Abstract
The relationship between off-scale perception and the perception of simultaneity of two pure tones presented almost simultaneously is studied. The characteristics of off-scale perception and the perception of simultaneity were measured as a function of the onset asynchrony between the two quasi-simultaneous tones. The experimental results revealed that off-scale perception is affected by the onset asynchrony of about 30 ms even when listeners cannot detect the asynchrony. It is reported that there exists an onset asynchrony of about 30–40 ms among sounds generated by natural musical instruments in an ensemble. This study is important for revealing the auditory characteristics used to judge the appropriateness of the tone height of sounds in a musical performance, as this judgement depends substantially on the listeners’s off-scale perception.
