<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 5/11/01 11:21:12 PM Central Daylight Time, Tvak@AOL.COM
<BR> writes:
<BR>
<BR> Wim wrote:
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"><< When we come home in my car, our dogs runs tot he
<BR>door, expectantly. When any other car comes in the driveway, he sounds an
<BR>alarm. The dog recognizes the pitch of the engine. >>
<BR>
<BR>Our dog does the same thing, although I never thought of it as a pitch
<BR>recognition phenomenon. It could be a squeak or some other sound that
<BR>accompanies the engine, inaudible to us. Or it could be the "way" we pull
<BR>into our driveways. I know I pull in at the same speed every time, same
<BR>braking rate, creating a pitch envelope which might create a signature
<BR>sound
<BR>identifiable to the dog independent of actual pitch recognition. Then
<BR>again...maybe he does have perfect pitch.
<BR>
<BR>Tom S.</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR></FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">
<BR>It's not so much the pitch as the *whole* sound as Virgil Smith suggests. I
<BR>distinctly recall as a boy in Los Angeles, that I had a Los Angeles Times
<BR>paper route which required me to be up and working at 5 AM. I lived in a
<BR>residential area and at that time of day, the city noise was at its lowest.
<BR>I could hear the boss's car coming when it was a mile away.
<BR>
<BR>It was a Ford which had a distinctive sound and just like pianos, each one
<BR>still has its own sound that anyone and also household pets can recognize.
<BR>My Dad always bought Fords and if it was quiet at the moment, I could hear
<BR>his car driving up when he was coming home too. I remember a distinctive
<BR>whine from the engine, gears and drive train from all the many miles I rode
<BR>in our Ford station wagon on family trips.
<BR>
<BR>I've owned other makes but currently I have a year 2000 Ford that has a 5
<BR>speed manual transmission. That distinctive sound is still there! It is one
<BR>of the best cars I have ever owned.
<BR>
<BR>I don't have any dogs but I have two cats who react to sounds rather
<BR>predictably. They always know when I am coming to the door and are there to
<BR>greet me. I don't have to call them to be fed, they know I am getting their
<BR>food for them just by the sounds I make doing so.
<BR>
<BR>Blind people have to rely on all of the other senses. That is why they are
<BR>often believed to have "superior" hearing. They don't really, they have just
<BR>learned to use and focus on the aural stimuli more than the average person.
<BR>
<BR>Household pets and other animals probably do use their sense of smell and
<BR>hearing in a far more sensitive and developed way than humans do. I don't
<BR>find it surprising that animals react to certain sounds at all, I more or
<BR>less expect it. I do, however, still find these anecdotes amusing.
<BR>
<BR>In my early days of aural tuning, I had learned from George Defebaugh to tune
<BR>the octaves wide or sharp during a pitch raise. One of my earliest
<BR>experiences trying this newfound technique caused the big mastiff type dog
<BR>that was in the house to howl. For quite a while thereafter, I had the idea
<BR>that in a pitch raise tuning, the amount to tune sharp was whatever it took
<BR>to make a dog howl.
<BR>
<BR>It worked then and although somewhat refined, still does now.
<BR>
<BR>Bill Bremmer RPT
<BR>Madison, Wisconsin</FONT></HTML>