Pitch of Complex Tones

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Abstract
The question of whether the pitch of complex tones is based either on the frequency of the fundamental or on the periodicity of the sound as a whole was studied. Fifteen nalve subjects compared the stimuli A =[image] an cos (2n nft) and B =[image] an cos[image] ancos[image] and had to decide which of the 2 stimuli, presented successively during 200-msec intervals, was higher in pitch. For m = l (fundamental of B was 10% lower in frequency than that of A, and all other harmonics were 10% higher in frequency than A) the pitch changed according to the harmonics for f < 1400 Hz and according to the fundamental for f > 1400 Hz. For m = 2, 3, and 4, the corresponding transition frequency was about 700, 350, and < 125 Hz, respectively. This holds for both an= 1 and an= 1/n. The pitch of complex tones is apparently based on periodicity rather than on frequency. The description of the experiments is preceded by a historical review.

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