The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #108124   Message #2248515
Posted By: GUEST,Darowyn
30-Jan-08 - 07:36 AM
Thread Name: How short can a note be?
Subject: RE: How short can a note be?
You would have to do the experiment in an anechoic chamber.
I suspect that the time threshold- the shortest note of which the pitch was detectable, would relate to the frequency of the note, but also to the quality of the mental processing of the listener. I know sound engineers who can detect a "flam" the difference in timing between two supposedly simultaneous sounds as little as 2 milliseconds. From experience, I believe that this is a learnt skill not an inborn talent.
The brain is known to be capable of massive interpolation in the process of making sense out of deficient data. The Law of the missing fundamental illustrates this. One can determine the pitch of a note from hearing the harmonics that one would expect to hear accompanying a note note, even when the fundamental frequency is missing or filtered out, and only the harmonics are played.

Below the time threshold, like Wolfgang's textbook says, any sound is perceived as a click.
And Joe, in America, in Jazz and Rock music, musos tend to use the numerical values of notes Quarter, Eighth, Thirtysecond etc.
Can't be doing with strings of synonyms for half.
Cheers
Dave