Resonantly enhancing one high partial produces a perceptually separate note

Evidence

Figure 23.6 The sound trace for the transition region for the example audio file, 50HzMissingFund. Up to about 1.9 seconds, the sound is an ordinary complex 200 Hz tone with three partials, but after 2.1 seconds it has a partial every 50 Hz starting at 200 Hz and ending at 650 Hz. This latter progression has a 50 Hz frequency—four times smaller than the 200 Hz frequency at the beginning. This longer period can be seen in the trace after 2 seconds. A strong sensation of 50 Hz sound emerges as the new partials come in, but there is no 50, 100, or 150 Hz component at all. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2067 (#complicates, via linked claim)

In this experiment, the rising arpeggio shown as response (A) is perceived as expected for stimulus (A) when all the note timbres are the same. However, the response changes to two separate falling arpeggii, shown as response (B), if note timbres are alternated between two timbres represented by the different notehead shapes, and “the difference in timbres is increased” as shown for stimulus (B). This is described as timbral streaming (e.g., Bregman, 1990). — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1629 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Accentuating individual harmonics makes them perceptually break away as separate notes; Adding higher partials can drop the perceived pitch of a tone — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2067; Alternating timbres can split a single melodic line into separate perceived streams — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1629 (+1 more)

Related

• Alternating timbres can split a single melodic line into separate perceived streams (similarity 0.90)
• Adding higher partials can drop the perceived pitch of a tone (similarity 0.85)
• The ear groups alternating notes into separate streams based on timbre differences. (similarity 0.85)
• Accentuating individual harmonics makes them perceptually break away as separate notes (similarity 0.83)
• Attentive focus on a particular timbre changes which auditory stream the ear follows. (similarity 0.82)
• Mixing noise with its own delayed copy can create a sense of pitch (similarity 0.82)
• A perceived pitch can exist with no partial at its own frequency. (similarity 0.80)
• Extra partials anchor complex-tone pitch against loudness-induced shift (similarity 0.80)
• Perceived pitch persists even when the matching frequency partial is absent (similarity 0.80)
• Highest common factor of partials encodes perceived pitch (similarity 0.80)
• Partial masking shifts pitch away from the masker’s spectral region (similarity 0.80)
• Even nonperiodic noise sounds convey a weak pitch sensation based on spectral energy distribution (similarity 0.79)
• A sound can rise in pitch forever without ever rising in frequency (similarity 0.79)
• Timbre perception arises from basilar membrane vibration patterns, not pitch alone (similarity 0.79)
• A combined waveform can produce a perceived pitch absent from its actual frequency components (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Accentuating individual harmonics makes them perceptually break away as separate notes #corroborates (0.95)
• Adding higher partials can drop the perceived pitch of a tone #complicates (0.80) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2067
• Alternating timbres can split a single melodic line into separate perceived streams #expands (0.72) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1629