Absolute pitch is disrupted by a memory illusion.

An experiment is reported, showing that short-term memory for pitch in absolute pitch (AP) possessors, while substantially more accurate than in AP nonpossessors, is also subject to illusory conjunctions of pitch and time and so can be distorted or enhanced by a single tone embedded in a sequence of six other tones. Both AP possessors and AP nonpossessors performed a short-term memory task. A test tone was presented, then a sequence of six intervening tones, and then a probe tone. The test and probe tones either were identical in pitch or differed by a semitone. The AP nonpossessors judged whether the test and probe tones were the same or different, and the AP possessors identified the test and probe tones by name. In some conditions, a tone of identical pitch to the probe tone or an octave removed from this tone was included in the intervening sequence. In both the AP possessors and AP nonpossessors, this illusion-producing tone increased judgments that the test and probe tones were identical. These results accord with a model of the system underlying short-term memory for pitch proposed earlier and show that this system is bidimensional in nature, involving both pitch height and pitch class.

Absolute pitch among students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music: a large-scale direct-test study.

This paper reports a large-scale direct-test study of absolute pitch (AP) in students at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Overall note-naming scores were very high, with high scores correlating positively with early onset of musical training. Students who had begun training at age ≤5 yr scored 83% correct not allowing for semitone errors and 90% correct allowing for semitone errors. Performance levels were higher for white key pitches than for black key pitches. This effect was greater for orchestral performers than for pianists, indicating that it cannot be attributed to early training on the piano. Rather, accuracy in identifying notes of different names (C, C#, D, etc.) correlated with their frequency of occurrence in a large sample of music taken from the Western tonal repertoire. There was also an effect of pitch range, so that performance on tones in the two-octave range beginning on Middle C was higher than on tones in the octave below Middle C. In addition, semitone errors tended to be on the sharp side. The evidence also ran counter to the hypothesis, previously advanced by others, that the note A plays a special role in pitch identification judgments.

On-line perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3: evidence from eye movements.

Using the visual world paradigm, the present study investigated on-line processing of fine-grained pitch information prior to lexical access in a tone language; specifically how lexical tone perception of Mandarin Tones 2 and 3 was influenced by the pitch height of the tone at onset, turning point, and offset. Native speakers of Mandarin listened to manipulated tone tokens and selected the corresponding word from four visually presented words (objects in Experiment 1 and characters in Experiment 2) while their eye movements were monitored. The results showed that 87% of ultimate tone judgments were made according to offset pitch height. Tokens with high offset pitch were identified as Tone 2, and low offset pitch as Tone 3. A low turning point pitch served as a pivotal cue for Tone 3, and prompted more eye fixations on Tone 3 items, until the offset pitch directed significantly more fixations to the final tone choice. The findings support the view that lexical tone perception is an incremental process, in which pitch height at critical points serves as an important cue.

Absolute pitch is associated with a large auditory digit span: a clue to its genesis.

Auditory and visual digit span tests were administered to a group of absolute pitch (AP) possessors, and a group of AP nonpossessors matched for age, and for age of onset and duration of musical training. All subjects were speakers of English. The AP possessors substantially and significantly outperformed the nonpossessors on the auditory test, while the two groups did not differ significantly on the visual test. It is conjectured that a large auditory memory span, including memory for speech sounds, facilitates the development of associations between pitches and their verbal labels early in life, so promoting the acquisition of AP.

Speech versus song: multiple pitch-sensitive areas revealed by a naturally occurring musical illusion.

It is normally obvious to listeners whether a human vocalization is intended to be heard as speech or song. However, the 2 signals are remarkably similar acoustically. A naturally occurring boundary case between speech and song has been discovered where a spoken phrase sounds as if it were sung when isolated and repeated. In the present study, an extensive search of audiobooks uncovered additional similar examples, which were contrasted with samples from the same corpus that do not sound like song, despite containing clear prosodic pitch contours. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that hearing these 2 closely matched stimuli is not associated with differences in response of early auditory areas. Rather, we find that a network of 8 regions, including the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) just anterior to Heschl's gyrus and the right midposterior STG, respond more strongly to speech perceived as song than to mere speech. This network overlaps a number of areas previously associated with pitch extraction and song production, confirming that phrases originally intended to be heard as speech can, under certain circumstances, be heard as song. Our results suggest that song processing compared with speech processing makes increased demands on pitch processing and auditory-motor integration.

