A set of harmonically related partials shifted together still changes perceived pitch.

Evidence

An interesting experiment has been conducted to test the validity of place and timing theories of pitch perception. In the experiment, a set of harmonic partials is generated; for example, three to ten harmonics along with the fundamental frequency of, say, 100 Hz. Thus, the spectrum spans from 300 Hz to 1000 Hz in intervals of 100 Hz. If all partials are shifted upwards by 30 Hz, the output envelopes of hair cells should still have a strong modulation with 100 Hz frequency. However, the pitch perception rises a bit, even though the modulation in each auditory band remains the same (Plack et al., 2005). — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1119

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why does shifting harmonic partials jointly still shift pitch if modulation frequency is preserved? Worth chasing how modern models reconcile this with timing theory.