Suppressing spectral edge effects in Schroeder Harmonic Complex

Abstract

Schroeder's harmonic complexes are periodic, band-limited signals that are analogous to tones whose frequency increases or decreases over time. As such, they have been widely employed to study phenomena related to frequency-dispersion and frequency-modulation sensitivity in the auditory system. However, Schroeder's complexes also embed two steady ``frequency-fixed'' components. Because these components are easily audible, they may complicate interpretation of behavioral experiments. Here I present a variation of Schroeder's harmonic complex that largely suppresses these undesired steady components.