Bis(dimethyl sulfoxide-κO)tetra-kis-(µ2-3,4,5-tri-meth-oxy-benzoato-κ(2) O:O')dizinc.

The colourless title complex, [Zn2(C10H11O5)4(C2H6OS)2], crystallizes with one half-mol-ecule in the asymmetric unit, the other half of the mol-ecule being generated by a crystallographic inversion center. The structure shows a µ2-O:O'-bridging mode of the four 3,4,5-tri-meth-oxy-benzoate ligands finally stabilizing the two Zn(II) atoms in the dinuclear complex in a distorted square-pyramidal environment. The fifth coord-in-ation site in the apical position of the pyramid is occupied by a coordinating dimethyl sulfoxide solvent mol-ecule equally disordered over two positions.

Illusory transformation from speech to song.

An illusion is explored in which a spoken phrase is perceptually transformed to sound like song rather than speech, simply by repeating it several times over. In experiment I, subjects listened to ten presentations of the phrase and judged how it sounded on a five-point scale with endpoints marked "exactly like speech" and "exactly like singing." The initial and final presentations of the phrase were identical. When the intervening presentations were also identical, judgments moved solidly from speech to song. However, this did not occur when the intervening phrases were transposed slightly or when the syllables were presented in jumbled orderings. In experiment II, the phrase was presented either once or ten times, and subjects repeated it back as they finally heard it. Following one presentation, the subjects repeated the phrase back as speech; however, following ten presentations they repeated it back as song. The pitch values of the subjects' renditions following ten presentations were closer to those of the original spoken phrase than were the pitch values following a single presentation. Furthermore, the renditions following ten presentations were even closer to a hypothesized representation in terms of a simple tonal melody than they were to the original spoken phrase.

Absolute pitch correlates with high performance on interval naming tasks.

Absolute pitch, the rare ability to identify or produce a musical tone without a reference tone, has been shown to be advantageous in some musical tasks; however, its relevance in musical contexts primarily involving relative pitch has been questioned. To explore this issue, 36 trained musicians-18 absolute pitch possessors and 18 non-possessors with equivalent age of onset and duration of musical training-were tested on interval naming tasks requiring only relative pitch. The intervals to be named were either ascending or descending with separation ranging from 1 to 12 semitones and equally involved all 12 pitch classes. Three different conditions were employed; these used brief sine waves, piano tones, and piano tones preceded by a V7-I chord cadence so as to establish a tonal context. The possession of absolute pitch was strongly correlated with enhanced performance on all these tests of relative pitch. Furthermore, no evidence was found that this absolute pitch avantage depended on key, interval size, or musical context.

Faster decline of pitch memory over time in congenital amusia.

Congenital amusia (amusia, hereafter) is a developmental disorder that impacts negatively on the perception of music. Psychophysical testing suggests that individuals with amusia have above average thresholds for detection of pitch change and pitch direction discrimination; however, a low-level auditory perceptual problem cannot completely explain the disorder, since discrimination of melodies is also impaired when the constituent intervals are suprathreshold for perception. The aim of the present study was to test pitch memory as a function of (a) time and (b) tonal interference, in order to determine whether pitch traces are inherently weaker in amusic individuals. Memory for the pitch of single tones was compared using two versions of a paradigm developed by Deutsch (1970a). In both tasks, participants compared the pitch of a standard (S) versus a comparison (C) tone. In the time task, the S and C tones were presented, separated in time by 0, 1, 5, 10, and 15 s (blocked presentation). In the interference task, the S and C tones were presented with a fixed time interval (5 s) but with a variable number of irrelevant tones in between 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 tones (blocked presentation). In the time task, control performance remained high for all time intervals, but amusics showed a performance decrement over time. In the interference task, controls and amusics showed a similar performance decrement with increasing number of irrelevant tones. Overall, the results suggest that the pitch representations of amusic individuals are less stable and more prone to decay than those of matched non-amusic individuals.

