Sound waves are like a "disturbance" traveling through the air. Each disturbance sends energy from one location to another location (I.e. from one speaker to another person). When a sound wave enters the human ear,it is called a compression wave. In a recording studio, the walls of the room are often covered with very thick foam. This means that no sounds from outside the recording studio will come in and disturb the singers. All of these examples show how sound waves reach the human ear.