Thesis (M.M.E.)--University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point. / Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Music Education in Studio Vocal Pedagogy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41).

Thesis (M.M., Music Education)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-86).

Thesis (M.M., Music Education)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1980. / Title from title screen (viewed May 15, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-86). Online version of the print original.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 136 p. : ill. Advisor: Hilary Apfelstadt, School of Music. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-107).

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1980. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).

A study was undertaken to identify the effect of head flexion/extension on singing voice quality. The amplitude of the fundamental frequency (F0), and the singing power ratio (SPR), an indirect measure of singer’s formant activity, were measured. F0 and SPR scores at four experimental head positions were compared with the subjects’ scores at their habitual positions. Three vowels and three pitch levels were tested. F0 amplitudes and low frequency partials in general were greater with more extended head positions, while SPR increased with neck flexion. No effect of pitch or vowel was found. Gains in SPR appear to be the result of damping low frequency partials rather than amplifying those in the singer’s formant region. Raising the amplitude of F0 is an important resonance tool for female voices in the high range, and may be of benefit to other voice types in resonance, loudness, and laryngeal function.

Thesis (MDram)--University of Stellenbosch, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The actor's work consists of communication, in other words the transfer of intellectual and emotional ideas. The voice is undoubtedly the most important means of auditory communication. The development and maintenance of the actor's voice is, therefore, an essential requirement for effective communication. The vocal development of actors and singers is aimed at releasing the breathing process, the passage of sound through the body and the organs of articulation, as well as the elimination of obstructive psychophysical inhibitions. The same body parts are used for the production of sound in both speaking and singing. The vocal instrument may be divided into three parts, namely the respiratory system, the glottic system and the resonators. The structure and functioning of the voice as an instrument is in many respects somewhat complex. Knowledge of the structure and functioning of the vocal system facilitates the prevention and elimination of speech problems. Speech and singing, as subdivisions of voice production, are both closely linked to the functioning of certain body parts, and it is for this reason that singing helps to improve speech. For instance, because singing demands a larger breath capacity and greater breath control, singing techniques contribute positively to the development of the actor's voice. Various voice production errors and problems encountered in actors, such as breathing-related problems, defective resonance adaptations and defective projection, can be eliminated by means of technical exercises. An analysis of the techniques for speech and singing reveal such a strong coincidence that they can both be classed as voice production techniques. A singing-based approach to vocal training will, therefore, have only a positive effect on the actor's voice production. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die akteur se werk behels kommunikasie, dit wil sê die oordra van intellektuele en emosionele idees. Die stem is meestalonontbeerlik as ouditiewe kommunikasiemiddel. Daarom is die ontwikkeling en instandhouding van die akteur se stem van wesenlike belang. Die fokus van stemontwikkeling by akteurs en sangers word gerig op die bevryding van die asemhalingsproses, die klankgang deur die liggaam, die artikulasieorgane en die uitwissing van stremmende psigo-fisiese inhibisies. In spraak en sang word dieselfde liggaamsdele vir klankproduksie aangewend. Die vokale instrument kan in drie verdeel word, naamlik die asemhalingstelsel, die glottale stelsel en die resonators. Die bou en werking van die stem as instrument is in vele opsigte kompleks. Kennis van die bou en werking van die vokale instrument kan egter tot die voorkoming of verbetering van stem- en spraakprobleme lei. Spraak en sang as onderafdelings van stemproduksie skakelonderling met betrekking tot die betrokkenheid van sekere liggaamsdele en hul funksies, en derhalwe ondersteun sangoefeninge spraakproduksie. Aangesien sang egter 'n groter asemkapasiteit en sterker asembeheer verg as spraak, kan sangtegniese oefeninge positief bydra tot die akteur se stemontwikkeling. Verskeie stemfoute en stemprobleme van die akteur kan verbeter word met behulp van tegniese oefeninge, naamlik asemverwante probleme, gebrekkige resonansie-aanpassings en gebrekkige projeksie. 'n Ontleding van die tegnieke van spraak en sang dui op so 'n sterk ooreenkoms dat beide as stemtegnieke geklassifiseer kan word. Daarom sal 'n sangtegniekmatige benadering tot stemopleiding die spraakstem van die akteur positiefbeïnvloed.

Enhancing the separated singing voices from harmonic (pitched) and percussive musical instruments in songs recorded with a single microphone is the scope of this thesis. Separating singing voice has applications in music information retrieval systems. Various methods have been used to separate singing voice from harmonic and percussive instruments. Most of them use two stages of separation, one for separating harmonic instruments, and the other for separating percussive instruments. One of these Algorithms uses non-negative matrix factorization in each stage to separate harmonic and percussive instruments. Traditionally, in each stage, components' bases or gains are clustered based on discontinuity measures. The first contribution of this thesis was the use of local discontinuity of significant parts of these bases and gains, followed by splitting (rather than classifying) each component's basis or gain. This significantly refined the separated voice and music sources. Median filtering has also been used in two stages to separate singing voice. Typically, horizontal and vertical filters are used in each stage. The second contribution of this thesis was to enhance the separation quality using a combination of six additional diagonal median filters to accommodate singing voice frequency modulations. In addition, filters parameters that are suitable for all songs regardless of their sampling frequencies are sought. The third contribution of this research was the novel use of Hough Transform to detect traces of pitched instruments in the magnitude spectrogram of the separated voice. These traces are then removed completely using median filtering after successfully calculating their frequency bands. The new Hough Transform based approach was applied to a number of separation algorithms as a post processing step and it significantly improved the quality of the separated voice and music in all of them.

Report (Ed.D.)--Teachers College. / Sponsor: Craig Timberlake. Dissertation Committee: Charles W. Walton, . Issued also on microfilm. Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Harry R. Wilson. Dissertation Committee: Arthur T. Jersild, Gladys Tipton. Bibliography: leaves 62-64.