What's the Illusion?

There are multiple ways to hear the same vocalization

• Spectral listening: everyone's ears hear voice as a mix of tones at different pitches & loudness.

  • At social distances, the speaker's (low) vocal chord pitch is dominated by louder tones at higher pitches.

• Fundamental listening: the MF illusion, which causes us to prominently "hear" vocal chord pitch (even though it's not very loud).    

  • By positioning microphones close to speakers' mouths, recording engineers elicit fundamental listening to ensure consistent perception of performers' emotions.  

  • This has inadvertently resulted in a misconception that fundamental listening is normative.  

This means people may hear different pitch sequences, loudness, & syllable stress.

• leading to confusions about intentions and emotions.