T.-Music Perception and Sensory Information Acquisition

University of California Press
Music Perception and Sensory Information Acquisition: Relationships and Low-Level Analogies
Author(s): Ernst Terhardt
Source: Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Spring, 1991), pp. 217-239
Published by: University of California Press
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Music Perception © 1991 by the regents of the
Spring 1991, Vol. 8, No. 3, 217-240 university of California
Music Perceptionand SensoryInformationAcquisition:

Relationshipsand Low-LevelAnalogies
ERNST TERHARDT
TechnischeUniversitätMünchen
Informationprocessingis characterizedby conditionaldecisionson hi-

erarchicallyorganizedlevels.In biologicalsystems,thisprincipleis man-
ifest in the phenomenaof contourizationand categorization,which are
moreor less synonymous.Primarycontourization-suchas in the visual
system- is regardedas the firststep of abstraction.Its auditoryequiv-
alent is formationof spectralpitches.Hierarchicalprocessingis char-
acterizedby the principlesof immediateprocessing,openend, recursion,
distributedknowledge,forwardprocessing,autonomy,and viewback.
In that concept,perceptualphenomenasuch as illusion,ambiguity,and
similarityturnout to be essentialandtypical.Withrespectto perception
of musicalsound,thoseprinciplesandphenomenareadilyexplainpitch
categorization,tone affinity,octave equivalence(chroma),root, and
tonality.As a particularexample,an explanationof the tritoneparadox
is suggested.
Introduction
I regardit a mistakeif the theoryof consonanceis consideredas the
essentialbasis for the theory of music, and I had felt that I had ex-
pressedthis in the book with sufficientclarity.The essentialbasis of
music is melody.
H. von Helmholtz
forewordto 3rd ed., The Sensationsof Tone (1870)
Among music experts there is wide agreement on the notion that a

melody is more than just a sequence of tones. What makes a tone sequence
a melody is harmonic and rhythmic organization. So, if a melody really
is a melody, it includes both harmony and rhythm. Instead of "includes,"
one may as well say "suggests." The harmonic and rhythmic implications
of a melody ordinarily form a background that is created by, and de-
pendent on, the melody itself.
Requestsfor reprintsmay be sent to E. Terhardt,Electroacousticsand Audiocom-

munication,TechnischeUniversitätMünchen,P.O. Box 20 24 20, D-8000 München2,
Germany.
217
218 ErnstTerhardt
Here emergesan analogy between melody and figure(Gestalt).When

in a visualpatterna set of elementsis seen as a figure,the remainderacts
as background.It is impossibleto decide what is the figurewithout de-
ciding what is the background.It is in this sense that a figure may
create- or "suggest"- its background.Remarkably,it is the method of
suggestingharmony by melody that provides for making harmonicim-
plicationsand progressionsparticularlyrich and flexible,as was so strik-
inglydemonstratedbyJ. S. Bach.The analogydrawnby Hofstadter(1979)
between Bach's polyphonic compositions and M. C. Escher's famous
figure-backgroundinteractionsintuitivelyfits well.
Fromthese considerationsone may draw two conclusions.The firstis
just formal:As melody actuallyincludesboth harmonyand rhythm,it is
misleadingto say that the basic componentsof tonal music are melody,
harmony,and rhythm.One should bettersay it is temporalpitch contour
(also termedmelodiccontour,cf. Dowling, 1978), harmony,and rhythm.
The second conclusion is about analogies. Analogies are helpful for
understanding.In fact, analogiesare both a tool for, and the essenceof,
understanding.Drawing analogies means making special observations
more general.While music is a medium that is both abstractand non-
semantic,analogiesbetweenmusicalstructuresand perceptualprinciples
on the one hand, and visual Gestaltprinciplesand the structureof lan-
guage on the other hand, have often been discussed (e.g., Bregman&c
Campbell,1971; Carterette,Kohl, &cPitt, 1986; Deutsch, 1969, 1982b;
Hartmann, 1988; Helmholtz, 1954; Jackendoff & Lerdahl, 1982;
Koehler,1933; McAdams, 1985; Minsky, 1982; Stumpf, 1965; Wellek,
1963).
Most (if not all) of those earlierconsiderationsreferto what these days
are termed cognitive processes- as opposed to psychophysicalones. In-
deed, on the cognitive levels- that is, higher levels of abstraction-
analogiesbetween perceptualprocessesin differentsensorymodes often
suggestthemselvesreadily.This may be attributedto the notion that with
ascendinglevel of abstractionthe particularitiesof sensory modes lose
significance.
However, it is a seriousdrawbackof singularhigh-levelanalogiesthat
they can only to a limitedextent be experimentallyverifiedand adequately
modeled. They are akin to metaphorsratherthan systematic,verifiable
analogies. The essential differencebetween metaphorsand "real" anal-
ogies is that the former include a significantly higher degree of
arbitrariness-havingmore alternatives- than the latter.For instance,the
metaphoricequivalenceof a musicalpiece's tonic (in Hindemith'sterms,
the "tonal center,"cf. Hindemith,1940) to the vanishingpoint of a per-
spectivepicture,is intuitivelyappealing.Yet, froma scientificpoint of view
it appearsarbitraryto an unsatisfactorilylarge extent. The same applies
Music Perception and Sensory Information Acquisition 219
to the aforementionedanalogy between melody and figure-background

distinction.
On low levelsof the sensoryhierarchy,whereintermodalparticularities
are most pronounced,analogies do not so easily become apparentbut
requirea high amountof abstractionfroma greatvarietyof empiricaldata
and observations.If successful,that effort is rewardedby providingboth
an equivalentamountof informationand a basis for betterunderstanding
high-levelprocesses.
In an attemptto take advantageof those ideas, the presentstudy puts
auditoryperceptionof musical tones and chords into the general con-
ceptual frame of sensory informationprocessing.This requirescritical
discussionof some pertinentconcepts such as hierarchy,discretization,
information,contour,illusion,ambiguity,andsimilarity.As a result,it will
become apparentthat a numberof basic principlesof tonal music such
as pitch categorization,tone affinity,chroma, root, and tonality readily
emergefromnaturalprinciplesof sensoryinformationacquisition.More-
over, an explanationof the so-called tritone paradox will be suggested.
Implications of Hierarchical Processing
Althoughit is apparentthat sensoryperceptionmust be hierarchically

