Loud tones can render simultaneous tones partially or wholly imperceptible

Evidence

When two or more pure tones are heard together an effect known as “masking” can occur, where each individual tone can become more diffi­ cult or impossible to perceive, or it is partially or completely “masked,” due to the presence of another tone. In such a case the tone which causes the masking is known as the “masker” and the tone which is masked is known as the “maskee.” These tones could be individual pure tones, but, given the rarity of such sounds in music, they are more likely to be individual fre­ quency components of a note played on one instrument which mask either other components in that note, or frequency components of another note. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1628

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines masking, the masker, and the maskee — foundational dictionary terms for the discipline.
• XREF: connects to: Simultaneous tones become harder to perceive due to masking effects — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1628; One tone can make another tone inaudible through masking; Barely masked tones alternate audibility near the masked threshold

Broader Connections

• One tone can make another tone inaudible through masking #corroborates (0.98)
• Simultaneous tones become harder to perceive due to masking effects #corroborates (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1628
• Barely masked tones alternate audibility near the masked threshold #qualifies (0.80)