What does pitch really mean

Black, gooey stuff yo...

The perceived frequency of a sound.

1. The angle of a roof.
2. The tone of a sound.
3. The act of throwing a ball to a batter to hit.
4. A name for a tarry substance often used on roofs as waterproofing

How high or low a sound is

Asphalt.

1) please do not rely on the question's category to define the scope of your question. It could be recategorized.


2) "Pitch may refer to:

- In music:
Pitch (music), the property of a sound or musical tone measured by its perceived frequency
Range (music) (instrument) and vocal range
Musical tuning explains pitch systems and pitch standards
Absolute pitch and relative pitch
Definite pitch and indefinite pitch

- In speech, language, hearing, and signal processing:
Pitch accent, a type of phonetic accent
Tone (linguics), a type of intonation used to distinguish between words in some languages
Paralanguage explains how tone of voice carries emotional meaning
Pitch (psychophysics), the perceptual correlate of the frequency of a sound wave
Pitch shifter (audio processor), an electronic device for modifying the pitch of sounds
Pitch detection algorithm, an algorithm to estimate the fundamental frequency of speech or musical instrument

- In nature:
Pitch (resin), a viscous liquid, derived from plants or petroleum products, often used for waterproofing and sealing boats, and flat or low-sloping roofs
Pitch Pine, a tree species rich in resin

- In recreation:
Pitch (baseball), a throw of a baseball to a batter
Pitch (sports), a playing field for various sports (especially in British and Australian English):
Cricket pitch
Football pitch
Rules of Quidditch for the pitch in the fictional game of Quidditch
In Climbing, the distance between two belays.
An open outdoor area for various activities:
Camping pitch
Concert pitch
Pitch (card game), a bidding, point-taking card game
The raising of a tent
The delivery of a golf ball with backspin
The delivery in a game of horseshoes
Pitch (vertical space); used in climbing and caving

- In sales:
Pitch (filmmaking), a sales pitch in the movie industry
Elevator pitch, a very short sales pitch
Pitchware, a synonym for adware
The place where a busker performs is called their pitch

- A measure of angle or incline:
Pitch (flight), an aircraft's attitude as nose up or down
Pitch (boat movement), similar movements to aircraft - Pitch, Roll and Yaw
Blade pitch, the angle of a propeller
Roof pitch, the ratio of vertical over horizontal measurements in carpentry

- A measure of distance between like items:
Dot pitch, the distance between dots in a computer display
Screw#Mechanical_analysis for thread pitch, the distance between threads on a screw
Also, the distance between:
complete turns of a helix
teeth on a gear
film perforations
scanlines in video processing
leads from an integrated circuit (Small-Outline Integrated Circuit for example)

- In arts and literature:
Pitch (film), a movie by Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice
Sales Pitch, a short story by Philip K. Dick "
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch

Further information:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pitch


3) Here the main meaning of "pitch" in music:
"Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. While the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones, or partials, in the sound. The human auditory perception system may also have trouble distinguishing frequency differences between notes under certain circumstances. According to ANSI acoustical terminology, it is the auditory attribute of sound according to which sounds can be ordered on a scale from low to high."

"Perception of pitch
The note A above middle C played on a piano is perceived to be of the same pitch as a pure tone of 440 Hz. However, a slight change in frequency need not lead to a perceived change in pitch. The just noticeable difference (the threshold at which a change in pitch is perceived) is about five cents (hundredths of a semitone), or about 0.3% in frequency, but varies over the range of hearing and is more precise when the two pitches are played simultaneously. Like other human stimuli, the perception of pitch also can be explained by the Weber-Fechner law.

Pitch may depend on the amplitude of the sound, especially at low frequencies. For instance, a low bass note will sound lower in pitch if it is louder. Like other senses, the relative perception of pitch can be fooled, resulting in "audio illusions". There are several of these, such as the tritone paradox, but most notably the Shepard scale, where a continuous or discrete sequence of specially formed tones can be made to sound as if the sequence continues ascending or descending forever.

A special type of pitch often occurs in free nature when the sound of a sound source reaches the ear of an observer directly and also after being reflected against a sound-reflecting surface. This phenomenon is called Repetition Pitch, because the addition of a true repetition of the original sound to itself is the basic prerequisite."
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_%28music%29