. We can convert between the two mediums seamlessly providing we captured their initial expression accurately.

It’s like two different people doing the same dance:

In air:

• The dancers are air molecules
• They move back and forth in waves of compression and rarefaction
• Their “dance pattern” is the sound wave

In wire:

• The dancers are electrons
• They move back and forth creating waves of voltage
• They perform the exact same “dance pattern”