Sixty-four trained musicians listened to four-bar excerpts of selected chorales by J. S. Bach, which were presented both in four-part texture (harmonic context) and as a single voice part (melodic context). These digitally synthesized examples were created by combining the first twelve partials, and all voice parts had the same generic timbre. A within-subjects design was used, so subjects heard each example in both contexts. Included in the thirty-two excerpts for each subject were four soprano, four alto, four tenor, and four bass parts as the target voices. The intonation of the target voice was varied such that the voice stayed in tune or changed by a half cent, two cents, or eight cents per second (a cent is 1/100 of a half step). / Although direction of the deviation (sharp or flat) was not a significant factor in intonation perception, main effects for context (melodic vs. harmonic) and rate of deviation were highly significant, as was the interaction between rate of deviation and context. Specifically, selections that stayed in tune or changed only by half cents were not perceived differently; for larger deviations, the error was detected earlier and the intonation was judged to be worse in the harmonic contexts compared to the melodic contexts. / Additionally, the direction of the error was correctly identified in the melodic context more often than the hamonic context only for the examples that mistuned at a rate of eight cents per second. Correct identification of the voice part that went out of tune in the four-part textures depended only on rate of deviation: the in tune excerpts (no voice going out of tune) and the eight cent deviations were correctly identified most often, the two cent deviations were next, and the half cent deviation excerpts were the least accurately identified. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-12, Section: A, page: 3775. / Major Professor: Clifford K. Madsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The principal motivation for this dissertation is to extend the study of small amplitude high frequency wave propagation in solutions for hyperbolic conservation laws begun by A. Majda and R. Rosales in 1984. It was then that Majda and Rosales obtained equations governing the leading order wave amplitudes of resonantly interacting weakly nonlinear high frequency wave trains in the compressible Euler equations. The equations were obtained through systematic application of multiple scales and result in a pair of nonlinear acoustic wave equations coupled through a convolution operator. The extended solutions satisfy a pair of inviscid Burgers' equations coupled via a spatial convolution operator. Since then, many mathematicians have used this technique to extend the time validity of solutions to systems of equations other than the Euler equations and have arrived at similar nonlinear non-local systems. This work attempts to look at some of the basic features of the linear and nonlinear coupled and decoupled non-local equations, offering some analytic solutions and numerical insight into the phenomena associated with these equations. We do so by examining a single non-local linear equation, and then a single equation coupling a Burgers' nonlinearity with a linear convolution operator. The linear case is completely solvable. Analytic solutions are provided along with numerical results showing the fundamental properties of the linear non-local equations. In the nonlinear case some analytic solutions, including steady state profiles and traveling wave solutions, are provided along with a battery of numerical simulations. Evidence indicates the existence of attractors for solutions of the single equation with a single mode kernel. Provided resonant interaction takes place, the profile of the attractor is uniquely dependent on the kernel alone. Hamiltonian equations are obtained for both the linear and nonlinear equations with the condition that the resonant kernel must be an odd function with respect to the spacial variable. This work also offers some insight into the general understanding of nonlinear non-local systems of equations. It develops working insight for the action of the resonant mechanism between the solution and a known kernel.

A theoretical analysis is developed for control of wake-airfoil interaction noise by the use of actuators on the airfoil surfaces near the leading edge. The objective is to eliminate the sound radiation by canceling the wake-airfoil noise near its source (the leading edge). Actuators are mounted on the upper and lower surfaces of the airfoil and driven out of phase to match the antisymmetric nature of the wake-airfoil noise field. The analysis is based on linearization about a two-dimensional compressible subsonic mean flow past a semi-infinite flat-plate airfoil. Asymptotic solutions are developed for the unsteady boundary-layer flow over surface-mounted actuators which are long compared to the triple-deck scale. The analysis shows that boundary layer effects play a significant role in determining the acoustic field, and that traditional approaches used to account for acoustically thin boundary layers are not always adequate. In addition to the acoustic monopole field associated with the actuator volume flux, acoustic monopole and dipole fields are produced at leading order by deflection of the boundary layer into the oncoming free stream. For a specified actuator size and location (relative to the leading edge), the analysis determines the actuator amplitude and phase which minimizes the total sound radiation. The cancellation is most effective when the directivity pattern for the control field closely matches that for the wake-airfoil noise field. At low Mach numbers, this is achieved by mounting the actuators sufficiently close to the leading edge. At high subsonic Mach numbers, the sound cancellation that can be achieved with a single actuator on each surface is limited by mismatch in the directivity patterns. However, a match in directivity patterns can be recovered in part by using two actuators on each surface. The use of passive treatment in the leading-edge region to locally control wake-airfoil interaction noise is also discussed.

