Spectrum Analysis

Abstract

The ability of the auditory system to assign a pitch to signals that occupy either a point or a restricted segment of the spectrum is one important aspect of frequency analysis. Two other aspects of spectral shape must concern us in our effort to describe the manner in which the system differentiates and recognizes the various sounds useful to the organism. The first of these is the necessity to generate a different perception whenever the pattern of spectral distribution of energy changes to some differentiable degree. The second is some understanding of how the system succeds in recognizing two (or more) such spectral shapes when they are present simultaneously.