Re: Upside down noise

[Al Bregman <bregman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 6 Aug 1998, Pierre Divenyi wrote:
>
> I have a different question: Von Hornbostel is credited with describing the
> following situation: a bird singing (presumably sinusoidally) on a branch
> is perceived as if it were flying from right to left as the frequency of
> its song varies (presumably not too fast). Provided v. H. is right, how
> could that phenomenon be explained? I presume there were no reflecting
> surfaces near the bird.
>

If this is just a one-time observation of Von Hornbostel's personal
experience, my first guess would be that since localization at high
frequencies depends largely on interaural intensity differences, that Von
Hornbostel had a frequency region of lowered sensitivity in his right ear,
and as the song entered that region, the song moved to the other side.

Was the observation ever confirmed with other listeners?


Al

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