Each musician in a marching band creates sound waves. The waves from each musician, traveling at the speed of sound, reach the other musicians, field conductors, and listeners at slightly different times. If the distance between musicians is large enough, listeners may perceive waves to be . Typically, in this case, listeners perceive that one section of the band is playing their parts slightly after another section. This "delay" effect is informally referred to as "ensemble tear" or "phasing" (not to be confused with the music composition technique of the same name).