Abstract
Melodies, speech, and other stimuli that vary in pitch are processed
largely in terms of the relative pitch differences between sounds.
Relative representations permit recognition of pitch patterns despite
variations in overall pitch level between instruments or speakers.
A key component of relative pitch is the sequence of pitch increases
and decreases from note to note, known as the melodic contour. Here
we report that contour representations are also produced by patterns
in loudness and brightness (an aspect of timbre). The representations
of contours in different dimensions evidently have much in common,
as contours in one dimension can be readily recognized in other dimensions.
Moreover, contours in loudness and brightness are nearly as useful
as pitch contours for recognizing familiar melodies that are normally
conveyed via pitch. Our results indicate that relative representations
via contour extraction are a general feature of the auditory system,
and may have a common central locus.
- (psychology),recognition
- (psychology):
- acoustic
- adult,contour,music,perception,pitch
- analysis,young
- and
- curve,recognition
- discrimination,pitch
- discrimination:
- methods,adult,female,humans,intuition,intuition:
- perception,pitch
- perception:
- performance
- physiology,male,pitch
- physiology,pitch
- physiology,roc
- physiology,task
- stimulation,acoustic
- stimulation:
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