Thomas A. Gionfriddo
Graduate Prog. in Acoust., Penn State Univ., University Park, PA 16802
Brett Heinz
Robert D. Celmer
Univ. of Hartford, West Hartford, CT 06117
Just as there are fractals in the visual realm, there can be fractal waveforms produced in the acoustic domain. An investigation based on Schroeder's work [J. Audio Eng. Soc. 37, 795 (1987)], sought to digitally generate waveforms using the Weierstrass function (time domain), as well as the Fibonacci, Golden Mean, and other spectra constructed with constant frequency ratios. Subsequent perceptual studies of these fractal sounds exhibited unusual pitch trends as a result of musical transposition. The implications of the seemingly paradoxical pitch changes in light of the waveform's self-similarities will be discussed and demonstrated.