A psychoacoustic frequency scale that maps physical sound frequency in hertz to perceived critical-band number on a 0–24 scale. The conversion is defined by the Zwicker formula: z = 13·arctan(0.00076·f) + 3.5·arctan((f/7500)^2), where z is the bark value and f is the frequency in Hz. The scale divides the audible spectrum into 24 critical bands, each representing the frequency resolution of the human auditory system at that region. Persistence mechanism: the mathematical mapping is codified in psychoacoustic literature and international audio standards (ITU-R BS.516, ISO 532), maintained through engineering practice and computational libraries. [formal: bark | substrate: mind | horizon: a moment | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
bark-scale
A psychoacoustic frequency scale that maps physical sound frequency in hertz to perceived critical-band number on a 0–24 scale. The conversion is defined by the Zwicker formula: z = 13·arctan(0.00076·f) + 3.5·arctan((f/7500)^2), where z is…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made psychoacoustic frequency scale that divides the audible spectrum into 24 critical bands, based on the minimum audible frequency separation perceived by human listeners (Zwicker, 1961). Built to persist as a standard reference for audio analysis, speech processing, and sound design.
Names and aliases
- bark-scaleen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmsqz0txz004nswyn3j0xokafINSTANCE_OF →
The bark-scale IS a specific kind of frequency scale — a psychoacoustic mapping of physical Hz to perceptual critical-band number. A competent speaker would call the bark-scale 'a frequency scale' (specifically, a psychoacoustic one). Clear INSTANCE_OF against the nearest kind.
- cmspywurr06ztjlssi76045rfSERVES →
The bark scale partitions frequency into perceptually-uniform bands designed to match human auditory perception. It is maintained and applied specifically for speech recognition, where perceptual frequency modeling improves feature extraction for speech signals. For whose sake: the bark scale serves speech-recognition.
- cmsqddcm300663g0r1i833d5xINSTANCE_OF →
Bark scale IS a specific kind of frequency-warping: it is a psychoacoustic frequency scale that warps linear frequency into perceptually-uniform Bark bands. A competent speaker would call the Bark scale a frequency-warping scheme. INSTANCE_OF direction correct.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Aug 13, 2026, 10:07 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 3d8f9808fe69ce552cfae27727317e29a17f625b68c1c15eda5d4c20da720d2e