This demonstration compares the virtual pitch and the timbre of complex tones with low and high harmonics of a missing fundamental. Within three groups (low, medium, high harmonics) the harmonic numbers are randomly chosen. The Westminster chime melody is clearly recognizable in all three cases. This shows that the recognition of a virtual-pitch melody is not based on aural tracking of a particular harmonic in the successive complex-tone stimuli.
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Transcript
An orchestral chime is struck eight times, each time preceded by cue tones equal to the first eight partials of the chime.
References
T.D.Rossing (1982) The Science of Sound, (Addison-Wesley, Reading MA), pp. 241-242.
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Transcript
The chime is now followed by a tone matching its nominal pitch or strike notes.