NOISE MASKING OF A CHANGE IN RESIDUE PITCH

A comparison was made of the effectiveness of noise in masking (1) a change in the frequency of a sinusoid, and (2) a change in the repetition rate of a pulse train that had no low frequency energy. The sinusoid and the pulse train had the same pitch. It was found that, whereas the change in the pitch of the sinusoid was better masked by low frequency noise, the change in the residue pitch produced by the filtered pulse train was more easily masked by high frequency noise. These results replicate the findings of Small and Campbell (1961). We conclude as they did that the basis for the residue pitch of the pulse train is its high frequency components. In a second experiment, a pair of sinusoids was used to produce the residue pitch. The same masking technique was employed, and again the results indicate that the residue pitch is not based on a nonlinear distortion component, but rather is based on information being transmitted through high frequency components (2100 Hz). © 1969, Acoustical Society of America. All rights reserved.