Absolute pitch (AP) enables its possessors to identify musical notes and keys by qualities of tone height and tone chroma. With advancing age, an unknown proportion of AP possessors perceives changes in these qualities, usually described as in the sharp direction and to the extent of a semitone or tone. The phenomenon is identified here as absolute pitch shift (APS). Using a cellphone-based tone generator, the writer conducted an N = 1 examination of the APS in his central musical range. The shift was greater at the centre of the range than at its extremes, causing him to perceive incoming tones as 1 to 4 semitones sharper than his recall of them in the A = 440 cps (concert pitch range). The report focusses on the comparative flatness of his AP memories of the tones, expressed with greater precision in cycles per second than by the names commonly given to their physical versions. The altered pitch perceptions are considered due to changes at the basilar membrane level in older individuals, and are labelled here as basilar AP. The internal pitch template’s role in memorising tone frequencies in the inner ear is labelled cortical AP. Implications are considered for further studies of AP and APS latency.

中文翻译：

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 绝对音高偏移


绝对音高 （AP） 使其拥有者能够通过音高和音色度的质量来识别音符和琴键。随着年龄的增长，未知比例的 AP 拥有者会感知到这些品质的变化，通常被描述为尖锐的方向和半音或音调的程度。这种现象在这里被标识为绝对音高偏移 （APS）。使用基于手机的音调生成器，作者在他的中心音乐范围内对 APS 进行了 N = 1 检查。范围中心的偏移大于其极端的偏移，导致他感知到输入的音调比他在 A = 440 cps（音乐会音高范围）中对它们的调用要尖锐 1 到 4 个半音。该报告的重点是他对音调的 AP 记忆的相对平坦度，以每秒周期数表示的精度高于通常给它们的物理版本命名。音调感知的改变被认为是由于老年人基底膜水平的变化，在这里被标记为基底 AP。内部音高模板在记忆内耳音调频率中的作用被标记为皮质 AP。考虑进一步研究 AP 和 APS 潜伏期的意义。