Masking

When the ear is exposed to several different tones, one tone may mask (silence) the others.

Masking may be described as an upward shift in the hearing theshold of the weaker tone by the louder tone--it is dependent on frequency.

Pure tones, complex sounds, narrow and broad bands of noise all show differences in their ability to mask other sounds.

Masking of one sound can be caused by another sound that occurs a split second before or after the masked sound.

``Music 175: Loudness'' by Tamara Smyth, Department of Music, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).