The Secrets of
"Worldwide Recorder Concert"

The brown noise actually played is the third F# or Gb below middle C, a note no recorder can reach, but a regular piano can. Didn't make me crap my pants. The right frequency and sufficient amplitude should work to loosen that sphincter, though, but the frequency may be so low you can only feel it, not hear it. In Private Parts Howard Stern used this principle to get an orgasm from a female caller over the radio. He told her to turn up her subwoofer and turn down the other speakers. He had her sit naked on one of her tower speakers as he produced the deepest note his voice could muster (the second D below middle C), and she came.

Using a base frequency of 27.5 Hz (low A), the equation for musical frequencies is: y = 27.5 * 2(x/12) The note played on the show is the third F# below middle C (x = 9), or 46.25 Hz.

Mr. Garrison left Arkansas right after he graduated from high school. He's 41 now and has been away for 23 years. He used to work with his father at their gas station.

Fun fact: 4 million is 2000².

"Eh, the trip shouldn't take any longer…" - That's false.

Mr. Mackey takes over for Mr. Garrison while Mr. Garrison deals with his demons, but Mr. Garrison has recovered by concert day.

"When I find [the brown noise] I'll just make you crap yourself so you look like Karen Carpenter." - Karen Carpenter was a folk singer, famous in the 1970's, who died from anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that can leave the sufferer extremely thin and debilitated.

Ms. Crabtree has earned some respect. When she talks, everyone listens, and she doesn't have to talk anyone down anymore.

Why is it that someone who sounds like Kenny is laughing with the other New Yorkers after the New York tough makes fun of Kenny's coat? The second time they laugh, the "Kenny" laugh is gone.

Rainfall must be spotty in this episode. There's no rain at the Roman Holiday Inn, but plenty of it around Mr. Garrison's former home.

Blooper: when the camera position changes (back to front) as Mr. Garrison approaches his parents' door, the direction of the rainfall doesn't change with it.

Mr. Garrison Sr. looks like Brian Dennehy.

Yoko Ono sounds like Mr. Ose.

Did Bill turn traitor? Someone who looks like him stands behind the two toughs in the New York group in the middle of the episode.

Mother Garrison's reaction to Mr. Garrison's complaint of not being sexually abused is a reference at some Southerners being inbred.

Well, there is a brown noise, but it's not what you'd expect. From a post on colored noise:

Brown Noise: This is a special kind of noise that has a 1/f amplitude distribution - the volume is inversely proportional to pitch. It has the special property of being a "fractal" or statistically self-similar waveform. No matter how far you zoom in on the wave with an oscilloscope, the waveform has the same "texture". Brown noise is also the sound made by a "random walk" which makes the amplitude of a waveform travel up and down at random. The pitch motion of most musical melodies have a 1/f distribution, which is more a measure of melodic texture than a commentary on the musical experience.

The interesting thing about sound is that it can be used as a weapon, like the brown noise that supposedly loosens your bowels. From an Army SBIR Award post titled "Parametric Difference Waves for Low Frequency Acoustic Propagation":

Prior research indicates that an array of ultrasonic sources operated with an offset in frequency will produce infrasonic or very low frequency energy. This energy is useful because it is omni-directional, and it propagates well with little absorption. With sufficient energy, the resulting infrasonic waves can be disabling or lethal. Synetics proposes an approach toward developing infrasonic waves that can ultimately be incorporated into future man-portable small arms weapon systems. This approach utilizes modernized pneumatic technology which produces an extremely high-powered ultrasonic source. The resulting frequency generated is precisely controlled such that the desired high power infrasound frequency can be generated at the target by beating two focused ultrasonic sources. BENEFITS: The potential post applications of the parametric difference wave generator include non-lethal crowd control, non-lethal self defense units for police and personal use, and soot and crustacean removal devices for commercial industries

The note Stan put in place of the original on the sheet music is the first Eb above middle C.

Didn't Mr. Garrison say he didn't really have any pajamas? When his father appears at the bedroom door a few hours later, Mr. Garrison is asleep wearing light-gray pajamas.

Where did Mr. Hat go? He's on Mr. Garrison's hand just before he says good-bye to his parents, but is put away when he hugs them and walks out the door singing.

Major blooper: When the concert is introduced on TV, the designated city is still Oklahoma City. The concert is actually in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Sheet music facts: In this episode, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" is written for the C scale, not the G scale the kids use. The last note is the first C above middle C, but the brown noise, the first Eb above middle C, is added on. The actual note played is still the third F# or Gb below middle C.

A bus in the background says, "Honolulu Elementary." The initial reaction is to say this is a Hawaiian bus, but I'm sure there are Honolulu Elementary school on the mainland, too.

Kenny never really dies, does he? When Mr. Garrison enters the bus after kissing Kenny G, Kenny McCormick is sitting next to Cartman.

"Second star to the right, and straight on until morning." - The directions to Never Never Land, which Peter Pan gives to Wendy, John, and Michael Darling in Walt Disney's Peter Pan. William Shatner quoted it as the last line in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.