Pitch of harmonic sounds is determined by the fundamental frequency.

Evidence

Observations of the pitch of complex sounds have been conducted over many centuries. Helmholtz, though not the first to make these observations, had a clear impact on the theories of pitch perception. A particularly notable observation from his time is that a complex tone produced a pitch that was similar to a tone with a frequency that matched the fundamental frequency of the complex tone. Consider the trumpet note (C4) illustrated in Figure 6–1. In general, someone would hear the pitch of this note as corresponding to middle C. Any instrument playing a note with the same fundamental frequency (261 Hz in this case), would also be perceived as having the same pitch. From observations such as these, we know that the pitch of a complex, harmonic sound is determined by the fundamental frequency. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1282

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the core observation that pitch of complex tones tracks fundamental frequency.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1282
• XREF: connects to: Harmonic complex tones dominate daily life through speech and music; Siren hole geometry directly determines pitch and tuned intervals.; Harmonic tones are integer multiples of a fundamental frequency — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1180 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived pitch is set primarily by fundamental frequency. #corroborates (1.00)
• The fundamental frequency of a pitched sound is measurable from its waveform period #corroborates (0.95) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 891
• Pitch of periodic sounds is determinable from the waveform’s cycle period #corroborates (0.95) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 909
• Pitch perception depends on harmonics being integer multiples of the fundamental #expands (0.90) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 864
• Pitch correlates with frequency but is also slightly level-dependent #qualifies (0.85)
• Clear musical pitch arises from regularly repeating acoustic waveforms #corroborates (0.85)
• The auditory system performs pitch analysis as autocorrelation per sub-band, summed into a correlogram. #expands (0.80)
• Place coding of fundamental pitch fails at high frequencies when harmonics smear together #qualifies (0.75)