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Re: ***SPAM*** Re: [AUDITORY] Auditory wheel



So, if you're prepared to accept that a sampling of people with perfect pitch (which represents roughly 1 in 10000 of the population) is a valid sample of general perception then I guess that's it then.

Since there doesn't seem to be the equivalent which I suppose is "perfect 'color" and that the general population can figure a color wheel (excepting of course those unfortunate to be color blind, etc) then it seems the use of APers is intrinsically skewing the perception, since by definition they are "different".

This question seems to be very similar to another that is close to my heart - that is the judgement of an audio systems 'fidelity'. Take ten different pairs of $5000 loudspeakers and ask 20 people to score them on fidelity.... Fidelity is one of those intangible (and subjective) criteria that is impossible to measure. You might get a consensus but there is no "right" answer.

- Neil


On Mar 19, 2010, at 11:42 AM, Martin Braun wrote:

Dear Michael, and others,

all the problems with Shepard tones that you mentioned disappear at once and completely, if you take experimental subjects that have absolute pitch (APers). See below:


 I considered Shepard tones in rhythm as well as Risset's variants in
pitch.  From a preliminary trial, it seemed difficult for subjects to
determine consistent perceptual boundaries in the cycle.

APers have perceptual boundaries that are as stable and as automatic as color boundaries in the general population.


We're interested where people innately segregate sensory inputs along the wheel, be it in vision or audition.

Exactly this is what APers do.


With color, these boundary determinations are quite repeatable. With sound, Shepard tones seemed to make the problem quite difficult; it may simply be, however, that subjects were given insufficient exposure.

More exposure would not help. But with APers you will see that the boundaries will probably be even more precisely repeatable than with the color wheel.

Good luck.

Martin

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Martin Braun
Neuroscience of Music
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Sweden
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Subject: Re: Auditory wheel
From:    "Michael H. Coen"  <mhcoen@xxxxxxxx>
Date:    Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:17:36 -0500
List-Archive:<http://lists.mcgill.ca/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=AUDITORY>