The critical band concept is the key to understanding perceived pitch, loudness, and timbre

Evidence

Psychoacoustics is the study of how humans perceive sound. … This chapter introduces the main anatomical structures of the human hearing system that form the path along which incoming music signals travel up to the point where the signal is carried by nerve fibers from the ear(s) to the brain. It also introduces the concept of “critical bands,” which is the single most important psychoacoustic principle for an understanding of the perception of music and other sounds in terms of pitch, loudness and timbre. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 508 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

While the periods and therefore the f0 val­ ues of these notes are similar, their waveform shapes are very different. The perceived pitch of each of these notes will be A4 and the distinctive sound of each of these instruments is related to the differences in the detailed shape of their acoustic pressure waveforms, which is how listeners recog­ nize the difference between, for example, a violin, a clarinet and an oboe. This is because acoustic pressure variations produced by a musical instru­ ment that impinge on the listener’s tympanic membrane are responsible for the pattern of vibration set up on the basilar membrane of that ear. It is this pattern of vibration that is then analyzed in terms of the frequency components of which they are comprised (see Chapter 2). If the pattern of vibration on the basilar membrane varies when comparing different sounds, for example from a violin and a clarinet, then the sounds are per­ ceived as having a different “timbre” (see Chapter 5) whether or not they have the same pitch. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 783 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Critical bands govern tonal discrimination and timbre, not overall hearing resolution; Critical bands are the most important psychoacoustic principle for music perception — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 508; Musicians describe sounds using pitch, loudness, and timbre descriptors (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Critical bands are the most important psychoacoustic principle for music perception #corroborates (0.90) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 508
• Musicians describe sounds using pitch, loudness, and timbre descriptors #expands (0.75)
• Timbre perception arises from basilar membrane vibration patterns, not pitch alone #qualifies (0.75) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 783
• Perceived loudness and physical sound intensity follow different, non-intuitive mathematical scales #complicates (0.70) — George Michelsen Foy, Zero Decibels, 53