Mel-scale Oscillator
Datecirca 1943
Inventory NumberWJ0322
ClassificationOscillator
Subject
Maker
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
1940 - 1962
Maker
Bud Radio Inc.
founded 1928
Place of Origin
Dimensions36.6 × 56 × 36.7 cm (14 7/16 × 22 1/16 × 14 7/16 in.)
SignedMarked on label: "PSYCHO-ACOUSTIC LAB HARVARD UNIVERSITY"
etched on base of tab that opens top door: BUD
InscribedMarked on label: "MEL-SCALE OSCILLATOR PSYCHO-ACOUSTIC LAB HARVARD UNIVERSITY P.A.L. TYPE 115"
Curatorial RemarksA "mel" is the unit of pitch: a pure tone of 1000 Hz, 40 dB above the listener's threshold, produces a pitch of 1000 mels.
FunctionThis device was used in generating the tones in Stevens's auditory scaling experiments.
Historical AttributesUsed in the Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory (PAL) in Memorial Hall, Harvard University.
This frequency oscillator generated tones for Stevens’s auditory scaling experiments. Frequency is an acoustic property measured in Hertz. Pitch is a psychoacoustic property that quantifies in mels how high or low a frequency seems to a listener. A tone of 1000 Hertz, 40 decibels above the listener’s threshold, produces a pitch of 1000 mels. The mel scale was developed by Stevens in 1937.
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1942
Object number: WJ0344
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1941
Object number: WJ0337
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1941
Object number: WJ0643
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1943
Object number: WJ0289
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1942
Object number: WJ0275
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1946
Object number: WJ0534
Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory, Harvard University
Date: circa 1961
Object number: WJ0262a