Spectral variations inside one critical band alter perceived timbre

Evidence

These bands define the bandwidth over which spectral information is summed for estimates of loudness and in the simultaneous masking of tonal signals by broadband noise. But they also define the separation required for two adjacent tones to be individually identifiable. The bandwidth is quite large, ranging from about 40 to 100 Hz at 100 Hz, to about 140 to 180 Hz at 1 kHz, to about 1000 to 2500 Hz at 10 kHz, in a slightly curved line. Within these bands multiple tones (which can be fundamentals and overtones of musical sounds) beat with each other and also generate a perceptual quality called “roughness” (see Figure 9.13). Beats and differences in roughness contribute to the distinctiveness of sounds—their timbre—and so timbre can be changed if the reproducing system has spectral variations occurring within a single critical band or ERBN. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 962

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Moore’s ERBN work and the psychoacoustic accounting of roughness/beats — relevant to the reader’s model-building interest in how reproduction systems shift timbre. — connects to: Masked spectral components do not contribute to perceived timbre — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1645; Timbre perception can be analyzed through component-to-component masking interactions — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1645