<p> Controlled acoustic environments are important in voice research. Recording environment affects the quality of voice recordings. While sound booths and anechoic chambers are examples of controlled acoustic environments widely used in research, they are both costly and not portable. The long-term goal of this project is to compare the voice usage and efficiency of trained and untrained singers onsite immediately before and after vocal performance. The specific goal of this project is the further of development a Portable Sound Booth (PSB) and standardization of onsite voice recording procedures under controlled conditions. We hypothesized that the simple and controlled acoustic environment provided by the PSB would enable consistent reliable onsite voice recordings and the immediate differences as a consequence of voice usage were measurable. Research has suggested that it would be possible to conduct onsite voice recordings. Proof of concept research titled "Construction and Characterization of a Portable Sound Booth for Onsite Measurement" was conducted before initiating the full research effort. Preliminary findings revealed that: (1) it was possible to make high-quality voice recordings onsite, (2) the use of a Portable Sound Booth (PSB) required further acoustic characterization of its inherent acoustic properties, and (3) testable differences before and after performance were evident. The specific aims were to (1) develop and refine onsite objective voice measurements in the PSB and (2) evaluate use of the PSB to measure voice quality changes before and after voice usage. </p>

The highly heterogeneous and anelastic nature of deep ocean seafloor results in complex reverberation as acoustic energy incident from the overlaying water column interacts and scatters from it. To gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms causing the reverberation in sonar and seafloor scattering experiments, we have developed numerical simulation techniques that are capable of modeling the principal physical properties of complex seafloor structures. A new viscoelastic finite-difference technique for modeling anelastic wave propagation in 2-D and 3-D heterogeneous media, as well as a computationally optimally efficient method for quantifying the anelastic properties in terms of viscoelastic mechanics are presented. A method for reducing numerical dispersion using a Galerkin-wavelet formulation that enables large computational savings is also presented. The widely different regimes of wave propagation occurring in ocean acoustic problems motivate the use of hybrid simulation techniques. HARVEST (Hybrid Adaptive Regime Visco-Elastic Simulation Technique) combines solutions from Gaussian beams, viscoelastic finite-differences, and Kirchhoff extrapolation, to simulate large offset scattering problems. Several scattering hypotheses based on finite-difference simulations of short-range acoustic scattering from realistic seafloor models are presented. Anelastic sediments on the seafloor are found to have a significant impact on the backscattered field from low grazing angle scattering experiments. In addition, small perturbations in the sediment compressional velocity can also dramatically alter the backscattered field due to transitions between pre- and post-critical reflection regimes. The hybrid techniques are employed to simulate deep ocean acoustic reverberation data collected in the vicinity of the northern mid-Atlantic ridge. In general, the simulated data compare well to the real data. Noise partly due to side-lobes in the beam-pattern of the receiver-array is the principal source of reverberation at lower levels. Overall, the employed seafloor models were found to model the real seafloor well. Inaccurately predicted events may partly be attributed to the intrinsic uncertainty in the stochastic seafloor models. For optimal comparison between real and HARVEST simulated data the experimental geometry should be chosen so that 3-D effects may be ignored, and to yield a cross-range resolution in the beam-formed acoustic data that is small relative to the lineation of the seafloor.

