The purpose of the study is to gain an overview of the prevailing vocal register vocabulary in Sweden today and to examine how the existing pluralism has a positive or negative impact. There is currently a diverse narrative surrounding vocabulary, and new vocal discourse trends have influenced the conversation about vocal register terminology.The vocabulary taught in higher music education will shape future narratives, prompting the question of whether voice instructors at academies of music believe that the wide range of vocabulary can influence vocal instruction and which discourses these instructors consider relevant.

The human voice is a product of an intricate biophysical system. The complexity of this system enables a rich variety of possible sounds, but at the same time poses great challenges for quantitative voice analysis. For example, the vocal folds can vibrate in several different ways, leading to variations in the acoustic output. Because the vocal folds are relatively inaccessible, such variations are often difficult to account for. This work proposes a novel method for extracting non-invasively information on the vibratory state of the human vocal folds. Such information is important for creating a more complete voice analysis scheme. Invasive methods are undesirable because they often disturb the subjects and/or the studied phenomena, and they are also impractical in terms of accessibility and cost. A useful frame of reference for voice analysis is the Voice Range Profile (VRP). The 3 dimensional form of the VRP can be used to depict any phonatory metric over the 2 dimensional plane defined by the fundamental frequency of phonation (x-axis) and the sound pressure level (y-axis). The primary goal of this work was to incorporate information on the vibratory state of the vocal folds into the Voice Range Profile (e.g., as a color change). For this purpose, a novel method of analysis of the electroglottogram (EGG) was developed, using techniques from machine learning (clustering) and nonlinear time series analysis (sample entropy estimation). The analysis makes no prior assumptions on the nature of the EGG signal and does not rely on its absolute amplitude or frequency. Unlike time-domain methods, which typically define thresholds for quantifying EGG cycle metrics, the proposed method uses information from the entire cycle of each period. The analysis was applied in a variety of experimental conditions (constant vowel with different vibratory states, constant vibratory state and different vowels, constant vowel and vibratory state with varying lung volume) and the magnitude of effect on the EGG short-term spectrum was estimated for each of these conditions. It was found that the short-term spectrum of the EGG signal sufficed to discriminate between different phonatory configurations, such as modal and falsetto voice. It was found also that even supposedly purely articulatory changes could be traced in the spectrum of the EGG signal. Finally, possible pedagogical and clinical applications of the method are discussed. / <p>QC 20140609</p> / FonaDyn

