Cues in detection of rhythmic irregularities

Abstract

A recent study [Hove et al. (2014). Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 111, 10383–10388] showed that the perception of rhythm carried by simultaneously presented low-pitch and high-pitch complex tones is more easily disrupted by timing irregularities in the low tone than in the high tone. This result led the authors to conclude that low-pitch tones are used for laying down the rhythm in music because they are more precise rhythmic time markers than high-pitch tones. In this study, no difference was found in the temporal acuity for low and high tones. Instead, asynchrony detection was found to be better for low-leading than for high-leading tone pairs, regardless of which tone was rhythmically irregular in a sequence. The results are consistent with an asymmetry in the perception of asynchrony between a low and high tone pair without the rhythmic context [Wojtczak et al. (2012). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 131, 363–377]. The outcome leads to a reinterpretation of the results of Hove et al., based on asynchrony, rather than rh...