Essay 8 - A step-by-step approach to low-frequency sound
- Art of Hearing | Dyon Scheijen
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
LFG Handbook
Essay 8
A step-by-step approach to low-frequency sound
From signal to human experience
Reports of low-frequency noise often place professionals in a complex situation. Residents experience nuisance that sometimes seems difficult to explain with technical measurements alone. At the same time, professionals wish to remain carefully within the boundaries of what can be objectively established.
In such situations, it can help not to approach low-frequency noise as a single problem, but as an issue playing out on multiple levels.
A step-by-step approach can help professionals systematically explore these different levels.
The goal of this approach is not to center a single discipline, but to make clear that understanding low-frequency sound often requires collaboration between different perspectives .
Step 1 – Examination of the sound signal
The first step remains investigating the physical sound.
Important questions include:
• Is a physical signal present?
• Which frequencies play a role?
• Can a possible source be identified?
• How does sound behave in a room and a building?
Disciplines such as acoustics, technical analysis, and environmental research play a central role here.
Research into the physical properties of low frequencies has shown that these sounds can propagate in unusual ways and cause complex resonance patterns in buildings (Leventhall, 2004).
Practical research into source detection also shows that localizing low-frequency sound is often a careful and sometimes lengthy process (Ostendorf, 2009).
In practice, a good approach to low-frequency sound often does not begin in the consulting room alone.
It is precisely the collaboration between residents, Municipal Health Services, Environmental Services, acoustic consultants, and audiological centers that proves to be essential.
Home visits, conversations at the kitchen table, and attention to the personal living environment often provide information that measurements alone cannot fully capture.
Sometimes the first step does not lie directly in a solution, but in taking the experience seriously and jointly investigating, step by step, what is at play.
Perhaps that is precisely where the strength of a multidisciplinary approach lies:
not only looking at the sound itself, but at the full interaction between environment, perception, and human experience.
Step 2 – Hearing and medical evaluation
Before examining the processing of sound in the brain, it is important to also map the functioning of hearing itself.
Hearing loss or changes in the auditory system can affect the way sound is perceived. This also applies to low frequencies, where changes in hearing can sometimes actually lead to a different or more noticeable perception of sound.
An assessment by a hearing aid specialist , audiologist , or ENT specialist can help gain insight into:
• the hearing function
• possible hearing loss
• asymmetry between ears
• additional symptoms such as tinnitus or hyperacusis
In some cases , audiological rehabilitation can also play a role, for example when symptoms are accompanied by hypersensitivity to sound, tinnitus, or problems with sound processing.
Mapping hearing thus forms an important link between the physical sound signal and the way this signal is processed by the brain.
Step 3 – Understanding auditory processing
The presence of an audible signal does not automatically mean that everyone perceives it in the same way.
The auditory system does not process sound passively. The brain constantly analyzes, filters, and interprets signals.
Research into tinnitus has shown that sound perception is influenced by the interaction between auditory systems and emotional systems in the brain (Jastreboff, 1990).
Attention and meaning can therefore play a role in the way a sound presents itself in perception.
Step 4 – Psychological processes
When a sound is perceived as disturbing, unfamiliar, or inexplicable, psychological processes can come into play.
The fear-avoidance model describes how attention, uncertainty, and tension can amplify physical or sensory experiences (Vlaeyen & Linton, 2000).
This process can, for example, lead to:
• increased vigilance
• continuous monitoring of the sound
• tension or frustration
sleep disturbance
Research into tinnitus has shown that such processes can play an important role in the perceived burden of sound (Cima et al., 2012).
Step 5 – The human context
In addition to technical and psychological factors, the broader life context also plays a role.
Factors such as stress, lack of sleep, work pressure, or personal circumstances can influence how a sound is perceived.
The Glass of Life Acceptance model can help to provide insight into this context. It shows that the impact of a sound is partly determined by the amount of stress someone is already experiencing at that moment.
For professionals, this model can help to view situations more broadly and to place conversations with residents in a wider context.
Perhaps a good approach to low-frequency sound is ultimately not only about reducing stimuli, but also about increasing carrying capacity, space, and resilience.
I previously wrote about this in:
The glass half full or half empty? Let's make the glass bigger.
Read the essay here .
The power of collaboration
These five steps show that low-frequency sound cannot be reduced to a single perspective.
Each discipline sees a part of the whole:
• acoustics examines the signal
• Audiology and medical disciplines map hearing
• Neuroscience describes the processing of sound
• psychology helps understand processes of attention and meaning
• the human context shows how sound fits into someone's life
When these perspectives are connected, a more complete understanding of sound experiences emerges.
Place within The Hearing Triptych
The model of The Hearing Triptych (Scheijen, 2026) forms an overarching framework in which these perspectives converge.
The physical sound forms the starting point.
The brain determines how the signal is processed.
The human experience ultimately determines how the sound is perceived.
By considering these three dimensions together, a model emerges in which different disciplines can complement each other.
From analysis to understanding
A step-by-step approach helps professionals systematically analyze situations involving low-frequency sound.
But at least as important is that this approach leaves room for collaboration.
For it is precisely in the encounter between technical analysis, knowledge of perception, and attention to human experience that the best understanding of a situation often emerges.
The following essays further explore the role of interdisciplinary collaboration and how professionals can communicate with residents about complex sound experiences.
Literature
Leventhall, H.G. (2004). Low frequency noise and annoyance. Noise & Health.
Ostendorf, C. (2009). How to find the source of low frequency noise: three case studies. Journal of Low Frequency Noise, Vibration and Active Control.
Jastreboff, P. J. (1990). Phantom auditory perception (tinnitus): mechanisms of generation and perception. Neuroscience Research.
Cima, RFF, et al. (2012). Specialized treatment based on cognitive behavioral therapy versus usual care for tinnitus. The Lancet.
Vlaeyen, JWS, & Linton, SJ (2000). Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic pain. Pain.
Scheijen, D. (2026). The Hearing Triptych.
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