Musical Acoustics Demonstrations
Fletcher-Munson Curve, or Frequency
Response of the Ear
Background
A pure tone is played several times, each time changing in loudness by
3 decibels. This is repeated for several frequencies. The
more sensitive your ear is at a given frequency, the more steps you
will be able to hear.
Instructions
Adjust the volume control on your computer so that you can't hear the
softest sound at any of the frequencies. Then, play the file
again and count the number of steps you hear for each frequency.
Number of steps heard at:
200 500
1000 2000 5000
10,000 Hz
____ ____
____ ____ ____
____
At what frequencies is your ear most
sensitive? At what frequencies is your ear least sensitive?
Play
the sound file
Csound files
FMcurve.orc
FMcurve.sco
FMcurve.csd
Supported by Baldwin-Wallace College and the Acoustical Society of
America