Voices are used as a vehicle for language, and variation in the acoustic properties of voices also contains information about the speaker. Listeners use measurable qualities, such as pitch and formant traits, as cues to a speaker’s physical stature and attractiveness. Emotional states and personality characteristics are also judged from vocal stimuli. The research contained in this thesis examines vocal masculinity, aesthetics and personality, with an emphasis on the perception of prosocial traits including trustworthiness and cooperativeness. I will also explore themes which are more cognitive in nature, testing aspects of vocal stimuli which may affect trait attribution, memory and the ascription of identity. Chapters 2 and 3 explore systematic differences across vocal utterances, both in types of utterance using different classes of stimuli and across the time course of perception of the auditory signal. These chapters examine variation in acoustic measurements in addition to variation in listener attributions of commonly-judged speaker traits. The most important result from this work was that evaluations of attractiveness made using spontaneous speech correlated with those made using scripted speech recordings, but did not correlate with those made of the same persons using vowel stimuli. This calls into question the use of sustained vowel sounds for the attainment of ratings of subjective characteristics. Vowel and single-word stimuli are also quite short – while I found that attributions of masculinity were reliable at very short exposure times, more subjective traits like attractiveness and trustworthiness require a longer exposure time to elicit reliable attributions. I conclude with recommending an exposure time of at least 5 seconds in duration for such traits to be reliably assessed. Chapter 4 examines what vocal traits affect perceptions of pro-social qualities using both natural and manipulated variation in voices. While feminine pitch traits (F0 and F0-SD) were linked to cooperativeness ratings, masculine formant traits (Df and Pf) were also associated with cooperativeness. The relative importance of these traits as social signals is discussed. Chapter 5 questions what makes a voice memorable, and helps to differentiate between memory for individual voice identities and for the content which was spoken by administering recognition tests both within and across sensory modalities. While the data suggest that experimental manipulation of voice pitch did not influence memory for vocalised stimuli, attractive male voices were better remembered than unattractive voices, independent of pitch manipulation. Memory for cross-modal (textual) content was enhanced by raising the voice pitch of both male and female speakers. I link this pattern of results to the perceived dominance of voices which have been raised and lowered in pitch, and how this might impact how memories are formed and retained. Chapter 6 examines masculinity across visual and auditory sensory modalities using a cross-modal matching task. While participants were able to match voices to muted videos of both male and female speakers at rates above chance, and to static face images of men (but not women), differences in masculinity did not influence observers in their judgements, and voice and face masculinity were not correlated. These results are discussed in terms of the generally-accepted theory that masculinity and femininity in faces and voices communicate the same underlying genetic quality. The biological mechanisms by which vocal and facial masculinity could develop independently are speculated.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Glaucia Lais Salomao.pdf: 2740028 bytes, checksum: c0cdc35e66facbaed2788e65a7a799ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-11-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the production and the perception of the modal and falsetto s registers in tones sang by male choir singers.104 tones were analyzed, 52 sand in modal register, 52 sang in falsetto register. The data for the analyses of the vocal registers production were obtained by means of inverse filtering of the sound irradiated from the mouth and by means of the electroglottography. The following measures were extracted: Fundamental Frequency (F0), duration of the Closed Phase, Maximum Flow Declination Rate, and Amplitude of the Alternating Current. Also, the following measures were calculated: Closed Quotient, Normalized Amplitude Quotient and level difference between the two lowest partials in the glottal source spectrum (H1 H2). The results showed clear differences between the modal and the falsetto registers. The values found for the Closed Quotient, the Maximum Flow Declination Rate and the Alternating Current Amplitude were predominantly greater in the modal than in the falsetto register. The Maximum Flow Declination Rate and H1 H2 values, on the other hand, were greater in the falsetto register than in the modal. The correlation analysis of the acoustical parameters showed a clear covariation between the Closed Quotient, the H1 H2 values, the Normalized Amplitude Quotient and Maximum Flow Declination Rate. The data for the analyses of the vocal registers perception were obtained from a forced choice test. The number of votes for modal was compared with the voice source parameters values. The results showed that tones with high values of Closed Quotient and low values of H1 H2 and of Normalized Quotient Amplitude were typically associated with higher number of votes to the modal register, and vice-versa. Our results suggest that the acoustic manifestations of the phonatory dimension related to the vocal registers are gradient and its perceived characteristics are as much distinct as they are wider apart in the continuous / O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de investigar as relações entre a produção e a percepção dos registros vocais modal e de falsete em emissões de cantores de coral do sexo masculino. Foram analisadas 104 emissões, 52 cantadas no registro modal e 52 cantadas no registro de falsete. Os dados para análise da produção dos registros vocais foram obtidos por meio da filtragem inversa do sinal acústico e da eletroglotografia. As seguintes medidas foram extraídas: Freqüência Fundamental (F0), duração da Fase Fechada, Velocidade Máxima do Declínio do Fluxo de Ar e Amplitude da Corrente Alternada. Foram também calculados: o Quociente Fechado, o Quociente da Amplitude Normalizada e a diferença entre os níveis de intensidade dos dois primeiros harmônicos no espectro da fonte glótica (H1 H2). Os resultados obtidos mostraram diferenças claras e sistemáticas entre os registros modal e de falsete. Os valores obtidos para o Quociente Fechado, para a Velocidade Máxima do Declínio do Fluxo de Ar e para a Amplitude do Corrente Alternada foram predominantemente maiores no registro modal do que no registro de falsete. Os valores de H1 H2 e do Quociente da Amplitude Normalizada, por outro lado, foram maiores no registro de falsete do que no registro modal. Os dados para análise da percepção dos registros vocais foram obtidos a partir de um teste perceptivo de escolha forçada. O número de votos para o registro modal foi comparado com os valores obtidos para os parâmetros acústicos glotais. Os resultados mostraram que tons com valores maiores de Quociente Fechado, e valores menores de H1 H2 e de Quociente da Amplitude Normalizada foram tipicamente associados com maior número de votos para o registro de modal, e vice-versa. Os resultados sugerem a existência de uma gradiência sonora na dimensão das manifestações acústicas relacionadas aos registros vocais com características percebidas como tanto mais diferenciadas quanto mais distanciadas nesse contínuo

Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 2000. / Comprend des réf. bibliogr.

Mémoire (M.Ling.)--Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 2000. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

No description available.