Removing low harmonics from a complex tone leaves its pitch unchanged.

Evidence

When we use the GCF to calculate the fundamental frequency, we notice that removing the lowest frequency of the stimulus does not alter the fundamental frequency. For example, the harmonics of 522, 783, and 1044 still have a GCF of 261 Hz. The effects of removing low-frequency components from a complex tone are illustrated in Figure 6–2. This complex tone has a fundamental frequency of 200 Hz. The top panels illustrate the effects of removing low-frequency harmonics from the sound spectrum. The bottom panels show the waveforms of each of the corresponding sound spectra. As the top panels illustrate, removing the low-frequency harmonics does not alter the spacing between the other spectral components, keeping the GCF and, therefore, the f0 intact. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 1192

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to audiology textbooks’ ‘residue pitch’ and to how phone speakers compress speech so fundamental isn’t physically present. — connects to: The kettledrum outputs a missing-harmonic series yet still conveys a clear pitch — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1306