Galloping Rhythm

▼ Details: Galloping Rhythm & Fission Boundary
Galloping Rhythm (Van Noorden, 1975)
Reference: Van Noorden (1975)
Van Noorden's classic experiment uses a repeating ABA pattern (Tone A, Tone B, Tone A, and a pause) to test the Fission Boundary, where auditory streams start to be perceived as separate. Depending on the frequency distance between A and B and the speed (duration), you might perceive:
• One Stream: A galloping rhythm ("da-da-da, da-da-da").
• Two Streams: Two separate steady pulses, one high and one low.
• Both (Bistabilty): Your perception flips between hearing a single and two separate streams.

Parameters

Stimuli

▼ Experiment
Note: This section is an approximation for illustration. It is not the original experimental setup described in the reference but serves to provide a feel for the psychoacoustic effects at play.
▼ How to
  1. Press "Start" to start an experiment demonstration with the choosen duration.
  2. The demonstration starts wih a 0 semi tone distance between tone A and tone B.
  3. For each stimulus, judge whether you percieve the galloping rythm rather as a single galloping rythm (one stream), two dinstinct rythms (two streams) or as bistable.
  4. The demonstration continues until you rated a rythm as two streams.