Methods for Pitch Analysis in Contemporary Popular Music: Multiple Pitches From Harmonic Tones in Vitalic’s Music

This study shows that contemporary popular music with electronic elements can intentionally exploit multiple or ambiguous pitch perceptions arising from a single harmonic complex tone. The phenomenon is illustrated with examples from the work of electronic artist Vitalic and from widely used electronically mediated tones. Two listening tests were conducted: (1) evaluation of the number of simultaneous pitches perceived in sequences of quasi-harmonic tones, and (2) manual pitch transcription of selected sequences. Relationships between signal characteristics and pitch perception were subsequently analyzed. In the musical sequences under consideration, the synthesized harmonic tones were found to convey a greater number of perceived pitches than the acoustic tones. Multiple ambiguous pitches were associated with features such as prominent upper partials and specific autocorrelation profiles. In contemporary popular music with an electronic component, harmonic tones can convey multiple ambiguous pitches. The set of perceived pitches depends on both the listener and the listening conditions.