source file: m1461.txt Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 19:23:37 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Carl's question about the basilar membrane From: Jesse Bagshaw Gay re: ... what stumps me is how a given frequency excites only a small portion of the membrane. -------- sort of... The basilar membrane is shaped like an elongated triangle. Different areas resonate at different frequencies, just as piano strings of different lengths resonate at different frequencies. So, when a sound wave travels down the basilar membrane, the membrane gets most excited @ spots which resonate @ the frequency of the sound wave, or any of its partials. This explanation is the basis for the place theory of pitch perception, which, as you probably know, is not the whole story. -Jesse