Hello,
I am not exactly sure if this is the best place to ask about this. I want to write an article about limitations of normal human hearing, or, to put it another way, what 'sound' we are missing even when our hearing is very good. Limitations such as: we can not hear extremely high or extremely deep frequencies, we have an uneven frequency response, loud sounds can mask soft sounds, non-directionality of low frequencies, etc. I was hoping someone versed in human hearing science can point me to some of these 'shortcomings' that aren't as well known.
I have read that human ear physiology can generate its own harmonic distortion, and it can also compress sound too, but I can not find any literature to explain this, and the correct terminology might be eluding me anyway. Can anyone show me the light on this phenomenon? I am also interested in the human limits of frequency resolution and time resolution, so how 'finely' we can discern pitch, and how long a sound has to be before we can sense it. Is there anyone familiar with research published in this area who can point me in the right direction here?
One more thing, I should mention I am just a writer, not a trained audiologist, so anything jargon dense may be lost on me. I am willing to learn though.
thank you,
J
I am not exactly sure if this is the best place to ask about this. I want to write an article about limitations of normal human hearing, or, to put it another way, what 'sound' we are missing even when our hearing is very good. Limitations such as: we can not hear extremely high or extremely deep frequencies, we have an uneven frequency response, loud sounds can mask soft sounds, non-directionality of low frequencies, etc. I was hoping someone versed in human hearing science can point me to some of these 'shortcomings' that aren't as well known.
I have read that human ear physiology can generate its own harmonic distortion, and it can also compress sound too, but I can not find any literature to explain this, and the correct terminology might be eluding me anyway. Can anyone show me the light on this phenomenon? I am also interested in the human limits of frequency resolution and time resolution, so how 'finely' we can discern pitch, and how long a sound has to be before we can sense it. Is there anyone familiar with research published in this area who can point me in the right direction here?
One more thing, I should mention I am just a writer, not a trained audiologist, so anything jargon dense may be lost on me. I am willing to learn though.
thank you,
J
