A signal processing arrangement generates electrical stimulation signals to stimulation contacts in an implanted cochlear implant array. An input sound signal is decomposed into dominant psychophysically relevant frequency components, with each frequency component changing over time in frequency and level. Each frequency component is coded as a patient-specific, frequency-specific function of stimulation location, rate, and level to produce a sequence of requested stimulation events having an instantaneous frequency and level. And the electrical stimulation signals are generated from the requested stimulation events for delivery by the stimulation contacts to adjacent auditory neural tissue.