Absolute pitch correlates with high performance on musical dictation.

Absolute pitch (AP)--the ability to name a musical note in the absence of a reference note--is a rare ability whose relevance to musical proficiency has so far been unclear. Sixty trained musicians--thirty who self-reported AP and thirty with equivalent age of onset and duration of musical training--were administered a test for AP and also a musical dictation test not requiring AP. Performance on both types of test were highly correlated (r=.81, p<.001). When subjects were divided into three groups based on their performance on the AP test, highly significant differences between the groups emerged. Those who clearly possessed AP showed remarkably high performance on the musical dictation test, the scores of those without AP varied widely, and the performance of the intermediate group of borderline AP possessors fell between that of clear AP possessors and clear nonpossessors. The findings support the hypothesis that AP is associated with proficiency in performing other musical tasks, and run counter to the claim that it confers a disadvantage in the processing of relative pitch.

The pitch levels of female speech in two Chinese villages.

The pitch levels of female speech in two villages situated in a relatively remote area of China were compared. The dialects spoken in the two villages are similar to Standard Mandarin, and all subjects had learned to read and speak Standard Mandarin at school. Subjects read out a passage of roughly 3.25 min in Standard Mandarin, and pitch values were obtained at 5-ms intervals. The overall pitch levels in the two villages differed significantly, supporting the conjecture that pitch levels of speech are influenced by a mental representation acquired through long-term exposure to the speech of others.

Absolute pitch among students in an American music conservatory: association with tone language fluency.

Absolute pitch (AP), the ability to name a musical note in the absence of a reference note, is extremely rare in the U.S. and Europe, and its genesis is unclear. The prevalence of AP was examined among students in an American music conservatory as a function of age of onset of musical training, ethnicity, and fluency in speaking a tone language. Taking those of East Asian ethnicity, the performance level on a test of AP was significantly higher among those who spoke a tone language very fluently compared with those who spoke a tone language fairly fluently and also compared with those who were not fluent in speaking a tone language. The performance level of this last group did not differ significantly from that of Caucasian students who spoke only nontone language. Early onset of musical training was associated with enhanced performance, but this did not interact with the effect of language. Further analyses showed that the results could not be explained by country of early music education. The findings support the hypothesis that the acquisition of AP by tone language speakers involves the same process as occurs in the acquisition of a second tone language.

Pitch circularity from tones comprising full harmonic series.

This paper describes an algorithm for producing pitch circularity using tones that each comprise a full harmonic series, and reports an experiment that demonstrates such circularity. Banks of 12 tones (i.e., scales) were created, with F0 varying in semitone steps. For each scale, as F0 descended, the amplitudes of the odd-numbered harmonics were reduced relative to the even-numbered ones by 3.5 dB for each semitone step. In consequence, the tone with the lowest F0 was heard as though displaced up an octave. In an experiment employing two such scales, all possible ordered tone pairs from each scale were presented, making 132 ordered tone pairs for each scale. Sixteen subjects judged for each tone pair whether the second tone was higher or lower than the first. The data derived from these pairwise comparisons were subjected to Kruskal's nonmetric multidimensional scaling, and excellent circularities were obtained. Individual differences in the subjects' judgments were also explored. The findings support the argument that musical pitch should be characterized as varying along two dimensions: the monotonic dimension of pitch height and the circular dimension of pitch class.

The glissando illusion and handedness.

