Subject: Re: Perception of sequential tones as simultaneous tones & Bach From: Kevin Austin <kevin.austin(at)VIDEOTRON.CA> Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 14:24:12 -0400With 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(at)YAHOO.COM> >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(at)1729.COM> >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. >