What Makes The Sound of Vuvuzelas so Annoying?

Drone of Plastic Horn Permeates Every World Cup Game

By Trevor Cox

Love 'em or loathe 'em, the blaring plastic trumpets have become the hallmark of matches at the 2010 World Cup. We asked Trevor Cox, president of the UK Institute of Acoustics and an acoustic engineer at the University of Salford, UK, to explain their appeal – or otherwise

Ghana fans blow vuvuzelas prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group D match between Serbia...

Ghana fans blow vuvuzelas prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group D match between Serbia and Ghana at Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Sunday June 13, 2010 in Pretoria, South Africa. Love 'em or loathe 'em, the blaring plastic trumpets have become the hallmark of matches at the 2010 World Cup.

(Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

How do vuvuzelas make their sound?

The vuvuzela is like a straightened trumpet and is played by blowing a raspberry into the mouthpiece. The player's lips open and close about 235 times a second, sending puffs of air down the tube, which excite resonance of the air in the conical bore. A single vuvuzela played by a decent trumpeter is reminiscent of a hunting horn – but the sound is less pleasing when played by the average football fan, as the note is imperfect and fluctuates in frequency. It sounds more like an elephant trumpeting. This happens because the player does not keep the airflow and motion of the lips consistent.

But that din sounds nothing like a trumpet or an elephant.