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From: brucec@orca.UUCP (Bruce Cohen)
Newsgroups: net.math
Subject: Re: Scales again
Message-ID: <18@orca.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 4-Aug-83 15:13:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: orca.18
Posted: Thu Aug  4 15:13:45 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Aug-83 12:35:21 EDT
References: bronze.679
Lines: 12

I believe (not positive, bu I don't currently have access to any of my
acoustics or sensory psychology/physiology books), that the reason the
pure tones can be consonant or dissonant is that the ear is not a
linear transducer.  In converting the sound waves to mechanical
movements of the sensory fibers in the inner ear a degree of non-linear
mixing takes place, which generates harmonics (and sum and difference
frequencies) which did not exist in the original sounds.

				Bruce Cohen
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