Acoustic concomitants of emotional expression in operatic singing: The case of lucia in Ardi gli incensi

Two excerpts from the cadenza in Ardi gli incensi from Donizetti's opera Lucia di Lammermoor were acoustically analyzed for five recorded versions of the cadenza by Toti dal Monte, Maria Callas, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland, and Edita Gruberova. These acoustic parameters of the singing voices were correlated with preference and emotional expression judgments, based on pairwise comparisons, made by a group of experienced listener-judges. In addition to showing major differences in the voice quality of the five “dive” studied, the acoustic parameters suggested which vocal cues affect listener judgments. Two component scores, based on a factorial-dimensional analysis of the acoustic parameters, predicted 84% of the variance in the preference ratings.     

The Visual/Kinesthetic Effects of Melodic Contour in Musical Notation as it Affects Vocal Timbre in Singers of Classical and Music Theater Repertoire

The purpose of this investigation was to obtain information from professional singers active in performing of both classical and music theater repertoire with regard to the visual/kinesthetic effect of melodic contour in musical notation as it affects vocal timbre. The evaluation of data gathered during the study indicates that there is reason to investigate the resulting postural shifts of the head and neck because they are guided by visual maps of melodic contour and its inversion. Significantly, it was discovered that the tone quality produced when a singer's head and neck postures followed the natural melodic contour of the melody was in no case considered to be the most pleasing of the conditions studied and that, in many cases, the tone quality produced when a singer's head and neck postures followed a map of the inversion of the melodic contour was judged to be much improved. The results of the study also indicate that the development of new technology for the general teaching studio, designed to address these effects, may be useful to these singers.     

Are Real-Time Displays of Benefit in the Singing Studio? An Exploratory Study

This article reports on an exploratory research project to evaluate the usefulness or otherwise of real-time visual feedback in the singing studio. The primary purpose of the work was not to optimize the technology for this application, but to work alongside teachers and students to study the impact of real-time visual feedback technology use on the students' learning experiences. An action research methodology was used to explore the benefit of real-time displays over an extended period. The experimental phase of the work was guided by a Liaison Panel of teachers and academics in the areas of singing, pedagogy, voice science, speech therapy, and linguistic science. Qualitative data were collected from eight students working with two professional singing teachers. The teachers and students acted as co-researchers under the action research paradigm. Teachers and students alike kept journals of their teaching and learning experiences. Singing lessons were observed regularly by the research team, coded for teacher and student behaviors, and all co-researchers were interviewed at the mid- and endpoint of the project. The use of technology had a positive impact on the learning process, and this is evidenced through case study data.     

Toward the quantification of vocal efficiency

Quantifiable aspects of vocal fold vibration may be inferred by means of the electrolaryngograph. Changes in inferred vocal fold closed quotient are considered as a possible correlate of acoustic efficiency variation; automatic measures of closed quotient compare favorably with results obtained from inverse filtering of the speech pressure waveform. This article describes closed quotient measures based on electrolaryngographic analysis of 18 trained and untrained men singers, and results show a significant difference in mean vocal fold closed quotient between trained and untrained singers.     

Whither belting?

An explanation of belting appears necessary for practical as well as scholarly reasons. Tentative definitions are available in the literature; however, they are controversial, especially since most are based on personal opinion. Further, many individuals involved in the use and care of the voice believe that singers who employ this technique have a disproportionately high incidence of vocal dysfunction. In any event, a review of what is known about belting, its nature, and the difficulties associated with it would appear helpful in its understanding and the prediction of fruitful avenues of research.     

Objective Voice Quality Analysis Before and After Onset of Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

This study was designed to investigate objective voice quality measurements in unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) by eliminating intersubject variability. To our knowledge this is the first report objectively analyzing paralytic dysphonia as compared to the same voice before onset of UVFP. The voices of two male subjects were prospectively recorded before and after the onset of iatrogenic UVFP (thoracic surgery).The following acoustic measurements of the vowel /a/ were performed using the CSL and MDVP (Kay Elemetrics): jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, cepstral peak prominence, the relative energy levels of the first harmonic, the first formant and the third formant, the spectral slope in the low-frequency zone (0-1 kHz and 0-2 kHz), and the relative level of energy above 6 kHz. Distribution of spectral energy was analyzed from a long-term average spectrum of 40 seconds of text. Laryngeal aerodynamic measurements were obtained for one patient before and after onset of paralysis using the Aerophone II (Kay Elemetrics). Pitch and amplitude perturbation increased secondary to UVFP, while the harmonics-to-noise ratio and the cepstral peak prominence decreased. A relative increase in the mid-frequency and high-frequency ranges and a decrease in the low-frequency spectral slope were observed. Mean airflow rate and intraoral pressure increased, and glottal resistance and vocal efficiency decreased secondary to UVFP. The findings of this self-paired study confirm some but not all the results of previous studies. Measures involving the fundamental and the formants did not corroborate previous findings. Further investigation with vocal tract modeling is warranted.     

Acoustic Interpretation of Resonant Voice

Resonant voice, often described in terms of vibratory sensations in the face, is investigated acoustically by calculating vocal tract inertance. It appears that the ease of production and vibrancy of resonant voice depends more on lowering phonation threshold pressure than on tissue or air resonance in or around the face. Phonation threshold pressure is lowered by increasing air column inertance in the laryngeal vestibule. The fact that the sensations are felt in the face is an indication of effective conversion of aerodynamic energy to acoustic energy, rather than sound resonation in the sinuses or the nasal airways.