organized,the main principlesand implicationsof that notion as yet are
vague. Accordingto a common concept, a basic distinctionis made be-
tween "psychophysical"and "cognitive"processes. The former are as-
sociatedwith basic sensoryattributessuch as pitch, loudness,and timbre,
whereasthe latterare seen as relatedto extractionof information.In the
literature,one can observea tendencyto regardpsychophysicalprocesses
as a kind of triviallow-levelinterfaceto the only significantpart, namely,
cognitiveprocesses.Althoughsome aspectsof this attitudeare plausible,
it is dangerous,as it supportsignoranceof essentialinterdependenciesof
physicalstimuluscharacteristicsand low-levelsensoryprocesses.Ignoring
those interdependencieswould imply no less than throwing away an in-
valuablekey to understandingsensoryinformationacquisition,including
perceptionof music. This is elucidatedby the following considerations.
By inspectingsensory systems and processesfrom the aspects of bio-
logical evolution, it becomes apparentthat any sensorysystem has been
"designed"to enable an organismto respondmost efficientlyto external
events. An elucidatingtreatise on this view was given, for example, by
KonradLorenz (1959). Consideringmany examples, he arrivedat the
conclusion that "intelligence"and "knowledge"are distributedon all
levels of the hierarchy,such that a sensory system most efficientlyand
"automatically"extracts from a stimulus "what it means" rather than
220 ErnstTerhardt
what its objectivedetails are. He pointed out that in a highly developed

sensorysystem, a huge amount of knowledgemust be includedeven on
low levels; that is, knowledge about structures,relationships,and con-
straintsof physicalstimulusparametersthat carryinformationon external
objectsand events.Moreover,he pointedout that most of that knowledge
has emergedby biologicalevolution,that is, throughinteractionwith the
physical conditions of the external world. And he clearlyexpressedthe
notion that this process essentiallyis equivalentto learningby trial and
errorby an individualorganism.With these notions it becomesapparent
that, for example,Gestaltprinciplessuch as proximity,closure,and com-
mon fate are not principlesper se but have evolved throughinteraction
with the conditionsof the externalworld, that is, to respondoptimally
to any external challenge.This implies that much can be learnedabout
perceptionby studyingthose physicalconditionsand constraintsand their
psychophysicaleffects. And it implies furtherthat on low levels of the
hierarchya considerableamount of active, "intelligent"processingmust
go on "automatically,"that is, unconsciously.Anotherimplicationis that
the questionof whetherthe knowledgeimplementedin a sensorysystem
is innate or learnedin many respectsis of minor relevance- becausein
either case it has been acquiredby trial-and-errorinteractionwith the
external world.
With the followinglist of principles,an attemptis madeto expressboth
typical characteristicsand constraintsof sensoryhierarchicalprocessing:
• Immediateprocessing:Sensoryinformationprocessingbegins
right at the lowest possible level, that of the peripheralsense
organ.
• Open end: The hierarchydoes not have a definitenumberof
levels but is open ended.
• Recursion:The basic principlesof informationprocessingare
the same on all levels.
• Distributedknowledge:The "knowledge"necessaryfor op-
timalprocessingis distributedon all levelsso that on eachlevel
the particulartype of knowledgethat is requiredfor the job
is available.
• Forwardprocessing:Informationprocessingis predominantly
forward,that is, from peripheralto central levels.
• Autonomy: On a given level, the input that comes from the
precedinglevel is processedaccordingto the knowledgeavail-
ableon thatparticularlevel. On a short-termscale (i.e., leaving
out long-termlearningprocesses),processingis not affected
from any higher level.
• Viewback:While (on a short-termtime scale) decisionsmade
on a particularlevel cannot be changedfrom a higher level,
their results can be directlyinspectedfrom any higher level,

not only from the next one.
Thevalidityof theseprincipleswill be discussedin the subsequentsections.
Discretization, Conditioned Decision, and Information
The most importantaspect of cognitiveprocessesis that they depend

on decisionsand are concernedwith discreteobjects.It is this aspectthat
determinesthe main differencebetween cognitive processes and contin-
uous sensory attributes.While for instance in speech, timbre is a con-
tinuousfunctionof time, the continuousflow of the speechsignal is "au-
tomatically" dissected into discrete units, for example, phonemes.
Althoughauditorypitch variesthrougha continuouslow-highdimension,
in music there exist discrete pitch categories ("pitch classes") that are
organizedin tone scales.
The distinctionbetweencontinuoussensoryattributesand discretecog-
nitive objects matchesthat between signal and information- a. common
concept in communicationtheory. Physicalmagnitudes,such as sound
pressureas a functionof time, are virtuallycontinuous;they are regarded
as carriersof informationandaretermedsignals.Generalizingthis concept
into the science of perception, such attributesas brightnessand color
distributionin vision and loudness, pitch, and timbre in hearingcan be
regardedas psychophysicalsignals.
Shannon'sinformationtheory does not claim to say what information
is. It rather is confined to the quantitativeaspects of informationand
evaluatesthem in terms of probabilities.In the qualitativesense, infor-
mation may be characterizedas "somethingthat is dependenton deci-
sions," namely, conditionaldecisions.It is by conditionaldecisionsthat
categoriesare assignedto signalpatterns.The categoriesin turn are phys-
ically and psychophysicallyrepresentedby new signalsthat are subjectto
moredecisions,and so on. It is thus typicalof informationprocessingthat
from one step to the next, the shape of information-carryingsignals
changesradically.Ordinarily,many details of the signal input to a par-
ticular decision-makinglayer no longer exist in the output. And many
differentinput signalsmay be assignedto one and the same category,that
is, output.
With that qualitativedefinition of information,and on the basis of
evolutiontheory, one can "predict"that, for biological sensorysystems,
discretizationand categorizationmustbe a predominantand quitenatural
behavior.In fact it is a prominent(perhapseven the most typical)aspect
of any living organism- from amoeba to human- that it is a "decision
machine"that is busy from the firstto the last instantof its lifetime.And
sensory systems are essentialparts of that machinery.
222 ErnstTerhardt
Evena superficialinspection,from this point of view, of the visualand

auditorysystem reveals their "decisionmachine character"to an over-
whelmingextent. Most remarkably,both in vision and audition,decision
making actuallybegins right at the periphery,that is, in the eye's retina
and the ear's organ of Corti. Physiologicallythis is evident,for example,
in the transformationof the stimulus into sequencesof discreteneural
action potentials(nerveimpulses)that propagateon discretenervefibers.
Psychophysically,it is the phenomenonof contourizationthat provides
pertinentevidence. In this author'sview, contourizationprovides a key
to a unifying concept of sensory informationprocessingon any level.
Primary Contour and Spectral Pitch
Perceptionof a visual Gestaltentirelydependson the existenceof pri-

marycontours.Withoutcontourthereis no Gestalt.Formationof contour
and synthesisof Gestalt are complementary,mutuallydependent,active
processes.For the understandingof sensory informationprocessingit is
a key notion that even primarycontour (i.e., on the retina level) is not
trivialin the sense that it is fully determinedby the stimulusalone. What
a stimulusessentiallyproduceson the eye'sretinais continuousbrightness
and color distribution.Assignmentof contours to such a distribution
requiresactivedecisionson the partof the peripheralsensorysystem.That
typeof decisioncan be regardedas the firststep of informationprocessing,
that is, cognitiveabstraction.It is in this sense that cognitionbeginsright
at the periphery(cf. the principleof immediateprocessing).And it is this
notion- in conjunctionwith the principles of forward processing and
autonomy- that explains to a considerableextent the enormousefficacy
and speed of sensoryinformationprocessing(e.g., Minsky, 1975). Visual
contours are so importantbecause they representthe most typical and
invariantcharacteristicsof externalobjects.Formationof contoursimplies
abstractionfrom many details of the incoming stimulus- in particular
those that are dependent on intensity and color of illumination- and
extracts the typical shape of external objects.
Most remarkably,it is auditoryspectralpitch (i.e., the pitch of part
tones) that- with respectto external"acousticalobjects"- plays exactly
the samerole. Fromthe basicphysicalparametersof a sound-sourcesignal
(i.e., amplitudes,phases, and frequenciesof part tones), it is only the
frequenciesthat are transmittedwith highest fidelity; amplitudesand
phases ordinarilyare to a considerableextent corrupted.
Consider,for example,listeningto a symphonyin a concerthall. One
may without difficultydistinguishone or the other individualinstrument,
although its sound signal on traveling to the listener's ears is heavily

affected by room acoustics. Moreover, the signal is corruptedby the
sounds of other instruments.Yet there cannot be any doubt that con-
siderableinformationon that particularinstrument'saudible character-
istics is still presentin the signal the ear receives- and that the auditory
system is capable of extractingit.
Equallyfundamentaland strikingis the fact that the pitchesof musical
tones are conveyedwith high precision from musicianto listener. As a
daily-lifeexperiencethis is so evidentthat one seldom- if ever- wonders
why it is so and what its scientificimplicationsare. Nevertheless,this
phenomenonis highly significantand deservescareful analysis.
The key to understandingthese and other achievementsof auditory
communicationis providedby the principleof contourization.It is based
on the notions:
• That thereis at least one type of source-signalparameterthat
is not affectedby transmissionfromsourceto listener,namely,
spectralfrequency.
• That the peripheralauditory system is an efficient Fourier-
spectrumanalyzerfollowed by a contourizationmechanism
that "reads"discretepart-tone pitches from the continuous
spectral-intensitydistribution.
As a psychophysicalrepresentationof spectralfrequencies,the part-tone
pitches include most of the informationthat comes from sound sources
and is carried by sound signals such as musical tones. In auditory
perception- and perception of music- spectral pitch plays the role of
primarycontour on which any auditory Gestalt entirely depends.
By simulatingauditoryextractionof spectralpitcheson a computer,we
have verifiedthat the contour-timepatterns actually include all aurally
relevantinformation.In Figure 1 an example is shown of the so-called
part-tone-timepattern.It includesthe firstthreenotes of the song "Sum-
mertime,"sung by a trained woman. Both the musical and text infor-
mation included in that sample are representedby the frequency-time
contours(part-tone amplitudesare coded in line thickness).The musical
information(i.e., pitch classes,vibrato,intonation)is includedin the time
course of harmonicfrequencies.The text informationis includedin en-
hancementand suppression,respectively,of certainharmonicsby vocal-
tract resonances(formants)and in noisy and plosive clues.
Heinbach(1988) has demonstratedthat fromthis typeof part-tone-time
pattern another audio signal can be synthesizedthat is aurally almost
indistinguishablefrom the original. This is convincingevidence for the
conclusionthat the contourizedrepresentationincludespracticallyall au-
rallyrelevantinformation.As the above exampleincludesonly one voice,
224 Ernst Terhardt
Fig. 1. Part-tone pattern as a function of time, of a solo soprano singer (first three notes
of "Summertime" by G. Gershwin). Part-tone amplitudes are coded in line thickness. The
information displayed is sufficient to synthesize an audio signal that is aurally almost
indistinguishable from the original. For technical reasons, only the frequency band 0-5
kHz was analyzed. The diagram illustrates the tonal information present on the first level
of abstraction, that is, primary auditory contour.
it should be noted that these resultsapply to polyphonicmusic and mul-

tivoice speech, as well.
In additionto the analogybetweenvisualprimarycontourand spectral
pitch, there exist a numberof psychophysicalphenomenathat strongly
supportthe analogy and furtherreduce its arbitrariness.First, there are
some accompanyingeffects such as contrastenhancement(Mach bands;
cf. Carterette,Friedman,& Lovell, 1969; Small &cDaniloff, 1967; Sum-
merfield,Haggard, & Foster, 1984; Viemeister, 1980); after-contours
(Fasti, 1986; Wilson, 1970; Zwicker, 1964); and the type of "illusion"
in which perceptionsof shape, length, or directionof visual contoursare
systematicallydifferentfrom correspondingobjectiveparameters;its au-
ditoryequivalentis subjectiveshift of spectralpitch (e.g., by superimposed
noise), and octave enlargementof pure tones (Stumpf,1965; Terhardt,
1971, 1989; Walliser, 1969; Ward, 1954).
To evaluateadequatelythose analogousphenomena,it must be taken

into accountthatin the eye thereis an extraspatialdimensionas compared
with the ear. While on the eye's retina the three-dimensionalexternal
worldis representedby a two-dimensionalcontinuousdistributionof light
energy,on the inner ear's cochlearpartitionit is a one-dimensionaldis-
tributionof sound energy.A visual contour is an abstractionof a line in
a (two-dimensional)plane; the "line" itself is one dimensional.It is thus
just logical that its auditory equivalent (i.e., spectral pitch) is null-
dimensional,that is, a "point"on the low-high dimension.Therefore,to
a curvatureor bendingof a visualcontourtherecorrespondsa linearshift
of its auditoryequivalenton the low-high dimension.
Second,it is preciselythe role of spectralpitches as importantcarriers
of informationthat throws an explanatorylight on the precision and
durabilityof short-termmemory for pitch (e.g., Rakowski, 1972). If in
auditorycommunication,spectralpitches were of no particularsignifi-
cance, one could hardlyunderstandwhy the auditorysystem spendsany
effort to extractthem so efficientlyand precisely,and why they are kept
in short-termmemoryfor a considerabletime interval(which actuallyis
on the orderof a minute).Thisconceptualproblemis immediatelyresolved
by the notion that spectral pitch is of high functional importancefor
acquisitionof informationfrom acoustic signals whose parametersare
time variant,in particular,speech.The relevanceof these notions for the
perceptionof music is apparent:Perceptionof tonal music can hardlybe
imaginedwithout the aforementionedcharacteristicsof short-termmem-
ory for pitch.
A musicaltone ordinarilyis composed of a numberof harmonicpart
tones of which the lower 8 to 12 evoke spectralpitches that correspond
to theirfrequencies(Thurlow,1959; Plomp,1964; Terhardt,1972). Thus,
on the lowest levelof the cognitivehierarchyan isolatedmusicaltone must
be regardedas an auditoryGestalt- a "molecule"ratherthan an "atom"
of music. While on higher levels of conscious perceptionthe tone ordi-
narilymay appearas a holistic unit to the listener,by drawingattention
to the lowest level one can hearthe part-tonepitchestoo. This perceptual
dualism may be regardedas evidence for the principlesof autonomy,
forwardprocessing,and viewback:On presentationof a musicaltone, the
forwardprocessinghierarchyspontaneouslyand readilyproduceshigher-
level holistic representationsof the perceivedobject (i.e., the tone), while
throughthe viewbackchannel the individualspectralpitches presenton
the lowest level can be accessed as well.
Secondary Contour and Virtual Pitch

The term"secondarycontour"refersto contourizationprocesseson the
second level of the hierarchy;it does not imply minor relevance.The
226 ErnstTerhardt
existenceof secondarycontoursis evidentboth in vision and audition.In

vision, they ordinarilyare termed "illusorycontours" (for a review, see
Parks, 1984). The choice of the term "illusory"is both misleadingand
elucidating.It is misleadingbecauseit suggestsinterpretationof the phe-
nomenonas a kindof artifactor evenmalfunction.It is elucidatingbecause
it reveals the principlesof autonomy and viewback.
As illustratedby the example in Figure2, virtual contours spontane-
ously emergefrom presentationof appropriateconfigurationsof primary
contours (autonomy).When viewed from a higher cognitive level, it is
recognizedthat the virtual contours are not "real." However, that rec-
ognitiondoes not changeanythingin what is seen. The viewbackfunction
indeed is confinedto just noticing an interpretationof the stimulusthat
has been autonomicallyestablished.As an essentialprincipleof hierar-
chical informationacquisition,the viewback function'spurpose and ad-
vantage obviously is that it enables drawing more conclusions on the
higherlevel, that is, after the autonomouslow-leveldecisionmechanisms
have quickly and efficientlyfinishedtheir job. Apparentlythis is one of
the tricks by which sensory systems reconcileefficacywith flexibility.
As illustratedin Figure 2, the autonomous decision process on the
second level createsboth a numberof virtualcontoursand a virtualGe-
stalt, namely,a white squarethat partlycoversa black frame.The prom-
inenceof that virtualperceptnaturallydependson the amountof primary
informationthat is compatiblewith such an interpretation.In that sense,
the second-levelinterpretationintegratesthe separatefour black angles
into a holistic object. So this is a visual example of the aforementioned
dualism of "synthetic"autonomous interpretationand "analytic"view-
back. It appearsconclusivethat this examplerevealsanotherfundamental
and importantprincipleof sensory informationacquisition.
Auditoryperceptionof a musical tone can be explainedby analogous
principles,at least where musical pitch is concerned.A pertinenttheory
does already exist, namely, the virtual-pitchtheory (Terhardt, 1972,
Fig. 2. Illustrationof virtualcontoursand virtualfiguresas an analogy to virtualpitch

