PSYCH 2E03 Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Music Perception
25 Feb 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Musical instruments produce complex tones composed of a fundamental frequency and a series of harmonics. The pitch sensation produced by a musical pitch is identical to the pitch of its fundamental frequency (missing fundamental) Each harmonic produces a traveling wave in the basilar membrane: peaks at tonotopic frequency. Max displacement at the apex fundamental frequency. 2:1 frequency ratio = similar pitch: interval encompassed by two tones that differ in pitch but sound a like. Musical tones are represented by letters (not in hz: system repeats tones one octave apart sound similar, an octave is divided into discrete pitch intervals. Relative position of a tone = tone chroma: each octave has 12 equal divisions (semitones, semitones can be further divided into cents. Why do different instruments sound different when playing the same. Same fundamental frequency and activating the same harmonics, how are they different: amplitude of each frequency is different.
