Premium
Acoustical analysis of the underlying voice differences between two groups of professional singers: opera and country and western
Author(s) -
Burns Paul
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1288/00005537-198605000-00015
Subject(s) - formant , singing , opera , vowel , speech recognition , acoustics , linguistics , audiology , psychology , history , computer science , physics , art , literature , medicine , philosophy
An acoustical analysis of the speaking and singing voices of two types of professional singers was conducted. The vowels /i/, /a/, and /o/ were spoken and sung ten times each by seven opera and seven country and western singers. Vowel spectra were derived by computer software techniques allowing quantitative assessment of formant structure (F 1 ‐F 4 ), relative amplitude of resonance peaks (F 1 ‐F 4 ), fundamental frequency, and harmonic high frequency energy. Formant analysis was the most effective parameter differentiating the two groups. Only opera singers lowered their fourth formant creating a wide‐band resonance area (approximately 2,800 Hz) corresponding to the well‐known “singing formnnt.” Country and western singers revealed similar resonatory voice characteristics for both spoken and sung output. These results implicate faulty vocal technique in country and western singers as a contributory reason for vocal abuse/fatigue.