and root.
1974). Although this theory originallywas not explicitly based on the

intermodalanalogiesand generalprinciplesdiscussedhere, it readilyfits
into them. Taking into account the aforementionedanalogies between
visual primary contour and spectral pitch, and between visual virtual
contourandvirtualpitch,the virtual-pitchtheoryturnsout to be a natural
part of the comprehensiveconcept of sensory informationacquisition.
The significanceof the virtual-pitchtheory for music perceptionhas
been found to extend far beyond the pitch of single musical tones. The
theory includes explanations for such basic musical phenoma as tone
affinityand pitch ambiguity(e.g., octave equivalence),octave stretchand
stretch of the tone scale, the root phenomenon (Rameau's"basse fon-
damentale"),and equivalenceof chord inversions.The theory, and its
algorithmicimplementations,can be recommendedas a tool for music
theory (cf. Terhardt,1974, 1978, 1979, 1982; Terhardt,Stoll, & See-
wann, 1982a,b; Parncutt,1988, 1989).
Both visual virtualcontour and auditoryvirtualpitch can be regarded
as samplesof the immediate,forwardprocessing,autonomoustendency
of low cognitive levels to extract straightforwardly"what a stimulus
means." Of course, this requires "knowledge,"that is, use of certain
reasonablecriteria.In visual perception,those criteriaare dependenton
what type and configurationof objectsordinarilywould producethe given
type of stimulus.And the same applies to auditoryperception.As was
outlined in the virtual-pitchtheory, it is the human speech signal that
probablyprovides an importantreferencefor aural evaluation of tonal
sounds. As by physicalreasons,voiced speech elementsare composedof
harmonicpart tones, the low-level mechanismsof the auditory system
operateon the presumptionthat this is so for any sound. Accordingto
the theory, this is the reason why auditorycreationof virtualpitch con-
sistentlyobeysthe principleof "subharmoniccoincidencedetection"(Ter-
hardt, 1972, 1974).
That behavioris assumedto have been acquiredand settled either at
an early age by an individualor through biological evolution. As was
discussed earlier, the relationshipsbetween subjectivepitch shifts and
intervalstretchsuggestthat the formeris the case, that is, learningin early
life. The assumptionwas made that developmentof the auralmechanism
that createsvirtualpitch is an essentialpart of the system that processes
speech,that is, abstractslinguisticinformationfrom the highlyredundant
speech signal. This conclusion is supported by experimentalevidence
showing that aural capabilitiesto normalizephonetic characteristicsof
speech exist in early infancy (Kuhl, 1979; Miller, Younger, &cMorse,
1982). Moreover, it has been establishedthat a human fetus can hear
alreadyseveral months before birth (in particular,the mother's voice).
Withregardto generalprinciplesof biologicaldevelopment,it is verylikely
228 ErnstTerhardt
that such acoustic stimulationhas a pronouncedconditioningeffect on

the fetus'sauditorysystem.Plasticityof the pitch-evaluationmechanism-
which of courseis requiredfor that type of low-levellearning- was found
still to exist in adults (Hall & Peters, 1982; Hall & Soderquist,1982).
Whether or not individualconditioningand learning is the basis of
auditory cognitive achievements,it is not surprisingthat many of those
achievementsexist alreadyin early infancy. So it is not surprisingthat
evidencefor both virtualpitchperceptionand sensefor octaveequivalence
has been found in young infants (Clarkson& Clifton, 1985; Demany&c
Armand,1984). With regardto the aforementionedintimaterelationships
between principlesof pitch perceptionand basic musicalphenomena,it
is evident that in the auditory system of very young- probably even
newborn- infants, the basic cognitivemechanismsto which tonal music
may appeal are implemented.
Rigorously,the question of whether those mechanismsare innate or
learnedhas not been decidedyet. However,for gettingmanybasicinsights
into auditoryinformationacquisitionand musicperception,that question
is of minor relevanceanyhow- as mentionedin the second section.
Concludingthis section on secondarycontour, it should be mentioned
that the tendencyof any sensorysystemto extract "meaningful"second-
level representationsof primarycontourconfigurationsis so pronounced
that it cannot be stopped if, and while, any stimulusis given. A striking
example for this tendencywas provided by Houtgast (1976). He dem-
onstratedthat undercertainexperimentalconditionssubjectsassignsub-
harmonicvirtual pitches even to single pure tones. For example,with a
1000-Hz tone as stimulus,virtualpitchescorrespondingto 500, 333, 250,
and 200 Hz were heard.
This findingillustratesboth the principleof subharmoniccoincidence,
wherevirtualpitch is concerned,and the fundamental"decisionmachine"
characterof living organisms.Obviously,evolution has in any living or-
ganismvery deeply implantedthe principlethat "any decisionis (on the
average)betterthan no decision."Validityof this principlecan indeedbe
observed on any level of perceptionand behavior. In music it can for
instance be found in the tendency to assign- in the context of tonal
music- to practicallyany pitch a certainpitch category,no matterhow
much the actual pitch deviates from "ideal" intonation.
An apparentimplicationof these notions is ambiguity.In the above
example, the pitch of the 1000-Hz tone was ambiguoussuch that either
of the equivalent frequencies1000, 500, 333, 250, and 200 Hz were
offered. The 1000-Hz frequencyindicates, on the primarylevel, what
"really"was presentas a stimulus,while the otherindicates,on the second
level "what it reasonablycould mean." The role of ambiguity,both in
generaland with regardto music, deservescloser inspection,as follows.
Ambiguity and Similarity
Ambiguityhas often been recognizedas an important ingredientof

music(e.g.,Bernstein,1976; Thomson,1983). Wheresensoryinformation
acquisitionin generalis concerned,ambiguityis both typicaland essential.
When one takes into account that in any case the effectivestimulusof a
sensoryorgancan includeonly incompleteinformationon externalobjects
and events, it is apparentthat the "meaning"of any given stimuluscan
never be unambiguous.
In the hierarchicalsystem of conditioned decisions consideredhere,
ambiguityimpliesthat the numberof "solutions"achievedon eitherlevel
is greaterthan one. Fromthe presentpoint of view this indeedis essential,
as the solutionsachievedon one levelprovidethe inputto the next. If that
input did not have any alternatives,therewere nothing left to decide. As
with "illusions,"ambiguitybecomes noticed through viewback, that is,
inspectionof ready-madesolutions on lower levels, and drawing addi-
tional conclusionson a high level.
One can make a distinctionbetween two basic sources of ambiguity.
The firstis insufficiencyof structuralinformationincludedin the stimulus.
A pertinentexamplewas just discussed,that is, the case of reducingthe
auditorystimulusto just one pure tone. The second source of ambiguity
is content in the stimulusof contradictorystructuralinformation.In vi-
sion, pertinentexamplesareprovidedby the classof "impossiblefigures,"
for example,the Necker cube and most of M. C. Escher'sgraphics.Most
of the melodic,harmonic,and rhythmicambiguityof tonal music is anal-
ogous to visual impossiblefigures.
Even in the simple visual example shown in Figure2, there is consid-
erable ambiguity.First, the black angles may be seen just as what they
are: black bars on white background. That visual interpretationis
achievedmost easily when the black bars are narrow. Second, one may
see a white squarethat floats above a (supposedlyclosed) black frame.
Third, one may see two white squares (one rotated by 45 degrees and
floatingabovethe other)on a blackbackground.Remarkably,the amount
of ambiguitydoes not seem to be systematicallydependenton the prom-
inence of the virtual contours and figures,which in turn is governedby
the width of the black frame.With increasingwidth of the frame,prom-
inence of virtualsquaresincreases,but ambiguityremainsthe same- or
even increasesas well.
The same type of ambiguityis involved in auditory perceptionof a
musicaltone. There is no such thing as "the" pitch of a complex tone.
On the lowest level, thereis a set of (ordinarilyharmonic)spectralpitches.
On the second level, virtualpitches are created.What is consciouslyper-
ceived in the "spontaneous"or syntheticmode is a holistic tonal object
230 ErnstTerhardt
that is primarilycharacterizedby virtualpitches. By viewback,the low-

