{"id":11377,"date":"2022-06-06T23:12:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T03:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=11377"},"modified":"2023-07-11T13:51:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T17:51:45","slug":"how-shepard-tone-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shepard tone: What it is and how it works"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:15px\" class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Illustration:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/xiagordon.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Xia Gordon (opens in a new tab)\"><strong>Xia Gordon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">This clever auditory illusion tricks your brain into thinking a sound is always rising or falling in pitch.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A Shepard tone always seems like it\u2019s heading up or down towards a particular note, but in reality it&#8217;s just an endless loop of sound that never reaches any kind of destination. How is this even possible? In this article, let\u2019s explore the techniques behind this perplexing illusion, the ways it has been used creatively, and how to make your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See the table of contents below to easily navigate to a specific section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What you&#8217;ll learn:<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"#WhatIs\"><strong>What is it?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#HowWorks\"><strong>How do Shepard tones work?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#ReinforcingTension\"><strong>What are the Shepard tone&#8217;s applications?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#HowMake\"><strong>How can I make my own Shepard tones?<\/strong><\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Conclusion\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Feeling ready? Let&#8217;s dive into the mysterious world of Shepard tones!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"WhatIs\">What is a Shepard tone?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This phenomenon is named after cognitive scientist Roger Shepard, some of whose research involved studying how humans use senses like sight and hearing to perceive and interpret their environment. One outcome of his work was the <strong>Shepard tone<\/strong>, which is essentially a set of <a href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/whats-in-a-wave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sine waves<\/a> layered on top of each other and separated by octaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To achieve the desired effect, you need to move these pitches up or down (like a scale) while also adjusting the loudness of each note. The result is almost like an endless staircase of sound:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio alignwide\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone.mp3\" loop preload=\"auto\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">The sound of a simple <strong>Shepard scale<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"529\" data-src=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone-in-post-01-1024x529.png\" alt=\"The Shepard scale expressed in Ableton's piano roll\" class=\"wp-image-11379 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone-in-post-01-1024x529.png 1024w, https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone-in-post-01-400x207.png 400w, https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone-in-post-01-355x183.png 355w, https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone-in-post-01-768x397.png 768w, https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/shepard-tone-in-post-01.png 1481w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/529;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">A discrete Shepard scale (tones starting at C1 and C3 go from soft to loud, while tones starting at C2 and C4 go from loud to soft)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"HowWorks\">How the Shepard tone works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can basically think of Shepard tones as the audio equivalent of a barber pole. In that illusion, our brains interpret the diagonal stripes on the rotating pole as moving vertically upward (and even &#8216;disappearing&#8217; as they reach the top), even though they\u2019re really just moving around the pole. In a <strong>discrete Shepard scale<\/strong> (seen in the image above), this same illusion is achieved by fading each scale in and out to create seamless transitions that loop perfectly, without giving you any sense of where a scale starts or ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>French avant-garde composer Jean-Claude Risset contributed another form of the scale known as the <strong>Shepard\u2013Risset glissando<\/strong>. In this version, the pitch glides smoothly from note to note to create a more impressive (and haunting) effect:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Shepard-Risset glissando visualization\" width=\"370\" height=\"208\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MShclPy4Kvc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"ReinforcingTension\">How Shepard tones have been applied creatively<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From the foreboding rumble of low percussion to the haunting scrape of dissonant violins in a motion picture soundtrack, sound can be used in many ways to evoke feelings of tension or suspense. The concept of the Shepard tone can be particularly effective here, since it\u2019s not tied to a particular instrument and can fade into the background of a mix while still providing a sense of anticipation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, we can look to some of Christopher Nolan\u2019s films for examples of the Shepard tone as both a soundtrack and sound design element. The sound designer on 2008\u2019s <em>The Dark Knight<\/em> worked with Nolan to create an engine roar for the iconic Batpod that would continue revving upwards in intensity without seemingly stopping. This was achieved by creating a Shepard-like pattern from a number of real vehicle recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The illusion surfaces again in 2017\u2019s <em>Dunkirk<\/em>, where composer Hans Zimmer layers his Shepard tones into the background throughout the soundtrack to match the continuous, tense nature of the film:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"The sound illusion that makes Dunkirk so intense\" width=\"370\" height=\"208\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LVWTQcZbLgY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The use of this illusion doesn\u2019t stop at movies. One sequence in the <em>Super Mario 64<\/em> video game keeps you walking up an endless staircase if you don\u2019t have enough stars to advance, and the accompanying music leads with a discrete rising Shephard scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, the title track of Franz Ferdinand\u2019s 2018 album <em>Always Ascending<\/em> contains a rising Shephard glissando, and the music video\u2019s camera work mirrors this endless upward effect. It\u2019s also an effective technique in electronic dance music for adding even more anticipation to a buildup before that big drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Franz Ferdinand - Always Ascending (Official Video)\" width=\"370\" height=\"208\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/crjugtkXZN4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"HowMake\">How to make your own Shepard tone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can create your own discrete Shepard scale by copying the MIDI notes and velocities from the screenshot we presented previously into your DAW. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Making a Shepard\u2013Risset glissando from scratch (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XLdxUsSAzDU\" target=\"_blank\">Making a Shepard\u2013Risset glissando from scratch<\/a> is going to be a bit more complex, but thankfully there are <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"some Max For Live devices out there to make things a bit easier (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/maxforlive.com\/library\/device\/2059\/shepard-box\" target=\"_blank\">some Max For Live devices<\/a> out there to make things a bit easier, along with <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"specialized filter plugins (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.izotope.com\/en\/products\/mobius-filter.html\" target=\"_blank\">specialized filter plugins<\/a> that take the Shepard tone to new heights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hopefully this article helped you realize that behind the Shepard tone&#8217;s haunting effect is a surprisingly simple recipe. If you&#8217;re interested in taking a look under the hood of other popular audio illusions, be sure to also check out our articles on <a href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-is-the-phantom-fundamental\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"the phantom fundamental, (opens in a new tab)\">the phantom fundamental,<\/a> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"temporal induction, (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-is-temporal-induction\/\" target=\"_blank\">temporal induction,<\/a> and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"binaural beats. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/what-are-binaural-beats\/\" target=\"_blank\">binaural beats.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have any lingering questions on this phenomenon? Have you heard Shepard tones used in a song, video game, or film we didn&#8217;t mentioned here? Start a conversation with other audio-minded individuals on <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"the Splice Discord. (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/discord.gg\/splice\" target=\"_blank\">the Splice Discord.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Explore royalty-free sounds from leading artists, producers, and sound designers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aligncenter\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/sounds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Join Splice today<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about the Shepard tone, a popular auditory illusion that tricks your brain into thinking a sound is always rising or falling in pitch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":11400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1696],"tags":[1712],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Shepard tone: What it is and how it works - Blog | Splice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Shepard tone is an audio illusion that makes it feel as though a sound is constantly rising in pitch. Listen to some examples and learn how to make your own.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Shepard tone: What it is and how it works - Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Shepard tone is an audio illusion that makes it feel as though a sound is constantly rising in pitch. Listen to some examples and learn how to make your own.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog | Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Splice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-07T03:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-11T17:51:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Shepard_Tones_BlogPost.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matteo Malinverno\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@splice\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matteo Malinverno\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Matteo Malinverno\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/43123e87ce32298439fa5bbdd471e89d\"},\"headline\":\"The Shepard tone: What it is and how it works\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-07T03:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-11T17:51:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/\"},\"wordCount\":868,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Shepard_Tones_BlogPost.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"psychoacoustics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Tips &amp; Tutorials\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/\",\"name\":\"The Shepard tone: What it is and how it works - Blog | Splice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/how-shepard-tone-works\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Shepard_Tones_BlogPost.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-07T03:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-11T17:51:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Shepard tone is an audio illusion that makes it feel as though a sound is constantly rising in pitch. 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