Humans perceive a fundamental frequency even when it is absent from the signal

Evidence

If the lowest partial(s) of a harmonic tone complex are missing, the pitch of the sound still corresponds to the fundamental frequency of the tone complex. The sound is perceived somewhat differently, as if the colour of sound is a bit thinner, and the pitch strength may be weaker, but in many cases the pitch does not change. The perception of pitch as being the frequency of the missing fundamental is an example of virtual pitch, also known as residue pitch. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1115

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines virtual pitch and missing fundamental perception.
• XREF: Relates to psychoacoustics and could map onto telephone/transducer design where low frequencies are absent but still perceived. — connects to: Sense perception receives forms of things without their matter — Catherine Malabou, The Future of Hegel: Plasticity,…, 433