level spectral pitches become recognizedalso. The virtual-pitchtheory
accounts for that multiambiguityby assigningweights to the individual
pitches,eitherspectralor virtual.This is illustratedby Figure3, wherethe
theoreticalpitch distributionsof two harmoniccomplextones are shown.
The assumedfundamentalfrequenciesare 440 Hz (upperdiagram)and
220 Hz (lower). The 440-Hz tone is "higherin pitch" than the 220-Hz
tone, not only in the sense that its predominantpitch is higher,but in the
sense that the whole pattern is higher. So when a melodic sequenceof
musicaltones is considered,the pitch-timecontourin the sense of Dowl-
ing's (1978) concept should be discussedin terms of the corresponding
sequenceof pitch patternsratherthan of single pitches.
As can also be seen in Figure3, in the particularcase of a 2:1 fun-
damentalfrequencyratio there appearsa type of similaritybetween the
two tones that is determinedby identityof some pitches.Whenthese two
tones are played one after the other, a portion of pitchesof the firstwill
be "echoed" by the second. By visual analogy one can express this by
sayingthat the second Gestaltsharesa numberof contourswith the first
one. It is apparentthat this effect will promotea tendencyto perceivethe
second tone just as a replicationof the first.
This is no less than a simpleand straightforwardexplanationof octave
equivalence,that is, chroma.This explanationis very similarto that sug-
gested alreadyby Helmholtz (1954). However, an importantnew aspect
is provided by the presenceof virtual pitches in the patterns.Whereas
Helmholtz had consideredonly the pattern of spectral pitches- which
extends from the fundamental frequency to several harmonics- the
presentpitchpatternsincludea considerablenumberof virtualpitchesthat
are below the tone's fundamentalfrequency.This enhancesthe chanceof
higher-levelpitchesof successivetones coincidingand thus providescon-
siderableadditionalevidence for Helmholtz'sconclusion.
Although most pronounced for a 2:1 frequencyratio, the effect of
similarityby coincidenceof pitches appliesto the ratio 2:3 as well, that
is, the fifth. For that ratio, the numberand weight of coincidingpitches
is less than for the octave. This accountsboth for the existenceof "fifth
equivalence"and for the fact that it is less pronouncedthan octave equiv-
alence.Takingadvantageof the describedprinciples,one can designmod-
els for quantitativeevaluationof tone affinities- anothercontributionto
a scientificallybased music theory. The recent work of Parncutt(1988,
1989) provides solutions of that type.
Whilethe aboveconsiderationsweremadeon the basisof dataprovided
by the virtual-pitchtheory, the ambiguoussecond-levelpitch patternsof
individualmusicaltones have beenexperimentallyverified.Figure4 shows
a number of pitch histogramsthat were obtained by pitch matches to
harmoniccomplextoneswith the fundamentalfrequenciesindicated(from
Fig. 3. Theoreticalpitch patterns,on the second level of abstraction,of two harmonic

complextones with fundamentalfrequencies220 and 440 Hz. Virtualpitches:v; spectral
pitches:s. Note ambiguityof pitch and partialcoincidenceof pitchesin the two patterns.
Calculationof pitches and pitch weights as describedby Terhardtet al. (1982a).
Terhardt,Stoll, Schermbach,&cParncutt,1986). In those experiments,

harmoniccomplex tones were binaurallypresentedthrough earphones,
with 60 dB SPL,and 0.2 sec duration.Aftereachpresentation,a puretone
of arbitraryfrequencywas presented, and the subject adjustedits fre-
quencysuchthat it matchedany spontaneouslyheardpitchof the previous
complextone. Eightsubjectstook part, and each subjectdid six matches.
The histogramsshown in Figure4 representthe numberof matches ac-
cumulatedwithin a continuously shifted window with a width of 0.2
critical bands. Abscissa is matching frequency,that is, pitch-equivalent
frequency.As expected,the highestpeaks are at the complex tone's fun-
damentalfrequency.The sametype of ambiguityas theoreticallypredicted
can be seen. For a verylow fundamentalfrequency(60 Hz), a pronounced
tendencywas found for alternativematchesone octave higher.At higher
fundamentalfrequencies,alternativematchesto subharmonicfrequencies
were found. By and large, the experimentaldata are well in line with
theoreticalpredictions(Figure3).
The Tritone Paradox: Another Exercise in Ambiguity of Pitch
Althoughthe ambiguityof pitch of a "normal"musicaltone is sufficient

to explain octave equivalence(chroma)and fifth similarity,with a par-
232 ErnstTerhardt
Fig. 4. Accumulateddistributionsof pure-tonematchesto harmoniccomplextones with

the fundamentalfrequenciesindicated(from Terhardtet al., 1986). Note ambiguityof
pitch.
ticulartype of harmoniccomplex tone, ambiguityof pitch can be made

