Formant frequencies of choir singers

The four lowest formant frequencies were measured in eight members of the bass section of a good amateur choir under two conditions: (1) when reading the text of a poem aloud; and (2) when performing the same text as a song. Certain formant frequency differences were observed that were similar to those previously found between professional singers’ spoken and sung vowels. In singing, the intersubject scatter of the three lowest formant frequencies was smaller, and the fourth formant was lower.