Perceived dissonance arises when nearby harmonics fall within critical bandwidth

Evidence

The dissonance of the chord in each case is related to the entries in the final column, which indicate increased dissonance in the order C, c, d and D; it can be seen that the dissonance increases as the harmonic number increases and the musical interval decreases. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 998 (#expands, via linked claim)

Sound of a given frequency can block our ability to hear softer sounds at nearby frequencies, but distant frequencies are not affected. The threshold for detecting the softer sound is raised by the presence of a louder sound within the same critical bandwidth. Even if the softer sound is audible, it will not seem as loud as it would if played alone. Similarly, two tones that fall within the same critical bandwidth will appear to be less loud together than two tones of the same total energy that fall outside each others’ critical bandwidths. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Clashing tones within one critical band produce roughness that underlies dissonance; Dissonance depends on proportional separation falling inside the critical bandwidth, not absolute frequency difference; Rich complex tones can contain internally dissonant partials without sounding dissonant (+11 more)

Related

• Clashing tones within one critical band produce roughness that underlies dissonance (similarity 0.89)
• Critical bandwidth marks the perceptual shift from rough to smooth tone resolution (similarity 0.86)
• Dissonance depends on musical interval, not a fixed beat rate across frequencies (similarity 0.86)
• Dissonance arises from inconsistent stretch of notes versus partials (similarity 0.86)
• Two tones fuse into one unless their separation exceeds critical bandwidth (similarity 0.85)
• Perceived musical dissonance reduces to roughness from beating partials. (similarity 0.85)
• Chord dissonance rises as harmonic number increases and interval shrinks (similarity 0.85)
• Rich complex tones can contain internally dissonant partials without sounding dissonant (similarity 0.85)
• Consonance judgments rest on psychoacoustic critical bandwidth (similarity 0.85)
• Interval dissonance increases with position higher in the harmonic series (similarity 0.85)
• Consonance and dissonance judgments stem from critical bandwidth mechanics (similarity 0.85)
• Simple integer frequency ratios minimize partial interference and thus dissonance (similarity 0.85)
• Sounds within one critical band cause neural interference producing dissonance (similarity 0.84)
• Peak dissonance between two tones occurs at a quarter critical band separation (similarity 0.84)
• A single tone can be dissonant with its own high harmonics (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Chord dissonance rises as harmonic number increases and interval shrinks #expands (0.92) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 998
• Critical bandwidth marks the perceptual shift from rough to smooth tone resolution #expands (0.85)
• Masking acts within critical bandwidths, leaving distant-frequency sounds unaffected #corroborates (0.75) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2009