The pitch perception of bell sounds

J.H. Eggen, A.J.M. Houtsma

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

The physical spectrum of the sound of a bell contains a great number of harmonically unrelated eigenfrequencies (partials). Despite this inharmonicity, one can usually perceive a dear pitch when a bell is struck. In a mistuned bell this strike-note pitch often does not coincide with any frequency present in the spectrum of the sound. This paper describes how the subjective pitch of the strike note is meagured as a function of systematic frequency shift in selected partials. A digital filt ering technique is used to manipulate the sound of a real bell. The octave, the twelfth and the upper octave partials turn out to be the major contributors to the strike-note pitch.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)15-23
Number of pages9
JournalIPO Annual Progress Report
Volume21
Publication statusPublished - 1986

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