Adding higher partials can drop the perceived pitch of a tone
Evidence
Figure 23.6 The sound trace for the transition region for the example audio file, 50HzMissingFund. Up to about 1.9 seconds, the sound is an ordinary complex 200 Hz tone with three partials, but after 2.1 seconds it has a partial every 50 Hz starting at 200 Hz and ending at 650 Hz. This latter progression has a 50 Hz frequency—four times smaller than the 200 Hz frequency at the beginning. This longer period can be seen in the trace after 2 seconds. A strong sensation of 50 Hz sound emerges as the new partials come in, but there is no 50, 100, or 150 Hz component at all. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2067
Categorization
- CANDY: A striking, tweetable demonstration: change the pitch you hear by adding frequencies, not removing them.
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2067
- XREF: connects to: Partial masking shifts pitch away from the masker’s spectral region; Complex-tone pitch tracks the spectral pitch of lower components — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 706; Adding lower-frequency sound can decrease perceived sharpness — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 1350 (+10 more)