Sound Design Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for sound engineers, producers, editors, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
In acoustics, what is the difference between a tone and a noise? I have been trying to find a definition of these terms. So far, the best I have come up with is
Does this definition make sense? I am uncertain if this definition of noise is too restrictive.
See here for a comparison between tone and noise. See here for where I found the comments on linear combinations.
In response to another answer, noise should definitely not be replaced with sound.
A tone generally refers to a single frequency. Sound is a general term, but would usually be used when you are talking about a single tone or collection of tones.
The distinction between sound and noise depends on your perspective: there is the signal you want and the signal you don't want. Sound would be the signal you want, and noise the signal you do not want.
Noise is often modeled as a random process, but this is not always true. When using analog electronics to monitor someone's heartbeat, the signal you want is the person's heartbeat. Noise manifests in the form of a 60 Hz sine-wave (sometimes harmonics as well), which will become present when viewing the person's heartbeat.
I think perhaps this would be better/more accurate if the term noise were swapped out with the term sound instead.
A tone is a noise (sound), generally associated with one particular frequency or note.
A noise (sound) does not necessarily consist of just one single tone.
For instance: The note, "A" is a tone which resonates @ the frequency - "440Hz".
In most technical contexts, the term noise typically arouses the connotation of uselessness or un-usefulness and is often considered garbage or interference. An quick example of this is prevalent in the expanded term "signal to noise ratio".
