Test yourself: What is your tone perception?

[Tiamat]

This test is wierd. I simply just named all of the tones. Most tones had fundamental and up to 3 harmonics that I could readily call out.

If I focus all my attention to the fundamental tone, I score all Fundamental, which seems obvious. If I focus all my attention to the 2nd and 3rd harmonics, I have scored all Harmonic -- not a surprise.

Im not sure what this test is supposed to "say" about hearing in general or specifically.

When I listen to music, I don't stress any one part of the piece, I usually listen for fundamentals and the overtones/harmonics that make the instruments what they are.

For instance, a standard bass guitar has a profound 2nd harmonic and 3rd harmonic...

 

[sobriquet]

The poll shows that a disposition toward hearing the fundamental is much more common, which seems to me to be the most plausible result. Given that the brain can be tricked into perceiving the fundamental even when it is entirely absent from a tone - the fundamental is extrapolated entirely from the present harmonic spectrum - it seems that we're geared toward hearing fundamentals.

To those who scored above 0, what are your listening habits like? How much listening, what kinds of music, what kinds of equipment for reproduction, what environments, etc? What do you listen for the most when you hear music?

 

[sobriquet]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
This test is wierd. I simply just named all of the tones. Most tones had fundamental and up to 3 harmonics that I could readily call out.

If I focus all my attention to the fundamental tone, I score all Fundamental, which seems obvious. If I focus all my attention to the 2nd and 3rd harmonics, I have scored all Harmonic -- not a surprise.

Im not sure what this test is supposed to "say" about hearing in general or specifically.

When I listen to music, I don't stress any one part of the piece, I usually listen for fundamentals and the overtones/harmonics that make the instruments what they are.

For instance, a standard bass guitar has a profound 2nd harmonic and 3rd harmonic...

Do you actually actively listen for the harmonic spectra, or do you just recognize the timbres? To me it seems strange to analyze the spectrum for anything other than a totally foreign timbre.

 

[rstrohkirch]

.166

 

[Chronoshock]

10/12
(UUDDDDUUDUU)

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

I'm gonna cut to the chase and answer "Bananas".

 

[everman]

-8/12

After reading through that thread there's a couple interesting things in there:
1. A negative number indicates a listener with left brain dominance. (according to the study cited)
2. A negative number indicates a listener who may prefer things like the piano, precussion, and perhaps more solo performances.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: everman
-8/12

After reading through that thread there's a couple interesting things in there:
1. A negative number indicates a listener with left brain dominance. (according to the study cited)
2. A negative number indicates a listener who may prefer things like the piano, precussion, and perhaps more solo performances.

I thought about making a huge poll so we could try to get some general figures about what preferences are relating to the numbers people got, but I decided against spending half an hour making the poll

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: everman
-8/12

After reading through that thread there's a couple interesting things in there:
1. A negative number indicates a listener with left brain dominance. (according to the study cited)
2. A negative number indicates a listener who may prefer things like the piano, precussion, and perhaps more solo performances.

When I listened the first time, and it asked if the tones were rising or falling, my first thought was, "Which one? There are multiple tones being played."
Seeing it in Goldwave's Spectrogram visualizer made it a lot clearer - each note forms its own frequency line.

 

[potato28]

I had to take one of these for a music course, and I remember that most of the class got one extreme or the other. Only like 5 or 6 (including me) got the middle or near the middle.

 

[spidey07]

Still haven't listened on the stereo...this is with uber-crappy laptop speakers. Can't hear indidual notes. Can't figure out my score.

1 D
2 D
3 U
4 U
5 U
6 U
7 U
8 D
0 U
10 D
11 D
12 U

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Still haven't listened on the stereo...this is with uber-crappy laptop speakers. Can't hear indidual notes. Can't figure out my score.

1 D
2 D
3 U
4 U
5 U
6 U
7 U
8 D
0 U
10 D
11 D
12 U

-10/12 = -0.833

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
-10/12 = -0.833

Not surprised.


What I didn't like is the laptop speakers. I couldn't hear the individual notes and was forced into pitch mode.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: xcript
-0.833 for me (11F, 1H).

same.

1. F
2. H
3. F
4. F
5. F
6. F
7. F
8. F
9. F
10. F
11. F
12. F

 

[Rogodin2]

So the 'fundamental' is the 'root'? The 'harmonic' is the 3rd or 5th?

I don't quite understand.

I scored a .333 4h 8f

Rogo

 

[everman]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: everman
-8/12

After reading through that thread there's a couple interesting things in there:
1. A negative number indicates a listener with left brain dominance. (according to the study cited)
2. A negative number indicates a listener who may prefer things like the piano, precussion, and perhaps more solo performances.

I thought about making a huge poll so we could try to get some general figures about what preferences are relating to the numbers people got, but I decided against spending half an hour making the poll

Personally I love the piano, I've been playing it for years. I also have a tendency to prefer solo performances in various instruments, mostly piano, violin, and cello. I'll listen to just about any kind of music though.

 

[Phlargo]

Very interesting test.. I would expect my results to be more consistant I have quite a good ear and quite a good bit of experience with music.. I got a 4/12

 

[Phlargo]

Originally posted by: mobobuff
The test is telling you if you have a predisposition to hear higher tones or lower tones. If you heard more significance in lower tones, your results will be < 0. If you thought most tones were higher, your results will be > 0. If you had no tendencies one way or the other, your score will be 0. This IS a right-or-wrong test, though, because there are definite answers. Basically a 0 on this test is a 100%. The farther you are away from 0 the lower your grade.

