Morphometric Differences of Vocal Tract Articulators in Different Loudness Conditions in Singing

Abstract

IntroductionDynamic MRI analysis of phonation has gathered interest in voice and speech physiology. However, there are limited data addressing the extent to which articulation is dependent on loudness.Material and Methods12 professional singer subjects of different voice classifications were analysed concerning the vocal tract profiles recorded with dynamic real-time MRI with 25fps in different pitch and loudness conditions. The subjects were asked to sing ascending scales on the vowel /a/ in three loudness conditions (comfortable = mf, very soft = pp, very loud = ff, respectively). Furthermore, fundamental frequency and sound pressure level were analysed from the simultaneously recorded optical audio signal after noise cancellation.ResultsThe data show articulatory differences with respect to changes of both pitch and loudness. Here, lip opening and pharynx width were increased. While the vertical larynx position was rising with pitch it was lower for greater loudness. Especially, the lip opening and pharynx width were more strongly correlated with the sound pressure level than with pitch.ConclusionFor the vowel /a/ loudness has an effect on articulation during singing which should be considered when articulatory vocal tract data are interpreted.

Influence of Voice Focus Adjustments on Oral-Nasal Balance in Speech and Song

“…Previous research has shown that untrained subjects tend to elevate the larynx when pitch is raised [56, 57]. For trained singers, both laryngeal lowering [58] and raising [11, 59] have been observed relative to increased pitch. When loudness is increased, the larynx has been shown to lower in trained singers [59, 60].…”

Where did language come from? Precursor mechanisms in nonhuman primates

“…B: Mid-sagittal MRI slice through the human brain and skull. Real-time MRI permits the observation of articulator movements during song and speech [105]. Structural image from M. Echternach, M. Burdumi, L. Traser, B. Richter, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Germany (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCluRCd2YuM)…”

Multidimensional Timbre Spaces of Cochlear Implant Vocoded and Non-vocoded Synthetic Female Singing Voices

“…A detailed description of these factors is beyond the scope of this paper; however, as a starting point, the reader is directed to Johan Sundberg's chapter in The Psychology of Music (Sundberg, 2013). Generally, these factors may be described as (a) variations across pitch and loudness (Echternach et al, 2016), (b) variations based on singing style (Sundberg et al, 1993Thalén and Sundberg, 2001;Stone et al, 2003;Björkner, 2008;Borch and Sundberg, 2011;Bourne and Garnier, 2012;Guzman et al, 2015;Sundberg and Thalén, 2015;Yang et al, 2015;Bourne et al, 2016;Hallqvist et al, 2017), (c) variations based on vocal register (Titze, 1994;Sundberg and Kullberg, 1999;Sundberg and Högset, 2001;Roubeau et al, 2009), and (d) variations based on the need for a singer's formant cluster (Sundberg, 1974(Sundberg, , 1994(Sundberg, , 2001(Sundberg, , 2013Dmitriev and Kiselev, 1979;Bloothooft and Plomp, 1986;Barnes et al, 2004;Johnson and Kempster, 2011;Mainka et al, 2015;Story, 2016). Thus, while speakers may keep a relatively constant glottal excitation source spectral slope and exhibit relatively small variations in VTL during speech, successful professional singers must learn to purposefully modify both the glottal excitation source and the vocal tract filter, resulting in vocal productions that are physiologically, acoustically, and perceptually much different from those of speech in many cases.…”