Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 5:42 pm
I experience this myself all the time. And I have been wondering about it.
One psycoacoustic phenomenon that COULD be significant here is the pitch vs. loudness perception.
If you try to make a sinus-tone at a perticular frequency, say 440Hz, and play it in a pair of headphones you can hear it for yourself. Start at low volume, then increase the volume untill it's moderately loud. Notice that the perceived frequency changes! Roughly put, frequencies below 1000Hz will pitch downwards and frequencies above will pitch upwards.
This is due to the physical properties of the inner ear - the Cochlea. The various frequencies are represented along the so-called Basilar Membrane. A certain point on the membrane will have a certain stiffness that coresponds to a resonancepoint for that frequency = it resonates and dies, triggering the nerve-cells at that particular location. The brain then knows what frequency those nerves represent.
When the sound pressure increases the vibrations on the Basilar Membrane become so strong that neighbouring nervecells are triggered as well, resulting in a change in pitch perception.
Lowered pitch (the effect on basstones and kickdrums) could be interpreted by the brain as if the tempo of the music was decreased, so this could be part of an explanation of this phenomenon.
This also coresponds well with scottorlans' theory of fluid time perception - the pitch then being one of several factors helping define the "pace of time" for our brains.
One psycoacoustic phenomenon that COULD be significant here is the pitch vs. loudness perception.
If you try to make a sinus-tone at a perticular frequency, say 440Hz, and play it in a pair of headphones you can hear it for yourself. Start at low volume, then increase the volume untill it's moderately loud. Notice that the perceived frequency changes! Roughly put, frequencies below 1000Hz will pitch downwards and frequencies above will pitch upwards.
This is due to the physical properties of the inner ear - the Cochlea. The various frequencies are represented along the so-called Basilar Membrane. A certain point on the membrane will have a certain stiffness that coresponds to a resonancepoint for that frequency = it resonates and dies, triggering the nerve-cells at that particular location. The brain then knows what frequency those nerves represent.
When the sound pressure increases the vibrations on the Basilar Membrane become so strong that neighbouring nervecells are triggered as well, resulting in a change in pitch perception.
Lowered pitch (the effect on basstones and kickdrums) could be interpreted by the brain as if the tempo of the music was decreased, so this could be part of an explanation of this phenomenon.
This also coresponds well with scottorlans' theory of fluid time perception - the pitch then being one of several factors helping define the "pace of time" for our brains.