This article reports the first study of the glissando illusion, which was created and published as a sound demonstration by Deutsch [Deutsch, D. (1995). Musical illusions and paradoxes. La Jolla: Philomel Records (compact disc)]. To experience the illusion, each subject was seated in front of two stereophonically separated loudspeakers, with one to his left and the other to his right. A sound pattern was presented that consisted of a synthesized oboe tone of constant pitch, together with a sine wave whose pitch repeatedly glided up and down (the glissando). These two components alternated continuously between the loudspeakers such that when the oboe tone emanated from the loudspeaker on the left, the glissando emanated from the loudspeaker on the right; and vice versa. The oboe tone was perceived correctly as switching between loudspeakers; however, the segments of the glissando appeared to be joined together seamlessly, such that a single, continuous tone was heard, which appeared to be moving slowly around in space in accordance with its pitch motion. Right-handers (n=22) tended strongly to hear the glissando move between left and right, and also between low and high in space, as its pitch moved between low and high. More specifically, it was frequently heard as tracing an elliptical path aligned diagonally between a position low and to the left when its pitch was lowest, and high and to the right when its pitch was highest. Non-right-handers (n=42) perceived the illusion in statistically different ways. The handedness correlates and other implications of the glissando illusion are discussed.

Music perception.

This chapter explores the relationship between music perception as it is studied in the laboratory and as it occurs in the real world. We first examine general principles by which listeners group musical tones into perceptual configurations, and how these principles are implemented in music composition and performance. We then show that, for certain types of configuration, the music as it is perceived can differ substantially from the music that is notated in the score, or as might be imagined from reading the score. Furthermore, there are striking differences between listeners in the perception of certain musical passages. Implications of these findings are discussed.

No disillusions in auditory extinction: perceiving a melody comprised of unperceived notes.

The formation of coherent percepts requires grouping together spatio-temporally disparate sensory inputs. Two major questions arise: (1) is awareness necessary for this process; and (2) can non-conscious elements of the sensory input be grouped into a conscious percept? To address this question, we tested two patients suffering from severe left auditory extinction following right hemisphere damage. In extinction, patients are unaware of the presence of left side stimuli when they are presented simultaneously with right side stimuli. We used the 'scale illusion' to test whether extinguished tones on the left can be incorporated into the content of conscious awareness. In the scale illusion, healthy listeners obtain the illusion of distinct melodies, which are the result of grouping of information from both ears into illusory auditory streams. We show that the two patients were susceptible to the scale illusion while being consciously unaware of the stimuli presented on their left. This suggests that awareness is not necessary for auditory grouping and non-conscious elements can be incorporated into a conscious percept.

Absolute pitch among American and Chinese conservatory students: prevalence differences, and evidence for a speech-related critical period.

Absolute pitch is extremely rare in the U.S. and Europe; this rarity has so far been unexplained. This paper reports a substantial difference in the prevalence of absolute pitch in two normal populations, in a large-scale study employing an on-site test, without self-selection from within the target populations. Music conservatory students in the U.S. and China were tested. The Chinese subjects spoke the tone language Mandarin, in which pitch is involved in conveying the meaning of words. The American subjects were nontone language speakers. The earlier the age of onset of musical training, the greater the prevalence of absolute pitch; however, its prevalence was far greater among the Chinese than the U.S. students for each level of age of onset of musical training. The findings suggest that the potential for acquiring absolute pitch may be universal, and may be realized by enabling infants to associate pitches with verbal labels during the critical period for acquisition of features of their native language.

The octave illusion revisited again.

The octave illusion (D. Deutsch, 1974) occurs when 2 tones separated by an octave are alternated repeatedly, such that when the right ear receives the high tone, the left ear receives the low tone, and vice versa. Most subjects in the original study reported hearing a single tone that alternated from ear to ear, whose pitch also alternated from octave to octave, and D. Deutsch (1975a) proposed an explanation in terms of separate what and where auditory pathways. C. D. Chambers, J. B. Mattingley, and S. A. Moss (2002) argued that the perceived pitch difference generally corresponds more to a semitone and proposed an alternative explanation in terms of diplacusis. This article argues that Chambers et al. used problematic procedures and reports a new experiment on the octave illusion. The findings confirm that an octave difference is generally perceived, and they agree with the model of Deutsch (1975a) but are at variance with the diplacusis hypothesis.