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Lower energy is high pitch?
No, lower energy does not necessarily mean high pitch. Energy and pitch are two separate concepts in audio and signal processing:
1. Energy
- Energy refers to the intensity or amplitude of a signal, indicating how “strong” or “loud” the sound is.
- In a spectrogram, energy is typically represented by color intensity (e.g., darker colors = low energy, brighter colors = high energy).
- Low energy means the sound is quieter, while high energy means the sound is louder.
2. Pitch
- Pitch corresponds to the perceived frequency of a sound, or how “high” or “low” a sound appears to the human ear.
- Higher pitch corresponds to higher frequencies (e.g., a soprano’s voice or a violin’s high notes).
- Lower pitch corresponds to lower frequencies (e.g., a bass guitar or a deep male voice).
Why Lower Energy ≠ High Pitch
- A sound can have low energy but low pitch if it is quiet and consists of low frequencies (e.g., a distant bass drum).
- Similarly, a sound can have low energy but high pitch if it is quiet and consists of high frequencies (e.g., a faint whistle).
- Conversely, high energy sounds can occur at either high or low pitches, depending on the frequency content.
