Effects of Vocal Training and Phonatory Task on Voice Onset Time

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal-acoustic differences between trained singers and nonsingers during speech and singing tasks. METHODS: Thirty male participants were separated into two groups of 15 according to level of vocal training (ie, trained or untrained). The participants spoke and sang carrier phrases containing English voiced and voiceless bilabial stops, and voice onset time (VOT) was measured for the stop consonant productions. RESULTS: Mixed analyses of variance revealed a significant main effect between speech and singing for /p/ and /b/, with VOT durations longer during speech than singing for /p/, and the opposite true for /b/. Furthermore, a significant phonatory task by vocal training interaction was observed for /p/ productions. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that the type of phonatory task influences VOT and that these influences are most obvious in trained singers secondary to the articulatory and phonatory adjustments learned during vocal training.