Listeners reconstruct a perceived pitch that is not physically present

Evidence

If pitch is not determined by periodicity, perhaps then by autocorrelation? Now we are getting somewhere. The first major peak in the autocorrelation after the ever-present peak at time 0 in the preceding example occurs at 0.00956 second, which corresponds to 104.6 Hz. If sounds resolve into several distinct pitches, these will have corresponding peaks in the autocorrelation. Pitch is associated with something more important than the presence or absence of a single partial: its tendency to repeat itself at given intervals. The generalization of this concept to sounds that are not strictly periodic is the autocorrelation function. Periodic signals will always have peaks at multiples of the period that mirror the peak at time zero. The analogs of such periodicity are peaks in the autocorrelation of nonperiodic signals. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2033 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

When we listen to a note played on a musical instrument and we perceive it as having a clear unambiguous musical pitch, this is because that instrument produces an acoustic pressure wave which repeats regularly. … Each section that repeats is known as a “cycle” and the time for which each cycle lasts is known as the “fundamental period” or “period” of the waveform. The number of cycles which occur in one second gives the fundamental frequency of the note in hertz (or Hz). The fundamental frequency is often notated as “f0”, pronounced “F zero” or “F nought”, a practice which will be used throughout the rest of this book. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 774 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Virtual pitch is extracted from separately perceived spectral pitches by Gestalt-style recognition; Sound can be captured as permanent physical markings that encode its pitch; A short pop can still carry a recognizable resonant pitch (+21 more)

Related

• Perceived musical pitch arises from regularly repeating acoustic pressure waves. (similarity 0.91)
• Clear pitch perception depends on periodic repetition of the pressure wave (similarity 0.91)
• Unambiguous pitch perception requires a periodically repeating acoustic waveform (similarity 0.91)
• Periodicity in the acoustic waveform determines whether a sound is perceived as pitched. (similarity 0.91)
• Perceived pitch is set primarily by fundamental frequency. (similarity 0.91)
• Qualitative pitch mirrors the qualitative nature of autocorrelation peaks (similarity 0.90)
• The fundamental frequency of a pitched sound is measurable from its waveform period (similarity 0.89)
• Pitch is a human synthesis keyed to autocorrelation, not pure physics (similarity 0.88)
• Pitch of periodic sounds is determinable from the waveform’s cycle period (similarity 0.88)
• Sound can be captured as permanent physical markings that encode its pitch (similarity 0.88)
• Echoed sounds spaced 1-10 ms generate a perceived pitch of 100-1000 Hz (similarity 0.88)
• Pitch perception corresponds to peaks in the autocorrelation function (similarity 0.88)
• Continuous-spectrum noises like ‘ss’ and ‘sh’ still convey pitch sensations. (similarity 0.87)
• Clear musical pitch arises from regularly repeating acoustic waveforms (similarity 0.87)
• The ear perceives a virtual pitch not physically present in a sound’s components (similarity 0.87)

Broader Connections

• Pitch perception corresponds to peaks in the autocorrelation function #corroborates (0.88) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2033
• Clear pitch perception depends on periodic repetition of the pressure wave #qualifies (0.82) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 774