Only the first five to seven harmonics are resolved by the ear’s place mechanism

Evidence

A psychoacoustic description of timbre perception must be based on the nature of the critical bandwidth variation with frequency, since this describes the nature of the spectral analysis carried out by the hearing system. The variation in critical bandwidth is such that it becomes wider with increasing frequency, and the general conclusion was drawn in the section on pitch perception in Chapter 3 (Section 3.2) that no harmonic above about the fifth to seventh is resolved no matter the value of f0. Harmonics below the fifth to seventh are therefore resolved separately by the hearing system (e.g., see Figure 3.11), which suggests that these harmonics might play a distinct and individual role in timbre perception. Harmonics above the fifth or seventh, on the other hand, which are not separately isolated by the hearing system, are not likely to have such a strong individual effect on timbre perception, but could affect it as groups that lie within a particular critical band. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1473 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Only the first five to seven harmonics are resolved regardless of fundamental; Only harmonics separated by more than the ear’s critical bandwidth are resolved; Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are resolved individually by hearing (+5 more)

Related

• Only the first five to seven harmonics are resolved regardless of fundamental (similarity 0.97)
• Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are resolved individually by hearing (similarity 0.96)
• Harmonics resolve only while their spacing exceeds the ear’s ERB (similarity 0.94)
• Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are individually resolved in timbre perception (similarity 0.92)
• Unresolved harmonics smear together as frequency rises (similarity 0.86)
• Timbre reduces to a weighted ratio of fundamental and resolved versus unresolved harmonics (similarity 0.85)
• Timbre perception arises from basilar membrane vibration patterns, not pitch alone (similarity 0.85)
• Place coding of fundamental pitch fails at high frequencies when harmonics smear together (similarity 0.85)
• Only low-numbered harmonics are resolved, higher ones blur together in the internal representation (similarity 0.83)
• A filter resolves a harmonic it is centered on even when bandwidth exceeds spacing (similarity 0.83)
• The auditory system can extract pitch from resolved low-frequency harmonics using place patterns (similarity 0.83)
• Uncertainty principles force mechanical frequency sorting in the ear to be coarse. (similarity 0.83)
• Only harmonics separated by more than the ear’s critical bandwidth are resolved (similarity 0.83)
• Resolved harmonics use place pitch coding while unresolved harmonics use temporal coding (similarity 0.83)
• Hearing analyzes pitch through both place and timing mechanisms (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Only harmonics separated by more than the ear’s critical bandwidth are resolved #corroborates (0.95)
• Harmonics resolve only while their spacing exceeds the ear’s ERB #corroborates (0.92)
• Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are individually resolved in timbre perception #corroborates (0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1473
• The ear switches from place to temporal pitch coding when harmonics stop being resolved #expands (0.80)
• The ear’s frequency selectivity is imperfect and worsens at higher frequencies #qualifies (0.78) — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 477
• Only harmonics below the fifth to seventh are resolved individually by hearing #corroborates (0.75)
• Uncertainty principles force mechanical frequency sorting in the ear to be coarse. #complicates (0.70)