Propagation of time-harmonic antiplane waves in an unbounded linearly-elastic solid containing parallel fluid-filled cracks is investigated. The viscous friction effects are represented by appropriate boundary conditions on the crack faces. The cracks are randomly distributed in a slab of finite thickness. Taking configurational averages over all crack configurations, one finds that the average motion in the solid is governed by two coupled integral equations. It is inferred from these equations that, inside the cracked region, there is a forward motion and a backward motion, which are described by a complex-valued wavenumber. Outside the cracked region, there are unattenuated reflected and transmitted wave motions, for which simple expressions are obtained. Numerical results are presented for the speed, attenuation, reflection and transmission in terms of the frequency, viscosity, crack density, angle of incidence and slab thickness.

<p> The present sociophonetic study examines the English variety in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) based upon a 130-speaker sample from Marquette County. The linguistic variables of interest include seven monophthongs and four diphthongs: 1) front lax, 2) low back, and 3) high back monophthongs and 4) short and 5) long diphthongs. The sample is stratified by the predictor variables of heritage-location, bilingualism, age, sex and class. The aim of the thesis is two fold: 1) to determine the extent of potential substrate effects on a 71-speaker older-aged bilingual and monolingual subset of these UP English speakers focusing on the predictor variables of heritage-location and bilingualism, and 2) to determine the extent of potential exogenous influences on an 85-speaker subset of UP English monolingual speakers by focusing on the predictor variables of heritage-location, age, sex and class. All data were extracted from a reading passage task collected during a sociolinguistic interview and measured instrumentally. The findings of this apparent-time data reveal the presence of lingering effects from substrate sources and developing effects from exogenous sources based upon American and Canadian models of diffusion. The linguistic changes-in-progress from above, led by middle-class females, are taking shape in the speech of UP residents of whom are propagating linguistic phenomena typically associated with varieties of Canadian English (i.e., low-back merger, Canadian shift, and Canadian raising); however, the findings also report resistance of such norms by working-class females. Finally, the data also reveal substrate effects demonstrating cases of dialect leveling and maintenance. As a result, the speech spoken in Michigan's Upper Peninsula can presently be described as a unique variety of English comprised of lingering substrate effects as well as exogenous effects modeled from both American and Canadian English linguistic norms.</p>

<p> The field of motor speech disorders in Greek is substantially underresearched. Additionally, acoustic studies on lexical stress in dysarthria are generally very rare (Kim et al. 2010). This dissertation examined the acoustic and perceptual effects of Greek dysarthria focusing on lexical stress. Additional possibly deviant speech characteristics were acoustically analyzed. Data from three dysarthric participants and matched controls was analyzed using a case study design. The analysis of lexical stress was based on data drawn from a single word repetition task that included pairs of disyllabic words differentiated by stress location. This data was acoustically analyzed in terms of the use of the acoustic cues for Greek stress. The ability of the dysarthric participants to signal stress in single words was further assessed in a stress identification task carried out by 14 na&iuml;ve Greek listeners. Overall, the acoustic and perceptual data indicated that, although all three dysarthric speakers presented with some difficulty in the patterning of stressed and unstressed syllables, each had different underlying problems that gave rise to quite distinct patterns of deviant speech characteristics. The atypical use of lexical stress cues in Anna's data obscured the prominence relations of stressed and unstressed syllables to the extent that the position of lexical stress was usually not perceptually transparent. Chris and Maria on the other hand, did not have marked difficulties signaling lexical stress location, although listeners were not 100% successful in the stress identification task. For the most part, Chris' atypical phonation patterns and Maria's very slow rate of speech did not interfere with lexical stress signaling. The acoustic analysis of the lexical stress cues was generally in agreement with the participants' performance in the stress identification task. Interestingly, in all three dysarthric participants, but more so in Anna, targets stressed on the 1^st syllable were more impervious to error judgments of lexical stress location than targets stressed on the 2^nd syllable, although the acoustic metrics did not always suggest a more appropriate use of lexical stress cues in 1^st syllable position. The findings contribute to our limited knowledge of the speech characteristics of dysarthria across different languages.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: B, page: 0993. Adviser: Kenneth S. Suslick. Includes bibliographical references. Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thèse (M.Sc.A.)--Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), 2007. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 1 février 2007). In ProQuest dissertations and theses. Publié aussi en version papier.