0 = A
-/+ .2 = B
-/+ .4 = C
-/+ .6 = D
-/+ .8 = F
-/+ 1 = Special Ed

I would disagree with your analysis - it would seem that consistency could be construed as positive. Therefore, a higher gradient would be better - so your scoring is exactly opposite of true I would argue the best scores are (0-12)/12 & (12-0)/12.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: sobriquet

Originally posted by: Tiamat
This test is wierd. I simply just named all of the tones. Most tones had fundamental and up to 3 harmonics that I could readily call out.

If I focus all my attention to the fundamental tone, I score all Fundamental, which seems obvious. If I focus all my attention to the 2nd and 3rd harmonics, I have scored all Harmonic -- not a surprise.

Im not sure what this test is supposed to "say" about hearing in general or specifically.

When I listen to music, I don't stress any one part of the piece, I usually listen for fundamentals and the overtones/harmonics that make the instruments what they are.

For instance, a standard bass guitar has a profound 2nd harmonic and 3rd harmonic...

Do you actually actively listen for the harmonic spectra, or do you just recognize the timbres? To me it seems strange to analyze the spectrum for anything other than a totally foreign timbre.

Its very difficult for me to explain. Timbre is very related to the "harmonic spectra" put forth along with the fundamental. Having been a musician for many years, my ears/brain have been "trained" to be very critical of music/tones. I automatically listen "to the big picture" while getting as much information as possible. Being a Pipe organist has increased this as well -- many stops do not stress the fundamental, one stop, for example, the 3rd harmonic is on average, 10db louder than the fundamental.

Hearing different bass guitars play the same passage is exciting for me, boring for many other people. I seem to like to focus on the voicing of instruments while not compromising the narration of the melody/harmony.

Bass guitar being the simplest example to me, when a bass player plays Open B, I recognize it as B (31hz) B (62hz) F# (93hz), and a few other overtones. Small differences in these are immediately recognized and appreciated or rejected.

This test was odd because instead of hearing one tone, or harmonics, my brain just immediately picked out the 4 most prominent harmonics (including the fundamental).

 

[Ika]

I got -1. Every single one I picked was fundamental. Honestly, I don't understand any of this, and I'm too lazy to read the thread. Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

 

[ProviaFan]

I scored -1, extreme fundamental(ist).

 

[sobriquet]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: sobriquet

Originally posted by: Tiamat
This test is wierd. I simply just named all of the tones. Most tones had fundamental and up to 3 harmonics that I could readily call out.

If I focus all my attention to the fundamental tone, I score all Fundamental, which seems obvious. If I focus all my attention to the 2nd and 3rd harmonics, I have scored all Harmonic -- not a surprise.

Im not sure what this test is supposed to "say" about hearing in general or specifically.

When I listen to music, I don't stress any one part of the piece, I usually listen for fundamentals and the overtones/harmonics that make the instruments what they are.

For instance, a standard bass guitar has a profound 2nd harmonic and 3rd harmonic...

Do you actually actively listen for the harmonic spectra, or do you just recognize the timbres? To me it seems strange to analyze the spectrum for anything other than a totally foreign timbre.

Its very difficult for me to explain. Timbre is very related to the "harmonic spectra" put forth along with the fundamental. Having been a musician for many years, my ears/brain have been "trained" to be very critical of music/tones. I automatically listen "to the big picture" while getting as much information as possible. Being a Pipe organist has increased this as well -- many stops do not stress the fundamental, one stop, for example, the 3rd harmonic is on average, 10db louder than the fundamental.

Hearing different bass guitars play the same passage is exciting for me, boring for many other people. I seem to like to focus on the voicing of instruments while not compromising the narration of the melody/harmony.

Bass guitar being the simplest example to me, when a bass player plays Open B, I recognize it as B (31hz) B (62hz) F# (93hz), and a few other overtones. Small differences in these are immediately recognized and appreciated or rejected.

This test was odd because instead of hearing one tone, or harmonics, my brain just immediately picked out the 4 most prominent harmonics (including the fundamental).

I'm a trained musician too, which is why I asked. I know of only a handful of people who are able to analyze a harmonic spectrum on the fly in any detail. I think it's an incredible ability. Apart from simplistic analyzes like "When I play a fundamental F on my tuba, the 3rd partial C is more prominent," I have to expend serious effort to pick apart tones. I think it's pretty amazing that you're able to do it.

 

[sobriquet]

Originally posted by: Aflac
I got -1. Every single one I picked was fundamental. Honestly, I don't understand any of this, and I'm too lazy to read the thread. Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

According to the poll, you're normal. Congrats.

 

[sobriquet]

Originally posted by: everman

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: everman
-8/12

After reading through that thread there's a couple interesting things in there:
1. A negative number indicates a listener with left brain dominance. (according to the study cited)
2. A negative number indicates a listener who may prefer things like the piano, precussion, and perhaps more solo performances.

I thought about making a huge poll so we could try to get some general figures about what preferences are relating to the numbers people got, but I decided against spending half an hour making the poll

Personally I love the piano, I've been playing it for years. I also have a tendency to prefer solo performances in various instruments, mostly piano, violin, and cello. I'll listen to just about any kind of music though.

I scored -12/12 and love the piano, too. I gave up orchestral performance to focus on chamber and solo work, but I don't think that's because of my hearing tendencies. I've just hated the other players in my orchestras

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Contacted the maker of the test and added some additional information and references