Human Hearing and consonance

I'm looking for studies where people are subjected to a variety of sine-wave
intervals and asked to judge their consonance. Results plotted in graphs
similar to the ones on Paul Erlich's site:

http://www.uq.net.au/~zzdkeena/Erlich/index.htm

Also, here are my responses to several posts related to this same site:

> [Glen Peterson:]
> >I have also been wondering if I even consider "fourths and fifths" to
> be consonant or dissonant. They are almost neither.
>
> [Paul Erlich:]
> > If a fifth is not consonant, what is?
>
> [Dan Stearns]
> "fourths and fifths" occupy some
> indeterminate zone between (overtly) 'sweet' and 'sour.'

Well put. They somehow sound too plain to my ears to get that feeling of
consonance. Maybe consonance is the wrong word? Which brings me to...

> [Paul Erlich:]
> Roughness, tonalness, and difference tones are the three major
> pyschoacoustical phenomena responsible for the preference for
small-integer
> ratios.

Have I got this right?

Roughness = Proximity to a small whole number ratio creates a tension called
roughness. i.e., 301/200 will be heard as a mistuned 3/2.

Tonalness = How closely the interval fulfils the ear's desire for completion
of a harmonic series of tones.

Difference tones = The difference between two pitches creates another pitch.
Most noticeable in with high frequency pitches played closely together.

If I'm on the right track, then what does this mean, "For sine waves, simple
integer ratios no longer minimize roughness, but they still maximize
tonalness?" I would think that, "For sine waves, Tonalness is less of a
factor, because there is no harmonic series in the actual tones. Roughness
and difference tones still have an effect."

What about, "Simple-integer ratios come into the picture because if the
heard tones are to be understood as harmonic overtones of some missing
fundamental or root, they must form a simple-integer ratio with one
another." If this is true, why are simple integer ratios so powerful with
sine waves? Why does Utonality make any sense at all?

I had a 23 note JI glass organ for a while,

http://www.organicdesign.org/Glen/Instruments/Glass_Organ/glass_organ.html

the tone of which had a very profound fundamental, and weak partials in
various patterns. My experience in playing it was that Otonalities and
Utonalities were equally consonant, except with high notes close together
where difference tones were audibly harmonizing with the Otonalities, and
not with the Utonalities.

---
Glen Peterson
30 Elm Street North Andover, MA 01845
(978) 975-1527
http://www.OrganicDesign.org/Glen/Instruments