particularlypronounced.That type of complex tone includesonly har-
monics the frequenciesof which are defined by
fn= té", (1)
where n = 0,1,2,3, . . ., and fo is a low base frequency,for example, in
the region below 100 Hz. The part tones either cover the entire audible
frequencyrange (so that the lowest and highest merely fall below the
thresholdof hearing);or they are limitedby a bandpassfilterto a certain
frequencyband (for details see Shepard,1964; Deutsch, 1986).
In that type of complex-tonestimulus,pitch informationis reducedin
such a way that the auditory pitch-evaluationmechanismcannot rea-
sonably assign to it one dominantvirtualpitch. What is heard is rather
a set of virtualpitchesthat are in an octave relationshipto each other and
do not muchdifferin prominence.So, while the "chroma"or "pitchclass"
of such a complex tone is well defined,its height is not. In a numberof
experiments,Shepard(1964), Burns (1981), and Ohgushi (1985) have
demonstratedseveralaspects of the "circularity"of perceivedpitch that
is typical for that type of stimulus.
Music Perceptionand SensoryInformationAcquisition 233
The pronouncedambiguityof "Shepardtones"has suggesteda number

of experimentsto find out how the auditorysystem behaves when that
type of tone is used in a simple quasimusicalcontext (Deutsch, 1986,
1988; Deutsch, Kuyper, & Fisher, 1987; Deutsch, Moore, &cDolson,
1984). One of the effects found is called the tritone paradox. Manifes-
tation of this paradox starts out with the notion that for two successive
Shepardtones that differin pitch class by a tritoneinterval,it is impossible
to find an objectivecriterionfor deciding if the first is higher than the
second, or vice versa.
The firstremarkablefindingby Deutschet al. was that subjectsto whom
successivetritone intervalsof Shepardtones were presentedwere with
considerableconsistencyable to make a decisionon whetherthe interval
was "ascending"or "descending"in pitch height- although all subjects
did not respondthe sameway. The second significantfindingwas that the
"ascending/descending" decisions were consistentlydependenton pitch
class. For example,one and the same subjectwould consistentlyhear the
intervalC - Fjtas descending,however,the intervalE - A|f as ascending.
That dependencyof judgmentson pitch class was termedthe tritonepar-
adox, as on firstsight thereappearsto be no simplepsychophysicalbasis
for that type of response.
The tritoneparadox as a phenomenonis indeed striking,and one can
hardlyhave a doubt that some kind of absolute pitch recognitionmust
be involved. Moreover,the phenomenonsuggeststhat the subject'sde-
cisions must be dependenton cognitive processes.The following expla-
nation of the tritone paradox will revealthat both these conclusionsare
true. However, both "absolute pitch recognition"and "cognitive pro-
cesses" turn out to play their role on a surprisinglylow level of the
hierarchy.
The key to the explanationis the simplefact thatpitch-heightambiguity
of Shepardtones turns out to be distinctlylimited.When pitch matches
such as describedabove for "normal"complextones are carriedout with
Shepard tones, it turns out that a certain absolute region of pitch-
equivalentfrequenciesis systematicallypreferred,namely, the frequency
region extending roughly from 200 to 1000 Hz, with a maximum of
"preference"at about 300 Hz. This was verifiedboth theoretically(Ter-
hardtet al., 1982b) and experimentally(Terhardtet al., 1986). The source
of this effect is the combined influenceof spectraldominance (Ritsma,
1967; Plomp, 1967), and subharmonicevaluationin formationof virtual
pitch (Terhardt,1972).
Figure5 illustratesthe relationshipbetweenthe lattertype of "absolute
pitch recognition"and the tritoneparadox.With the algorithmdescribed
by Terhardtet al. (1982a), the virtualpitcheswere computedfor Shepard
tones. The pitch classesare denotedon the abscissa,while the theoretical
234 ErnstTerhardt
pitchespertinentto eachtone arelinedup vertically.The theoreticalprom-

inence (pitch weight) of the pitches is indicated by the area of black
squares.The ordinateis scaled in semitones,and the referencefrequency
both for the pitch classes on the abscissaand the semitionescale at the
ordinateis 440 Hz for A4. The Shepardtones were assumedto be com-
posed accordingto Eq. (1) with base frequenciesfo of 16.35-32.70 Hz
(dependingon pitch class). The SPLsof part tones were assumedto be
50 dB, and part tones were included from fo up to maximally6 kHz.
One can see in Figure5 that, for example,the Shepardtone with pitch
class C (firstitem at the abscissa;base frequencyfo = 16.35 Hz) produces
pitches at 24, 36, 48, etc. semitones,correspondingto the pitch heights
C2, C3, C4, etc. The area of squaresindicatesthat the pitches C4 and C5
(262 and 525 Hz equivalentfrequency)are most prominent.The second
pitch class, FU,was createdwith the base frequencyfo = 23.12 Hz, that
is, higher than that of C by a tritone ratio. One can see, however, that
this is virtuallyirrelevantwhere the region of most prominentpitches is
concerned- the pitchescorrespondingto the basefrequencyandits second
harmonicare more or less ignored both by the ear and the theory.
To explain the tritone paradox on that basis- and within the general
approachput forwardin the presentstudy- one merelyneeds take into
accountthat the pitch patternsshown in Figure5 visualizea second-level
cognitiverepresentationof the correspondingShepardtones. Evaluation
of whether the tritone intervalsC - F|t, C(t- G, etc., are ascendingor
descendingis thus a challengeto the third cognitive level. Althoughthe
criteriafor that evaluationare not a priori evident, visual inspectionof
the diagram(Figure5) suggestsa reasonablesolution,namely,to tracethe
directionin which the most prominentpitches move from the firstto the
second Shepardtone. When (arbitrarily)the two most prominentpitches
are selected, one arrivesat the solution indicatedby arrows. The latter
indeed reflectwhat was termed the tritone paradox: That the direction
of perceivedpitch height is dependenton pitch class.
While the phenomenonthat is decisive for this explanation- namely,
preferenceof a particularabsolutepitch region- is includedin the virtual-
pitch theory, individualvariationsare not, of course.It is not difficultto
see that a small deviationfrom the average,of the position and/orshape
of the "preferencecharacteristics" of a particularsubject,can considerably
affect the "ascending/descending" judgments.As "preferencecharacter-
istics"arejusta parameterof auditorycognitivestrategy,theremayindeed
exist systematicindividualdifferences.For example, with respectto the
aforementionedtheoreticalrelationshipsbetweenvirtual-pitchevaluation
and speechperception,one mayspeculatethat acousticparametersof both
externalvoices and one's own voice, by exposition in earlylife may have
Fig. 5. Theoreticalpitchpatternsof Shepardtones. Pitchclassis indicatedon the abscissa.

Pitchespertinentto eachtone areverticallylinedup. Ordinate:Pitch-equivalent frequency,
expressedin semitonesaboveCo (16.35 Hz). Areaof squaresis proportionalto calculated
pitch weight, that is, representsprominence.Note that for all Shepardtones, the most
prominentpitches are in the height region of about 36 to 60 semitones,corresponding
to 131-525 Hz. On the abscissathe Shepardtonesarearrangedin pairsof tritoneintervals.
The existenceof the "preferenceregion"causessystematic,pitch-class-dependent ascend-
ing or descendingof the two most prominentpitches within each pair (arrows).This
explainsthe tritoneparadox. Computationas describedby Terhardtet al. (1982a).
a conditioningeffect. Whatsoever,in the light of the presentexplanation

of the tritone paradox, it is not surprisingthat the experimentalresults
found by Deutsch et al. show systematicintersubjectdifferences.
236 ErnstTerhardt
Concluding Discussion
After the foregoing considerationsof the informationprocessinghi-

erarchyand some of its low-levelimplicationsfor the perceptionof music,
it would be just consequentto proceedwith discussingthird-and higher-
level processes.It is essentiallyon the third level that temporallycoded
informationcomes into play, that is, the musicalinformationincludedin
melodic contour,root progression,and rhythm.As on those topics much
experimentaland theoreticalresearchas been done already(e.g., Deutsch,
1982a), it is an interestingchallengeto incorporatethem into the present
general approach.Of course, this by far would exceed the scope of the
present study.
There exist a numberof experimentalinvestigationspertinentto the
borderlinebetween low-level, static, and higher-leveldynamiccognitive
processes,providinga kind of interface.Here appearof particularrele-
vance:
• The "continuityeffect"and "pulsationthreshold"(e.g., Thur-
low, 1957; Warren, Obusek, &cAckroff, 1972; Houtgast,
1974);
• Relationshipsbetween perceived rhythm and spectral- and
virtual-pitchpatternssuch as demonstratedby van Noorden
(1975);
• Virtualpitch evoked by nonsimultaneousharmonics(Hall &C
Peters, 1981).
Finally,some biologicalaspectsof the presentapproachdeserveto be
mentioned.Although the present approachdoes not give an immediate
answerto the questionon a possible"survivalvalue of music"(Roederer,
1984), it provides a pertinentmessage. That messageessentiallyis that
there exist a number of fundamentalprinciplesof sensory information
acquisitionthat are decisive for survival:
• Immediateconditionedreaction to an external challenge.
• As a provision of appropriatereaction:Immediate,autono-
mous processingof the informationincludedin any sensory
stimulus (i.e., abstraction).
• As the basic element of abstraction:Discretization(contour-
ization) by conditioneddecision.
• As a tool and provision for efficientabstraction:Evolution,
acquisition,and utilizationof distributedknowledge.
As outlinedin the presentstudy,it is those survival-relevant
principlesthat
govern auditoryperceptionof tonal music as well.
Music Perceptionand SensoryInformationAcquisition 237
Thesenotionsparticularlyemphasizethe relevanceof researchon music

perceptionby animals.The remarkableperformancein perceptionof mu-
sical stimuli of, for example, pigeons (Porter&cNeuringer, 1984) and
starlings(Hülse Se Page, 1988) can be seen as a naturalconsequenceof
the above principles.Those principlesprovidea conceptuallink between
researchon animals and on humans.1'2
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University of California Press

Music Perceptionand SensoryInformationAcquisition:

Informationprocessingis characterizedby conditionaldecisionson hi-

Among music experts there is wide agreement on the notion that a

Requestsfor reprintsmay be sent to E. Terhardt,Electroacousticsand Audiocom-

Here emergesan analogy between melody and figure(Gestalt).When

to the aforementionedanalogy between melody and figure-background

Implications of Hierarchical Processing

Althoughit is apparentthat sensoryperceptionmust be hierarchically

what its objectivedetails are. He pointed out that in a highly developed

their results can be directlyinspectedfrom any higher level,

Discretization, Conditioned Decision, and Information

The most importantaspect of cognitiveprocessesis that they depend

Evena superficialinspection,from this point of view, of the visualand

Primary Contour and Spectral Pitch

Perceptionof a visual Gestaltentirelydependson the existenceof pri-

although its sound signal on traveling to the listener's ears is heavily

it should be noted that these resultsapply to polyphonicmusic and mul-

To evaluateadequatelythose analogousphenomena,it must be taken

Secondary Contour and Virtual Pitch

existenceof secondarycontoursis evidentboth in vision and audition.In

Fig. 2. Illustrationof virtualcontoursand virtualfiguresas an analogy to virtualpitch

1974). Although this theory originallywas not explicitly based on the

that such acoustic stimulationhas a pronouncedconditioningeffect on

Ambiguity and Similarity

Ambiguityhas often been recognizedas an important ingredientof

that is primarilycharacterizedby virtualpitches. By viewback,the low-

Fig. 3. Theoreticalpitch patterns,on the second level of abstraction,of two harmonic

Terhardt,Stoll, Schermbach,&cParncutt,1986). In those experiments,

The Tritone Paradox: Another Exercise in Ambiguity of Pitch

Althoughthe ambiguityof pitch of a "normal"musicaltone is sufficient

Fig. 4. Accumulateddistributionsof pure-tonematchesto harmoniccomplextones with

ticulartype of harmoniccomplex tone, ambiguityof pitch can be made

The pronouncedambiguityof "Shepardtones"has suggesteda number

pitchespertinentto eachtone arelinedup vertically.The theoreticalprom-

Fig. 5. Theoreticalpitchpatternsof Shepardtones. Pitchclassis indicatedon the abscissa.

a conditioningeffect. Whatsoever,in the light of the presentexplanation

After the foregoing considerationsof the informationprocessinghi-

Thesenotionsparticularlyemphasizethe relevanceof researchon music

Bernstein,L. Theunansweredquestion.Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversityPress,1976.

1. Thisstudywas workedout in the Sonderforschungsbereich 204 "Gehör",München,

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