perception of subharmonics (Chen-gia TSAI )

Subject: perception of subharmonics
From:    Chen-gia TSAI  <gia(at)SNAFU.DE>
Date:    Sun, 27 Apr 2003 13:10:52 +0800

Dear list,

I am exploring the effect of the lowest two subharmonic components (f0/2 and 3f0/2) on the pitch perception. A sound file (http://server37.hypermart.net/berlin-music/ex/abc.wav) contains three tones A B C. It seems that B is an octave higher than A, and C is an octave higher than B. However, if we listen to AC, C is only an octave higher than A.

For complex tones containing subharmonics, I use autocorrelation to estimate the pitch strength of f0 and f0/2. My first question is: are pitch models in frequency-domain also able to estimate the pitch strength of f0 and f0/2?
My second question is: why the compound interval of two octaves (A-B and B-C) is equal to an octave (A-C)?

Any suggestions and/or references are much appreciated.

Chen-Gia Tsai
gia(at)snafu.de