Acoustic characteristics of vocal oscillations: Vibrato, exaggerated vibrato, trill, and trillo

Acoustic analysis was performed on recordings of 10 early music singers producing examples of vibrato, exaggerated vibrato, whole-tone trill, and trillo to obtain measures of oscillation rate, frequency extent, and jitter. Oscillation rates for vibrato, exaggerated vibrato, and trill were similar, but trillo rate was much faster. Average frequency extent of oscillation was 1 semitone (st) for vibrato, 2.21 st for exaggerated vibrato, 2.71 st for whole-tone trill, and 1.64 st for trillo. Jitter measures indicated that exaggerated vibrato had the most stable oscillations and trillo the least.     

Acoustic analysis of trill sounds

In this paper, the acoustic-phonetic characteristics of steady apical trills--trill sounds produced by the periodic vibration of the apex of the tongue--are studied. Signal processing methods, namely, zero-frequency filtering and zero-time liftering of speech signals, are used to analyze the excitation source and the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract system, respectively. Although it is natural to expect the effect of trilling on the resonances of the vocal tract system, it is interesting to note that trilling influences the glottal source of excitation as well. The excitation characteristics derived using zero-frequency filtering of speech signals are glottal epochs, strength of impulses at the glottal epochs, and instantaneous fundamental frequency of the glottal vibration. Analysis based on zero-time liftering of speech signals is used to study the dynamic resonance characteristics of vocal tract system during the production of trill sounds. Qualitative analysis of trill sounds in different vowel contexts, and the acoustic cues that may help spotting trills in continuous speech are discussed.     

Acoustic analyses of infant fricative and trill vocalizations

Closants, or consonantlike sounds in infant vocalizations, were described acoustically using 16-kHz spectrograms and LPC or FFT analyses based on waveforms sampled at 20 or 40 kHz. The two major closant types studied were fricatives and trills. Compared to similar fricative sounds in adult speech, the fricative sounds of the 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants had primary spectral components at higher frequencies, i.e., to and above 14 kHz. Trill rate varied from 16-180 Hz with a mean of about 100, approximately four times the mean trill rate reported for adult talkers. Acoustic features are described for various places of articulation for fricatives and trills. The discussion of the data emphasizes dimensions of acoustic contrast that appear in infant vocalizations during the first year of life, and implications of the spectral data for auditory and motor self-stimulation by normal-hearing and hearing-impaired infants.     

Acoustic variability in vibrato and its perceptual significance

Historically, studies of vocal vibrato have concentrated on pulse rate as being a primary factor in determining whether a given vocal movement is a good or bad vibrato or a tremolo or wobble. More recently, investigators have been studying the extent of frequency variation and amplitude variation around their respective means in order to determine their influence on the perception of vibrato. The present study is an additional attempt to understand the three parameters comprising vibrato, their interrelationship, and their relationship to perception. Samples of sustained sung tones were obtained primarily from recordings. The samples were digitized using a 16-bit A/D converter at a sampling frequency of 10 kHz. Each digitized sample was converted to a useful format for marking purposes in order to derive information on vibrato pulse rate, the mean frequency of the tone, the semitone deviation around the mean, percent frequency deviation and percent amplitude variation around the mean amplitude. Data presentation utilizes representative samples of good vibrato, tremolo and wobble and describes differences in waveforms which may impact on perception.     

Acoustic and perceptual evaluation of Mandarin tone productions before and after perceptual training

Training American listeners to perceive Mandarin tones has been shown to be effective, with trainees' identification improving by 21%. Improvement also generalized to new stimuli and new talkers, and was retained when tested six months after training [Y. Wang et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 106, 3649-3658 (1999)]. The present study investigates whether the tone contrasts gained perceptually transferred to production. Before their perception pretest and after their post-test, the trainees were recorded producing a list of Mandarin words. Their productions were first judged by native Mandarin listeners in an identification task. Identification of trainees' post-test tone productions improved by 18% relative to their pretest productions, indicating significant tone production improvement after perceptual training. Acoustic analyses of the pre- and post-training productions further reveal the nature of the improvement, showing that post-training tone contours approximate native norms to a greater degree than pretraining tone contours. Furthermore, pitch height and pitch contour are not mastered in parallel, with the former being more resistant to improvement than the latter. These results are discussed in terms of the relationship between non-native tone perception and production as well as learning at the suprasegmental level.     

