Mitchell, Kenny et al. (2003) identified 'open throat' as integral to the production of an even and consistent sound in classical singing. In this study, we compared vibrato rate, extent and onset of six advanced singing students under three conditions: 'optimal' (O), representing maximal open throat; 'sub-optimal' (SO), using reduced open throat; and loud sub-optimal (LSO), using reduced open throat but controlling for the effect of loudness. Fifteen expert judges correctly identified the sound produced when singers used open throat with 85% accuracy. Having verified the technique perceptually, we used a series of univariate repeated measures ANOVAs with planned orthogonal contrasts to test the hypotheses that frequency modulations associated with vibrato rate, extent and onset would vary outside acceptable or desirable parameters for SO and LSO. Hypotheses were confirmed for vibrato extent and onset but not for rate. There were no significant differences between SO and LSO on any of the vibrato parameters. As vibrato is considered a key indicator of good singing, these findings suggest that open throat is important to the production of a good sound in classical singing.

'Open throat' is a term regularly used in the singing studio, but agreement across pedagogues as to its definition and function has not yet been assessed. Fifteen expert singing pedagogues participated in a qualitative study involving a semi-structured interview to explore current thinking regarding terminology, pedagogy, sound quality and the perceived physiology to achieve open throat, as used in the singing studio. Most teachers included the use of the technique as a fundamental in singing training, and were positive about the sound quality it achieved, especially in classical singing. The purpose of the technique was described as a way of maximizing pharyngeal space and/or achieving abduction of the ventricular folds.

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Listeners take for granted their capacity to distinguish between musical instruments, and their ability to discriminate between performers playing the same instrument by their sound alone. Sound perception is usually considered a purely auditory process, but there is significant debate on how auditory and visual information are integrated during listening. Two experiments examined how listeners perceive individual performers. Saxophonists (n = 5) performed three jazz standards for an audio and video recording. Experiment 1 investigated listeners' ability to identify individual saxophonists by ear. Listeners heard one saxophonist, and were later asked to identify him from a lineup of saxophonists. Only 52% of listeners could correctly identify their target. Experiment 2 explored the integration of cross-modal sensory experiences (audio and visual) in saxophonist identification. Participants either watched a silent video clip of a saxophonist playing and matched it to an audio clip of the same performer, or heard an audio clip of a saxophonist and matched it to a silent video clip. Listener/viewers reliably identified their target saxophonists, and results suggest that listeners combine cross-modal perceptions to identify individual performers, and can use the information about a performer in one modality and match it to the same performer in another modality.