How Do You Spell SHEPARD TONE?

Pronunciation: [ʃˈɛpəd tˈə͡ʊn] (IPA)

The spelling of the word "shepard tone" is a combination of two names: Jean and Roger Shepard. "Shepard" is pronounced as /ˈʃɛpərd/ in IPA phonetic transcription. The correct spelling provides a clearer understanding of the pronunciation, which might be difficult to discern from spoken language alone. A Shepard tone refers to an auditory illusion where a tone appears to endlessly rise or fall in pitch. It is not actually increasing or decreasing in pitch, but the listener's perception leads them to believe it is.

SHEPARD TONE Meaning and Definition

1. Shepard tone refers to a psychoacoustic auditory illusion that creates the perception of continuously ascending or descending pitch without ever seeming to reach a higher or lower octave. It is named after the cognitive scientist Roger Shepard, who first described this phenomenon in the early 1960s.

   The illusion of the Shepard tone is achieved by overlapping multiple tones, each separated by an octave. These tones are then faded in and out in a specific pattern, creating the sensation that the pitch is continually rising or falling, despite the fact that the individual tones themselves do not change pitch. This creates a paradoxical auditory perception, where one might feel like they are reaching the limits of pitch perception, yet the sound remains in constant transition.

   Shepard tones are often used in music, film, and sound design to create a sense of tension, suspense, or to imply infinite ascension or descent. They are also commonly known as "sonic barber poles" due to the circular nature of the perceived pitch movement.

   The Shepard tone is a powerful tool in audio engineering and has been utilized by numerous composers and artists in various genres. It creates an auditory illusion that challenges conventional notions of pitch perception, leading to an intriguing and often mesmerizing sonic experience.

Common Misspellings for SHEPARD TONE

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Etymology of SHEPARD TONE

The word "Shepard tone" is named after Roger Shepard, an American cognitive psychologist who first described the auditory illusion in a 1964 paper titled "Circularity in Judgments of Relative Pitch". Shepard did not coin the term "Shepard tone" specifically, but his work laid the foundation for this concept. The term was later popularized by Douglas Hofstadter, another cognitive scientist, in his book "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" published in 1979. The illusion is also sometimes referred to as a "Shepard-Risset glissando" or "Shepard scale", acknowledging Shepard's contribution to the field of auditory perception.