The Tone Height of Multiharmonic Sounds

Multiharmonic tones containing resolved harmonics (1–7) of a fundamental, unresolved harmonics (8–24) of a fundamental, or both resolved and unresolved harmonics (1–24) were presented to listeners at each of six octaves ranging from 32 to 1024 Hz. There also were modified versions of each stimulus in which alternate harmonics were either attenuated or phase shifted. Listeners were asked to judge the tone height of the sounds when presented in a musical context. The results show that all three manipulations can affect tone height and that stimuli with the same period produce tone-height perceptions that differ by more than an octave!