On Tue, 22 Jun 2004 18:53:32 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Andy Evans wrote:

How does the cochlea separate a complex sound into its different
frequency components?


It doesn't - it's part of a simple microphone. The brain does the clever
bits.


I woudn't argue that the brain does the clever bits, but the little I
have read about the subject shows that the operation of the cochlea is
nothing like any microphone I have seen, and is far from simple.

OK, it's a broad-band mechanical transducer connected to a series of
narrow-band electro-mechanical transducers. Still relatively simple.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering