The perception of musical consonance beyond the traditional existence region of pitch

The traditional notion that pitch perception breaks down for frequency components above 5 kHz was challenged by a study [Oxenham et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 108, 7629-7634 (2011)] showing that complex tones high-pass filtered at 6 kHz convey the perception of melodic intervals. We investigated whether complex tones high-pass filtered above 6 kHz can also convey the perception of harmonic intervals. Eleven listeners rated the pleasantness of consonant and dissonant dyads (two-note chords) consisting of harmonic complex tones band-pass filtered either in a low-frequency (1-6 kHz) or in a high-frequency (7-12 kHz) region. The two tones in each dyad were presented to opposite ears. In the high-frequency condition the dyads were presented with a low-pass noise to mask combination tones. Pleasantness ratings were significantly higher for consonant than for dissonant intervals in both frequency regions. This preference for consonant dyads in the high-frequency region was not observed when the tones w...