I don't know if anyone has heard of this, but there is now a new ringtone that is designed to only be heard by kids. How are they doing it? Simple! Adults lose their ability to hear high frequencies, but kids have no problem hearing up in 17-20Khz range. Apparently, the technology was first concocted to run kids out gas stations. Now, they've turned the technology around and created a ringtone that adults aren't supposed to hear.

Ironically, I witnessed this sort of thing first hand when I was at the Wagener Recording Workshop. We were recording guitars. Wagener had the amp cranked up pretty loudly, but the guitar player hadn't showed up yet. Even though no one was playing, there was this high ringing sound that was terribly loud!!! I ran out of the room in a hurry. Wagener was like “What the hell is that guy's problem?”.

It turned out that I wasn't such an idiot after all. Wagener ran Smaart Live or something similar that had a spectrum analyzer on at all times. A quick look at the screen illustrated a horrendous spike at 16Khz. I could hear it just fine (I was 25 at the time). However, Wagener was clueless, one of the guys attending the workshop was in his 40s and he coudn't hear it either. A few of the 30ish guys could barely here it, but it HURT for me!!

Long story short. The Mosquito Ringtone? technology works. I expect this to be a huge fad amongst the ringtone crowd. We'll see.

Brandon

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