An electroglottographic study of vocal vibrato

This study investigated vocal vibrato in trained singers through the use of electroglottography (EGG). Ten adult trained singers (7 women, 3 men) were each required to produce four singing tasks. The tasks involved the production of /a/ during an ascending interval of a third in both chest and falsetto registers, once with and once without vibrato. Audio and EGG output during these tasks were directly digitized for subsequent analysis. Results pertaining to changes in the EGG waveform as a function of the singer's gender, the vocal register and the vibrato condition are discussed. A major finding was the apparent absence of consistent, distinctive differentiation in the EGG waveforms when comparing the vibrato and vibrato-inhibited conditions for the majority of subjects. Possible explanations for the majority findings, as well as comment on the feasibility of the EGG for investigating vocal vibrato, are discussed.     

Comparative measures of vocal tremor and vocal vibrato

Acoustic analyses were carried out on vocal vibrato produced by nine opera singers and vocal tremor accompanying the sustained phonation of patients with the following diagnoses: Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, essential tremor, and adductor spastic dysphonia. While vocal tremor on average had a faster oscillatory rate and greater amplitude extent when compared to vocal vibrato, only the cycle to cycle measures of shimmer and jitter differed significantly between these groups. However, these differences existed even when the effect of the oscillation was removed. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that vocal vibrato in singers and vocal tremor in patients may be part of the same continuum.     

Acoustic properties of unconsolidated granular mixes

Simple empirical relations have been proposed to relate a limited number of directly measurable non-acoustic properties of an unconsolidated granular mix to its characteristic acoustic impedance and propagation constant. These properties are: characteristic particle dimension, porosity, tortuosity and the density of the grain base. It is believed that the model accounts heuristically for the mechanical friction between the elements of the rigid frame, the absorption in the frame micro-pores, and the degree of compaction. These effects can be important and are linked to the value of material density. This work presents practical applications of the proposed model for the prediction of the acoustic characteristics of hard-backed layers of loose granular mixes which can be used for acoustic absorption and insulation. It is shown that the predictions are in excellent agreement with the measured data for a representative range of loose granular mixes. A comparison of the results of the 4-parameter Attenborough model for the acoustic properties of porous media and the experimental data is made also. This model is used extensively to predict the acoustic properties of porous ground and granular media. The accuracy of this model with respect to loose granular materials is discussed.     

Acoustic properties of a human chest

A cross-spectral method for determining the longitudinal velocity of sound in the tissues of a human chest in vivo is proposed and substantiated. The method is based on the detection of a percussion stroke by two acoustic sensors positioned over opposite parts of a lung. Statistical estimates are obtained for the longitudinal velocity of sound in chest tissues (the middle part of the right lung) from a group of three men (40–47 years old) without any evident lung disorders in the frequency ranges of 80–130, 170–290, and 350–500 Hz. The adequacy of the double-resonance acoustic model of the human respiratory tract, which combines the resonance of the air volume in the human chest and the wave resonances of the bronchial tree as a narrow pipe, is experimentally verified.     

Acoustic properties of humpback whale songs

A vertical array of five hydrophones was used to measure the acoustic field in the vertical plane of singing humpback whales. Once a singer was located, two swimmers with snorkel gear were deployed to determine the orientation of the whale and position the boat so that the array could be deployed in front of the whale at a minimum standoff distance of at least 10 m. The spacing of the hydrophones was 7 m with the deepest hydrophone deployed at a depth of 35 m. An eight-channel TASCAM recorder with a bandwidth of 24 kHz was used to record the hydrophone signals. The location (distance and depth) of the singer was determined by computing the time of arrival differences between the hydrophone signals. The maximum source level varied between individual units in a song, with values between 151 and 173 dB re 1 microPa. One of the purposes of this study was to estimate potential sound exposure of nearby conspecifics. The acoustic field determined by considering the relative intensity of higher frequency harmonics in the signals indicated that the sounds are projected in the horizontal direction despite the singer being canted head downward anywhere from about 25 degrees to 90 degrees. High-frequency harmonics extended beyond 24 kHz, suggesting that humpback whales may have an upper frequency limit of hearing as high as 24 kHz.     

超硬材料的声学特性

利用超声相干技术的几种不同测速方法,测量金刚石聚晶及其它一些超硬材料在室温或960℃以下温区的纵波和横波速度,以此研究这类材料的声学特性和弹性性能。     

二硼化钛陶瓷的声学性能

用超声相比较方法测量了TiB₂陶瓷样品不同方向的声速,以此计算了样品的弹性模量,并与别的作者的结果进行了比较,讨论了引起各种结果差异的原因。     

Acoustic properties of heated twin jets

A thorough experimental study of the noise characteristics of twin jets is presented in this paper. Twin round jets are investigated at typical jet engine conditions: that is, with heated high velocity flow. By varying the nozzle to nozzle spacing, it is possible to discriminate between the effects of turbulent mixing and acoustic shielding. As a result of this investigation, it was established that the turbulent mixing effects (both interaction noise generation and mixing suppression) occur for closely spaced nozzles. While acoustic shielding occurs at all nozzle spacings, it plays the dominant role at wide nozzle spacings. The levels of this acoustic shielding afforded by an adjacent jet can be sufficient to cause a nearly complete masking of the noise of the shielded jet. A significant discovery of this investigation was the importance of the layer of cooler, slower moving ambient air that exists between the twin jet plumes. This inter-jet layer causes acoustic refraction and reflection, and as the nozzle separation increases, the layer extends to shield more of the jet noise sources.     

