On the Audibility of Transient Pitch Shifts

The audihility of dynamic pitch shifts affects several areas of sound reproduction from the transient behaviour of playback systems to the problems of acquiring pitch information for synthesiser applications.Many «searchers have investigated the Frequency Difference Limen (FDL) for stationary tones and the Frequency Modulation Detection Threshold (FMDT) for dynamic tones.This paper briefly dCSCI'llJtS the work of prCVious authors and details a unified approach to analysis of their results.The techniunes used to normalise FDL and FMDT data to take into account variations in experimental technique, stimuli and parameters are explained.These include the development of thresholds in terms of Pitch, regarded as log frequency.A psychoacunstical experiment intended to test the hypotheses drawn from analysis of the synthesised data is also presented along with its results which are discussed. PITCH DIFFERENCE LXMENSMany authors have published data on the threshold for detection of a frequency difference between two stationary tom: -Frequency Difference Limcn (FDL), A] = I,f.. How the FBI.varirs with the duration of the tones prisented is of particular interest as it relates to a sampling theory of frequency modulation detection.