Processing advantages for sequential pure tones related by small integer frequency ratios

1993 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 2316-2316
Author(s):  
E. Glenn Schellenberg ◽  
Sandra E. Trehub
Keyword(s):  
Small Integer ◽  
Pure Tones ◽  
Frequency Ratios

Natural Musical Intervals: Evidence From Infant Listeners

1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 272-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Glenn Schellenberg ◽  
Sandra E. Trehub
Keyword(s):  
Small Integer ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Pure Tones ◽  
Simultaneous Intervals ◽  
Frequency Ratios

Ancient and medieval scholars considered tones related by simple (small-integer) ratios to be naturally pleasing, but contemporary scholars attribute the special perceptual status of such sounds to exposure We investigated the possibility of processing predispositions for some tone combinations by evaluating infants' ability to detect subtle changes to patterns of simultaneous and sequential tones Infants detected such changes to pairs of pure tones (intervals) only when the tones were related by simple frequency ratios This was the case for 9-month-old infants tested with harmonic (simultaneous) intervals and for 6-month-old infants tested with melodic (sequential) intervals These results are consistent with a biological basis for the prevalence of particular intervals historically and cross-culturally

scholarly journals Interval singing links to phenotypic quality in a songbird

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (45) ◽  
pp. 12763-12767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinz Richner
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Sensory Feedback ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Parus Major ◽  
Harmonic Series ◽  
Small Integer ◽  
Phenotypic Quality ◽  
Frequency Ratios ◽  
Direct Use

Darwin was fascinated by melodic performances of insects, fish, birds, mammals, and men. He considered the ability to produce musical notes without direct use the most mysterious endowment of mankind. Bird song is attributed to sexual selection, but it remains unknown how the expected relationship between melodic performance and phenotypic quality arises. Melodies consist of sequences of notes, and both Pythagoras and music theorists in the Middle Ages found that their tonal frequencies form simple ratios that correspond to small-integer proportions derived from the harmonic series. Harmonics are acoustically predictable, and thus form the basis of the natural, just tuning system in music. Here I analyze the songs of the great tit (Parus major), a bird with a stereotyped song of typically two notes, and test the prediction that the deviations of the intervals from small-integer frequency ratios based on the harmonic series are related to the quality of the singer. I show that the birds with the smallest deviations from small-integer ratios possess the largest melanin-based black ventral tie, a signal that has been demonstrated to indicate social status and dominance, past exposure to parasites, and reproductive potential. The singing of notes with exact frequency relationships requires high levels of motor control and auditory sensory feedback. The finding provides a missing link between melodic precision and phenotypic quality of individuals, which is key for understanding the evolution of vocal melodic expression in animals, and elucidates pathways for the evolution of melodic expression in music.

Hearing in Mice via GSR Audiometry

1963 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles I. Berlin
Keyword(s):  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Sound Pressure ◽  
Single Units ◽  
Sensitivity Curve ◽  
Basic Tool ◽  
Eighth Nerve ◽  
Pure Tones ◽  
Conditioned Responses ◽  
Frequency Intensity ◽  
Near Threshold

Hearing in mice has been difficult to measure behaviorally. With GSR as the basic tool, the sensitivity curve to pure tones in mice has been successfully outlined. The most sensitive frequency-intensity combination was 15 000 cps at 0-5 dB re: 0.0002 dyne/cm 2 , with responses noted from 1 000 to beyond 70 000 cps. Some problems of reliability of conditioning were encountered, as well as findings concerning the inverse relationship between the size of GSR to unattenuated tones and the sound pressure necessary to elicit conditioned responses at or near threshold. These data agree well with the sensitivity of single units of the eighth nerve of the mouse.

Role of pinnae and head movements in localizing pure tones 1The authors would like to thank Mr. Remi Humbert for implementing the experiment in Turbo Pascal and for his further assistance.

1999 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara S. Muller ◽  
Pierre Bovet
Keyword(s):  
Sound Source ◽  
Head Movement ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Head Movements ◽  
Sound Sources ◽  
Localization Accuracy ◽  
Sound Effects ◽  
Posterior Quadrant ◽  
Localization Performance ◽  
Pure Tones

Twelve blindfolded subjects localized two different pure tones, randomly played by eight sound sources in the horizontal plane. Either subjects could get information supplied by their pinnae (external ear) and their head movements or not. We found that pinnae, as well as head movements, had a marked influence on auditory localization performance with this type of sound. Effects of pinnae and head movements seemed to be additive; the absence of one or the other factor provoked the same loss of localization accuracy and even much the same error pattern. Head movement analysis showed that subjects turn their face towards the emitting sound source, except for sources exactly in the front or exactly in the rear, which are identified by turning the head to both sides. The head movement amplitude increased smoothly as the sound source moved from the anterior to the posterior quadrant.

Loudness perception for pure tones and for speech

1950 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Donald Harris ◽  
Cecil K. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Pure Tones

Absolute Pitch and Its Frequency Range

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Rakowski ◽  
Piotr Rogowski
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Random Order ◽  
Absolute Pitch ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Musical Scale ◽  
Loudness Level ◽  
Pure Tones ◽  
Upper Boundary

AbstractThis paper has two distinct parts. Section 1 includes general discussion of the phenomenon of "absolute pitch" (AP), and presentation of various concepts concerning definitions of "full", "partial" and "pseudo" AP. Sections 2-4 include presentation of the experiment concerning frequency range in which absolute pitch appears, and discussion of the experimental results. The experiment was performed with participation of 9 AP experts selected from the population of 250 music students as best scoring in the pitch-naming piano-tone screening tests. Each subject had to recognize chromas of 108 pure tones representing the chromatic musical scale of nine octaves from E0 to D#9. The series of 108 tones was presented to each subject 60 times in random order, diotically, with loudness level about 65 phon. Percentage of correct recognitions (PC) for each tone was computed. The frequency range for the existence of absolute pitch in pure tones, perceived by sensitive AP possessors stretches usually over 5 octaves from about 130.6 Hz (C3) to about 3.951 Hz (B7). However, it was noted that in a single case, the upper boundary of AP was 9.397 Hz (D9). The split-halves method was applied to estimate the reliability of the obtained results.

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