It's supposed to sound a little bit like this:

你會聽到一段音樂

[William Tell Overture, by Rossini]

它應該聽起來像這樣：

but instead, it sounds like this.

（羅西尼，《威廉 · 泰爾序曲》）

[William Tell Overture, by Rossini, but badly out of tune]

但是，實在上聽起來像這樣。

That was the musical road of Lancaster, California.

剛才就是位於加州 蘭開斯特 的音樂道路

And as you may have heard, it's a little bit out of tune.

正如你所聽，這聽起來有點走調

A lot of money was spent on that road.

這條道路花去了很多資金去建造

It was a publicity stunt for a car company who wanted to show off how clever they are.

這是一個汽車公司的宣傳噱頭

And doing the calculations for something like that isn't really difficult.

想要炫耀他們是多麼聰明

A musical note is a vibration in the air at a particular frequency.

計算當中的數學計算真的不是很困難

And those vibrations can be made by a violin string or synthesised by a computer

一個音符就是在空氣中的振動的特定頻率

or - in this case - made by vehicle tyres hitting grooves in the road.

這些振動頻率可以通過小提琴弦或由電腦合成

The closer the grooves are, the faster the vibrations, and the higher the note.

或在這種情況下，由汽車輪胎擊中道路的凹槽而造成

So take the speed limit,

凹槽間越接近，振動的速度更快，音符亦會更高

divide by the frequency of the note you want,

因此，將限速

and that's how often there should be a groove in the road.

除以你想要的音符的頻率

And if people travel at the wrong speed, well, it shouldn't really matter.

這就是每個凹槽的距離

It'll just be like slowing down or speeding up any other piece of music:

如果人們在錯誤的速度行駛，它不應該真正的問題

it'll be in the wrong key, but it'll still sound right to most people's ears.

它只會像任何其他音樂一樣加快或減慢

It won't sound like that mess.

它雖會走調，但對於大部分人的耳朵來說還是沒問題

So what went wrong?

它不會聽起來像那條路

At this point, I am indebted to David Simmons-Duffin,

那麼，甚麼地方出了錯？

an assistant professor of physics at Caltech,

在這一點上，我要感謝大衛 · 西蒙斯 · 達芬

whose interests include Quantum Field Theories and playing baroque violin.

加州理工學院 的 物理學助理教授

Because he was, as far as I can tell,

精於量子場理論和拉巴洛克小提琴

the very first person to figure out what went wrong:

因為他，據我所知

and the problem was probably the English language.

是第一個人去研究哪裏出了錯

Whoever did the calculations said that the grooves should be so far apart.

而問題可能是英文這個語言

Let's say, four inches for the first note.

做運算的人說凹槽應該相距甚遠

And they meant there should be a groove every four inches.

例如第一個音符（相隔）四英寸 (10 cm)

But whoever gave the instructions to the work crew

而他們說那裏應該每四英寸就有一條凹槽

said that the grooves should be "four inches apart".

但是，給指令予建築人員的人說

And that was interpreted as four inches between the end of one groove

凹槽應該相隔四英寸

and the start of the next one.

這被解讀為凹槽尾與另一個凹槽頭相隔四英寸

They didn't include the width of the groove itself.

他們並沒有加入凹槽本身的寬度

But your ears definitely do include it.

但是，你的耳朵絕對包含那些錯誤

The highest note on that section of the William Tell Overture

在《威廉 · 泰爾序曲》的最高音

should be one octave higher than the lowest.

應與最低音的高一個八度

That means the frequency should be doubled,

這意味著頻率應增加一倍

and that the grooves should be half the distance apart.

並且凹槽間的距離應減半

And they are: if you don't include the width of the groove itself.

它們的確是。如果你不包括凹槽自身的寬度。

That error means that every note is distorted not by a fraction of its value,

這錯誤意味着每一個音符不單只有小部分歪曲

like if you're travelling at the wrong speed,

就像如果你在錯誤的速度行駛

but by a constant amount: by the width of the grooves.

而是一個不變的數量：槽與槽間的距離

The higher the note, the greater the effect of that distortion.

音符越高，影響越大，走調便越嚴重

And the result is the mess that you are about to hear for a second time.

其結果是，你第二次所聽的亂況

And the really strange part?

而最奇怪的部份是…

This is the second musical road built in Lancaster, California.

這是加州 蘭開斯特 興建的第二條音樂道路

The first one, built by the car company, was too close to residents,

第一條由汽車公司興建的，由於太近民居

who complained about the constant noise.

居民經常投訴連續不斷的噪音

And probably this note here.

大概就是這個音符

So the city paved over it and rebuilt it...

所以市政府鋪平了它，並重建它…

to the exact, same, wrong blueprints.

以確切的，同樣的，錯誤的藍圖。

That's a take.

這是一次（拍攝次數）

That is a take.

就在那裏

Right there.

而為了慶祝，我打算將油門踩盡

And in order to celebrate that take, I am going to put my foot down.

這是一輛休旅車

This is an SUV.

它沒有，呃……它沒有做到這一點。

It doesn't, er... it doesn't do that.