From euphoria to boredom: making noises in bed is a standard means of communication between sexual partners.
Some use the characteristic sounds to show that they like it, while others use it as a gentle encouragement to try a different approach.
There has been very little research into sex sounds and why people make them, most of the research has been done on animals such as monkeys.
A recent study used audio recordings of real people engaged in sexual activity to investigate the different types of sexual sounds made by men and women.
Their findings indicated that women were louder than men, especially during orgasm. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to make non-vocal sounds, such as heavy breathing.
Male vocalizations, usually grunts, were often expressions of exertion and reached their peak during orgasm. Female sounds were scattered throughout and increased in pitch during orgasm.
In the study that closely analyzed different sounds during sex, researcher Andrey Anikin found that an increase in pitch in both men and women occurred simultaneously with changes in the length of time a sound was made. Women generally used very little speech; men were most verbal about 15 seconds before orgasm
As for the reasons behind the differences, scientists believe that women feel pressure to vocalize more to build up their partner and direct their partner’s actions. Men, on the other hand, make sounds, often during the height of their orgasm, to express pleasure and the toll of physical exertion.
Dr. Jess O’Reilly, an expert in human sexuality and relationship coach, told Rush: ‘Women make sounds to stroke their partner’s ego, to increase their partner’s pleasure, and out of opportunism (i.e. to get it over with quickly).’
Using a volunteer database where people could upload their sounds, Dr. Andrey Anikin, a specialist in human nonverbal communication at the Cognitive Science University of Lund University in Sweden, sought to understand why men and women make certain sounds in the bedroom.
His research results appear in the journal Evolution and human behavior.
Dr. Anikin recruited over 100 people to analyze sex sounds they downloaded from an online database, rating how authentic they sounded and whether the sound came from a man or a woman.
Of the 109 listeners, 43 were women and 65 were men. They listened to some of the 200 recordings of sex sounds, each lasting between 30 and 90 seconds.
Listeners were asked, “How excited does this person sound?” and used a slider on a computer program that allowed them to vary from “relaxed” to “orgasm.”
They moved the slider in real time based on what they heard. The position of the slider was recorded continuously throughout the recording.
After each trial, listeners were asked whether the person making the sound was male or female and whether they found the pleasure authentic.
Dr Anikin said: ‘When we put all these observations together, a picture emerges of two distinct vocal behaviours: effortful grunts or strategically deployed controlled groans at low arousal… and spontaneous vocal bursts once arousal exceeds a certain threshold.
‘Males usually sigh and grunt until arousal levels are very high; women have a lower threshold for vocalization (producing moans) or may be used to exaggerating their expressive behavior.’
The sounds and the participants’ responses to them were analyzed and showed that the pitch, syllable duration, and speed all reached their peak at the same time.
On average, female voices were about 6.6 semitones higher than male voices, or the difference in pitch between two adjacent keys on a piano. This difference grew to about 9.9 semitones at orgasm.
Women also had more harmonious voices, meaning their sounds were more musical. Men had a sharper falling pitch.
Although men and women generally made similar amounts of sounds and vocalizations, men made the most sounds just before and during orgasm, while women made sounds constantly throughout the orgasm.
Dr. Anikin said: ‘SSexual vocalizations can be produced deliberately to please, vocally accompany, or accelerate the partner.
However, making noise during sex is also known to increase pleasure for some women.
Researcher and lecturer in sexual health Patty Brisben said: ‘I think there are a lot of women who need to speak up to help themselves reach orgasm. It helps them and their orgasm.
“There are definitely phases. When a woman is in it, she can become extremely vocal and then go into a period of silence because she’s on the edge.”
While making sounds during sex, whether it’s saying words or letting out a soft moan, is a powerful tool for communicating information between partners, sex experts say that communicating accurate information is crucial for mutual pleasure.
A survey of more than 1,000 American women found that more than 58 percent of women faked orgasms for a variety of reasons, including wanting their partner to feel “successful,” wanting the sex to end because they were tired, and wanting to please the person and not make them feel bad.
Ms Brisben, who was not involved in the study, said: ‘If you fake an orgasm you are sending the message to your partner that he is doing everything right, when in reality he is not.
“Use moaning as a way to indicate that you’re turned on and that things feel really good, not as a way to hide the fact that they’re not.”