Acoustic and acoustoelectronic properties of carbon nanotube films

The effect of spontaneous nanotube doping by substrate atoms was discovered using acoustic resonator microwave spectroscopy. The acoustoelectric effect involving surface acoustic waves was observed in nanotube films. The possibility of using nanotube films for efficient acoustic-wave excitation in solids by electrostriction was analyzed.     

Acoustic,dielectric, and mechanical properties of a new rigid-rod poly(heteroarylene)

The structural, relaxational, and stress-strain properties of rigid-rod poly(heteroarylene)s containing high-polarity functional groups in macrochains are studied. The groups are capable of forming strong intermolecular bonds, including those with polar low-molecular substances (residual solvent or water). The acoustic and dielectric spectroscopy methods are used. The properties of a recently obtained poly(heteroarylene)—poly(naphthoyleneimidobenzimidazole)—are studied in detail. It is shown that these rigid-rod polymers can exhibit local and large-scale molecular rearrangements at temperatures considerably lower than the glass transition temperature. The frequency vs. temperature diagram of relaxation transitions is obtained, and the activation energies for these processes are determined. The possible molecular dynamics mechanisms are discussed.     

径向声子晶体隔声特性*

该文构造了由两种匀质材料交替分布的径向声子晶体柱壳模型。首先,针对声波在其中的轴对称传播情况进行了理论分析,建立了声波由内向外传播的传递矩阵,进而导出了声压透射系数和隔声量表达式。采用数值分析的方法系统地讨论了径向声子晶体柱壳的隔声特性,并与单一材质柱壳的传播规律进行对比分析,其次,借助有限元仿真分析的手段对数值结果进行了验证。最后,详细分析了内外流体的特性阻抗对径向声子晶体柱壳隔声特性的影响,得到了相应的参数影响规律。研究表明,径向声子晶体柱壳存在声波带隙,导致其在带隙范围内的隔声效果远远优于单材质柱壳,并且该结构的固有特性突破了质量定律的限制;声波带隙内表面局域态现象出现与否由内外声场和结构场共同决定。     

重塑砂质含气沉积物的声响应特性与模型预测分析

海洋沉积物中气泡的存在对沉积物的声学特性有显著影响。为实现在实验室内对不同初始应力条件下含气沉积物的声学特性测量,研制了一套可用于土工三轴仪的双探针声学测量系统,基于CT扫描试验获得重塑含气砂样品中气泡群的尺寸分布,确定其共振频率范围。试验结果表明:细砂沉积物声速随气体含量的增加呈指数型降低,衰减系数随气体含量的增加呈指数递增,初始应力的增加会导致沉积物声速变快,声衰减变小。沉积物中气体含量0%～1.18%,测量频率250 kHz,有效围压100 kPa时,声速为1745～976 m/s,衰减系数为57～224 dB/m;有效围压200 kPa时,声速为1773～1011 m/s,衰减系数为41～192 dB/m。利用已建立的含气沉积物声学模型对试验结果进行预测对比,分析表明含气沉积物的声学模型除需考虑气泡的赋存状态和声波在沉积物固、液、气中的界面反射外,还需考虑沉积物所处的原位应力条件。     

Acoustic and dynamic mechanical properties of a polyurethane rubber

Acoustical and dynamic mechanical measurements were carried out on a commercial polyurethane rubber, DeSoto PR1547. The sound speed and attenuation were measured over the range from 12.5 to 75 kHz and 3.9 to 33.6 degrees C. Shear modulus was measured from 10(-4) to 2 Hz and -36 to 34 degrees C. The peak heights of the shear loss tangent varied with temperature, demonstrating thermorheological complexity. At higher temperatures, time-temperature superpositioning could be applied, with the shift factors following the Williams-Landel-Ferry equation. From the combined acoustical and mechanical measurements, values for the dynamic bulk modulus were determined. Moreover, superposition of the bulk modulus data was achieved using the shift factors determined from the dynamic mechanical shear measurements. Finally, this work illustrates the capability and the working rules of acoustical measurements in a small tank.