white noise

acoustics

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Last updated

July 23, 2026

Quick Summary

In acoustics, white noise is a complex sound that encompasses the entire range of audible frequencies with equal intensity. This is similar to white light, which contains all visible light frequencies at roughly equal intensities. White noise is aperiodic, meaning its wave pattern is not repetitive.12

A common approximation of white noise is the static heard between radio stations on the FM band. In music, electronically synthesized white noise can be filtered to create unique frequency combinations not found in traditional instruments, or it can be used as a musical element itself. The sound of cymbals and snare drums also exhibits characteristics of white noise.12

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noise
White noise is a complex signal or sound that covers the entire range of audible frequencies, all of which possess equal intensity. White noise is analogous to white light, which contains roughly equal intensities of all frequencies of visible light. A good approximation to white…
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White noise is a complex signal or sound that covers the entire range of audible frequencies, all of which possess equal intensity. White noise is analogous to white light, which contains roughly equal intensities of all frequencies of visible light. A good approximation to white…
Read More

sound
Noise
…colours of the rainbow, so white noise can be defined as a combination of equally intense sound waves at all frequencies of the audio spectrum. A characteristic of noise is that it has no periodicity, and so it creates no recognizable musical pitch or tone quality, sounding rather like the…
Read More
…colours of the rainbow, so white noise can be defined as a combination of equally intense sound waves at all frequencies of the audio spectrum. A characteristic of noise is that it has no periodicity, and so it creates no recognizable musical pitch or tone quality, sounding rather like the…
Read More