Listeners perceive missing fundamentals from the harmonics that remain

Evidence

This demonstration shows an example of virtual pitch. A complex tone with a fundamental frequency of 120 Hz and 33 harmonics is presented. Then the signal is bandlimited to 300 Hz-3400 Hz, i.e. only the third to 28th. harmonic is presented. However, the pitch corresponding to the fundamental frequency of 120 Hz can still be perceived. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 3278

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces ‘virtual pitch’ — a central concept in pitch perception models.
• XREF: connects to: The kettledrum outputs a missing-harmonic series yet still conveys a clear pitch — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1306