ABSTRACT
We are all aware that, just as we can distinguish different visual objects, the hearing system is able to distinguish different sounds. This holds not only for “single” sounds such as the successive tones of a melody or the successive vowels and consonants of a word, but even for simultaneous sounds such as those produced by multiple musical instruments in a concert or the mix of voices at a cocktail party. Perhaps the most striking property of the hearing system is its ability to analyze the world of superimposed sounds and to separate them according to their various sources.
