How long to recognize a frequency?

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IIRC Earl Geddes suggested around 5 cycles for low frequencies, hence positioning of subs in a room is not critical in the average listening room from the perspective of time alignment.

Great. Geddes also said we perceive higher volume level with longer time exposure. I was thinking about building a low frequency array with each driver delayed to increase time exposure to low frequencies.

My goal is to play bass at lower physical volume levels then use increased time exposure to trick my brain into perceiving higher volume levels.
 
AllenB said:
..and down to a fraction of a cycle at higher frequencies.
A fraction of a cycle does not have a frequency, it has a fairly wide band.

bradleypnw said:
I was thinking about building a low frequency array with each driver delayed to increase time exposure to low frequencies.
You could make your room sound like a cathedral.
 
Great. Geddes also said we perceive higher volume level with longer time exposure. I was thinking about building a low frequency array with each driver delayed to increase time exposure to low frequencies.

My goal is to play bass at lower physical volume levels then use increased time exposure to trick my brain into perceiving higher volume levels.
Its way way way easier to do this experiment with a DAW (digital audio workstation). Just add a lowpassed and delayed signal to your original signal. Audacity is fine for this and free.
 
This has long been the issue with guitar based music synthesizer or MIDI controller systems. Using some serious DSP power to identify the notes played on a guitar quickly is problematic when all six strings are summed together.

Most guitar synthesizers use a special pickup with a separate transducer for each string, each with it's own processing. A single string on a guitar can span two to three octaves so that the processor must be able to differentiate between say 82 Hz and 164 Hz, and possibly 246 Hz if the guitar has 24 frets or more.

The signal from a guitar pickup is not a sine wave. It contains ample harmonic content which changes over time as the note decays. In some cases the second or third harmonic can be stronger than the fundamental making accurate pitch detection more difficult.

It has been accepted that it takes from three to five complete cycles to reliably detect the pitch of a single string, which creates an audible delay on the lower frequency notes.

I'm still playing a 10 year old Roland, and I have not kept up with the latest guitar synth tech, so I'm assuming that it is somewhat better today.
 
The conscious response time may or may not take 50 mS, I don't really know. I do know that processing latencies above 10 mS in a live music system will destroy the musicians ability to play properly. Some players are sensitive to latencies in the 3 to 5 mS range.

IE, if a guitar player hits a note, but does not hear it until 10 mS later, it can cause grief.

Most dedicated MIDI controllers send data from the musicians hands to the computer in microseconds, and a modern PC based DAW or music synth can produce the corresponding sound in 1 mS or less. These MIDI controllers are using switches, piezoelectric devices, force sensitive resistors and IR based interrupters to detect that a key, drum pad, or drum head. Their response, and that of the corresponding electronics is now practically instantaneous.

There have been guitar based MIDI devices produced for at least 20 years. These usually attempt to measure the frequency of a live guitar string, and latency has always been an issue in a live music situation. They have improved over the years, but it's still pretty hard to beat physics. The guitar player can be spot on in timing, but if his sound is delayed in coming out of the amp, when playing live in a band, it will be noticed by many listeners.

I used to play my old Roland in a stereo setup. The direct sound from the guitar pickup is the dominant sound, with the sound from the guitar synth secondary. The synth adds some texture, but the attack of a note is pure guitar.
 
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The conscious response time may or may not take 50 mS, I don't really know. I do know that processing latencies above 10 mS in a live music system will destroy the musicians ability to play properly. Some players are sensitive to latencies in the 3 to 5 mS range.


Ah, found the difference between the times mentioned.
50 msec is for nerves (feeling) and as reported does hearing act way faster!
Sorry for the confusion, but your music experience tells you're right.
 
It is possible for the absolute sensation of sound or pitch detection by a human to take far longer than the 3 to 10 mS that I am referring to, and I'm sure that there is a wide variation among people.

The 3 to 10 mS I am speaking of is the relative time differences between two music events that are supposed to be occurring at the same time. These are two different things, and again vary greatly among people. IE, a trained musician can detect timing that is "off" better than someone who is not musically oriented.

Human perception of pitch (the frequency of a tone) is a totally different subject. Some people like myself can not determine pitch and can only tell that two notes are of different pitch, yet others can pick out a single note identify it and tell you if it is sharp or flat. This is known as perfect pitch, and again the range and accuracy of a persons pitch detection abilities vary widely among people.
 
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