Temporal Reversal

An auditory analog to spatial inversion is temporal reversal:

• in normal surroundings we receive direct and reflected sound;
• echos/reverb/decay allow inference of the character of the space/source;
• reflected sounds reach a listener later then direct sounds;

It is more difficult ot deal with echos/decay preceding a signal:

1. a resonant object produces a sound that decays exponentially over time--when played in reverse, the sound is quite different.
   • what is this instrument in this sample (played in reverse)? Click to listen
   • the original sound: Click to listen
2. example in which reverberation precedes speech: Click to listen