Re: Perception of sequential tones as simultaneous tones & Bach

[Kevin Austin <kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

With little to support me ... I understand Philip Dorrell's
hypothesis, but to my understanding, hearing "chords" (integration of
vertical sonorities) is (largely) cultural. The example of the Bach
Prelude in C Major from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book I springs to
mind.

The idea that two sequential tones would be perceived as simultaneous
opens up the question of segmentation of auditory streams. If one can
perceive tones 1 and 2 as simultaneous, why not tones 2 & 3, and 3 &
4 ... since in the Bach, with only one exception, only one tone at a
time is sounded, the perception of which notes to 'hear' as
simultaneous, may be (more) a matter of learning and culture than
physiology / neurology.

fast:
( http://www.bachcentral.com/WTCBkI/Prelude1.mid )
slow:
( http://www.kunstderfuge.com/me/bach/wtk/846_0.mid )


Best
Kevin


This follows into / leads from 'compound melodies' (and aspects of
critical bandwidth), and, a previous discussion about segmentation of
speech (phonemes / vowels / consonants).


> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date:    Sat, 25 Jun 2005 04:30:25 -0500
> From:    Emilio Renard <renard_es@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Perception of sequential tones as simultaneous tones.
>
> Dear all:
>
> ...
>
> I would like know if there is some studies about the perception of
> sequentials tones as simultaneous tones.
> ...
>
> Sincerely, Emilio.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Sun, 26 Jun 2005 10:36:09 +1200
> From:    Philip Dorrell <aud@xxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Perception of sequential tones as simultaneous tones.
>
> This may be stating the obvious, but if the notes from a chord are
> played sequentially, and not necessarily very rapidly, then they
> will be heard "as a chord". So, for example, if you play C, E and G
> sequentially, you will perceive the chord C major (=CEG). This implies
> that the response of the neurons in the cortical map (or maps) that
> respond to chords must be somewhat independent of whether the different
> tones involved are simultaneous or sequential (and at least some of the
> neurons involved must have a response function where the neuron
> responding to a particular tone remains active after that tone has
> finished). In which case perception of the chord is not a very good
> criterion for determining perception of simultaneity. (My guess is that
> such a "chord-perception" cortical map actually exists to perceive
> relationships between different pitch values within a single speech
> melody, and because of how it operates, it just happens to be able to
> respond to relationships between simultaneous tones as well.)
>
> Philip Dorrell.