Arrangements are described for generating electrode stimulation signals for an implanted electrode array having multiple stimulation contacts. An audio input preprocessor receives an input audio signal and generates band pass signals that represent associated bands of audio frequencies. A band pass signal analyzer analyzes each band pass signal to detect when one of the band pass signal components reaches a defined transition event state. A stimulation signal generator generates a set of electrode stimulation signals for the stimulation contacts from the band pass signals such that the electrode stimulation signals to a given stimulation contact: i. use a transition event stimulation pattern whenever a transition event is detected in a band pass signal associated with the given stimulation contact, and ii. use a different non-transition stimulation pattern after the transition event stimulation pattern until a next subsequent transition event is detected.
