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Is pitch a smooth function of frequency? Evidence from octave adjustments.

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Title: Is pitch a smooth function of frequency? Evidence from octave adjustments.
Authors: Demany, Laurent1 (AUTHOR) laurent.demany@u-bordeaux.fr, Selmi, Baptiste2 (AUTHOR), Semal, Catherine1,3 (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Mar2026, Vol. 159 Issue 3, p1815-1824. 10p.
Subjects: Auditory perception, Audio frequency, Absolute pitch, Monochromatic light, Musical intervals & scales, Psychophysics
Abstract: In a classic article on the perception of the melodic octave, W. D. Ward [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 26, 369–380 (1954)] reported two main findings: (1) the frequency ratio Roct defining perceptually a perfect octave between successive pure tones is not fixed but varies rapidly, in an irregular and listener-specific manner, with the reference frequency; (2) on average, Roct is slightly larger than 2:1. Ward's second finding, now referred to as the "octave enlargement" phenomenon, was confirmed multiple times. However, his first finding needed to be verified with a more rigorous methodology. This was the aim of two experiments reported here, in which overall more than 4000 octave adjustments were performed with pure tones at 65 dB SPL. They show that Roct can be significantly different for two reference frequencies only 50 or even 25 cents apart. If Roct defines a constant distance on the pitch dimension, then the results imply that, contrary to common belief, pitch is not a smooth function of frequency. A third experiment supported the idea that the octave enlargement should not be interpreted as a deliberate bias intended to make an adjusted octave more brilliant and therefore pleasant, rather than optimally accurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of the Acoustical Society of America is the property of American Institute of Physics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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Header DbId: egs
DbLabel: Engineering Source
An: 192669252
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: Is pitch a smooth function of frequency? Evidence from octave adjustments.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Demany%2C+Laurent%22">Demany, Laurent</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> laurent.demany@u-bordeaux.fr</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Selmi%2C+Baptiste%22">Selmi, Baptiste</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Semal%2C+Catherine%22">Semal, Catherine</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+the+Acoustical+Society+of+America%22">Journal of the Acoustical Society of America</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 159 Issue 3, p1815-1824. 10p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Auditory+perception%22">Auditory perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Audio+frequency%22">Audio frequency</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Absolute+pitch%22">Absolute pitch</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Monochromatic+light%22">Monochromatic light</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Musical+intervals+%26+scales%22">Musical intervals & scales</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychophysics%22">Psychophysics</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: In a classic article on the perception of the melodic octave, W. D. Ward [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 26, 369–380 (1954)] reported two main findings: (1) the frequency ratio Roct defining perceptually a perfect octave between successive pure tones is not fixed but varies rapidly, in an irregular and listener-specific manner, with the reference frequency; (2) on average, Roct is slightly larger than 2:1. Ward's second finding, now referred to as the "octave enlargement" phenomenon, was confirmed multiple times. However, his first finding needed to be verified with a more rigorous methodology. This was the aim of two experiments reported here, in which overall more than 4000 octave adjustments were performed with pure tones at 65 dB SPL. They show that Roct can be significantly different for two reference frequencies only 50 or even 25 cents apart. If Roct defines a constant distance on the pitch dimension, then the results imply that, contrary to common belief, pitch is not a smooth function of frequency. A third experiment supported the idea that the octave enlargement should not be interpreted as a deliberate bias intended to make an adjusted octave more brilliant and therefore pleasant, rather than optimally accurate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of the Acoustical Society of America is the property of American Institute of Physics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1121/10.0042759
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 10
        StartPage: 1815
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      – SubjectFull: Auditory perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Audio frequency
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Absolute pitch
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Monochromatic light
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Musical intervals & scales
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychophysics
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      – TitleFull: Is pitch a smooth function of frequency? Evidence from octave adjustments.
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            NameFull: Demany, Laurent
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            NameFull: Selmi, Baptiste
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            NameFull: Semal, Catherine
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            – D: 01
              M: 03
              Text: Mar2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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