Pitch Patterns in Vocal Expression of “Happiness” and “Sadness” in the Reading Aloud of Prose on the Basis of Selected Audiobooks

The primary focus of this paper is to examine the way the emotional categories of “happiness” and “sadness” are expressed vocally in the reading aloud of prose. In particular, the two semantic categories were analysed in terms of the pitch level and the pitch variability on a corpus based on 28 works written by Charles Dickens. passages with the intended emotional colouring were selected and the fragments found in the corresponding audiobooks. They were then analysed acoustically in terms of the mean F0 and the standard deviation of F0. The results for individual emotional passages were compared with a particular reader’s mean pitch and standard deviation of pitch. The differences obtained in this way supported the initial assumptions that the pitch level and its standard deviation would raise in “happy” extracts but lower in “sad” ones. Nevertheless, not all of these tendencies could be statistically validated and additional examples taken from a selection of random novels by other nineteenth century writers were added. The statistical analysis of the larger samples confirmed the assumed tendencies but also indicated that the two semantic domains may utilise the acoustic parameters under discussion to varying degrees. While “happiness” tends to be signalled primarily by raising F0, “sadness” is communicated mostly by lowering the variability of F0. Changes in the variability of F0 seem to be of less importance in the former case, and shifts in the F0 level less significant in the latter

Analysis of the acoustic properties of basic emotions simulated in early bilingual Spanish-Basque people

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar las propiedades acústicas de las emociones básicas simuladas producidas por hablantes bilingües precoces de vasco y español. Con este objetivo, las emociones elegidas han sido la alegría, la tristeza, el enfado y la frase neutra. Aunque existen numerosos trabajos que se ocupan de la descripción acústica de las emociones en español realizadas desde diferentes puntos de vista, creemos que nuestro trabajo aporta una nueva perspectiva, ya que incluye el fenómeno del bilingüismo y del contacto de lenguas, en el caso que nos ocupa el español y el euskera. Además, hay que señalar que a pesar de que esta circunstancia se abordo de forma general en un trabajo anterior (Gaminde, 2010), nunca hasta ahora se había extendido a todo el ámbito de la lenguaThe aim of this paper is to analyze the acoustic properties of the basic emotions caused by simulated early bilingual speakers of Basque and Spanish. For this purpose, the emotions were chosen joy, sadness, anger and neutral phrase. Although there are numerous works dealing with an audio description of emotions in Spanish made from different points of view, we believe that our work provides a new perspective, as it includes the phenomenon of bilingualism and language contact, if we occupies the Spanish and Basque. It should also be noted that although this phenomenon was addressed generally in a previous paper (Gaminde, 2010), never before had spread to the whole field of language

Introducing prosodic phonetics

Wetensch. publicati

A computational memory and processing model for prosody

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts & Sciences, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-226).This thesis links processing in working memory to prosody in speech, and links different working memory capacities to different prosodic styles. It provides a causal account of prosodic differences and an architecture for reproducing them in synthesized speech. The implemented system mediates text-based information through a model of attention and working memory. The main simulation parameter of the memory model quantifies recall. Changing its value changes what counts as given and new information in a text, and therefore determines the intonation with which the text is uttered. Other aspects of search and storage in the memory model are mapped to the remainder of the continuous and categorical features of pitch and timing, producing prosody in three different styles: for small recall values, the exaggerated and sing-song melodies of children's speech; for mid-range values, an adult expressive style; for the largest values, the prosody of a speaker who is familiar with the text, and at times sounds bored or irritated. In addition, because the storage procedure is stochastic, the prosody from simulation to simulation varies, even for identical control parameters. As with with human speech, no two renditions are alike. Informal feedback indicates that the stylistic differences are recognizable and that the prosody is improved over current offerings. A comparison with natural data shows clear and predictable trends although not at significance. However, a comparison within the natural data also did not produce results at significance. One practical contribution of this work is a text mark-up schema consisting of relational annotations to grammatical structures. Another is the product - varied and plausible prosody in synthesized speech. The main theoretical contribution is to show that resource-bound cognitive activity has prosodic correlates, thus providing a rationale for the individual and stylistic differences in melody and rhythm that are ubiquitous in human speech.by Janet Elizabeth Cahn.Ph.D

Canto e emoção: indicadores emocionais não verbais na execução do discurso musical cantado

Doutoramento em Música - PerformanceNa performance de uma obra musical cantada, o cantor tem um papel determinante para a transmissão ao público, não só das suas componentes informativas, de natureza conceptual, a nível musical e literário, mas também na indução nos ouvintes dos estados emocionais intrínsecos a cada momento da obra através de indicadores vocais não verbais. Este estudo teve como objectivo central a análise dos parâmetros acústicos que constituem estes indicadores e a sua eficácia. Procurou-se estabelecer uma relação entre as alterações fisiológicas que caracterizam os processos somáticos que acompanham o despoletar dos estados emocionais e os perfis acústicos das vocalizações produzidas nessas condições, partindo de uma reflexão sobre o cantor e a sua função social, passando pela análise do fenómeno da emoção como parte integrante da biologia do indivíduo e da espécie. O grau de indução emocional no público depende da capacidade de o cantor integrar os processos de expressão da emoção na sua execução musical, reflectindo no perfil acústico daí resultante não só a qualidade da sua técnica e as suas características vocais, mas também as alterações fisiológicas que acompanham a libertação de neurotransmissores e neuromoduladores, as modificações na expressão facial, na forma e grau de tensão do tracto vocal, ou no perfil respiratório. Este mecanismo utiliza o relacionamento entre sinais sonoros e estados emocionais do emissor e do receptor processado através de um grupo específico de neurónios, os neurónios de espelho. Para caracterizar os indicadores acústicos dos estados emocionais mais simples, foi elaborado um conjunto de parâmetros, aplicados na análise de vocalizações recolhidas em situações emocionais induzidas. Os cantores que colaboraram no presente estudo passaram pelo mesmo processo, e os seus parâmetros foram comparados com os do paradigma estabelecido. O grau de compatibilidade com a norma foi medido por um índice onde se valorizaram os parâmetros mais significativos. Estes resultados foram posteriormente aferidos com os de testes onde se procurou determinar o grau de identificação pelo público dos sinais acústicos portadores de sentido emocional em exemplos musicais cantados. Destes, foram seleccionados aqueles que atingiram os níveis de identificação acima de 90% e os inferiores a 50%, procedendo-se à análise dos parâmetros acústicos de segmentos particularmente relevantes extraídos desses exemplos, para definir aqueles que se mostraram decisivos para a escolha do público.When performing a vocal musical work, the singer plays a crucial role in transmitting to the audience not only the informative components of the piece, of a conceptual nature, on a musical and literary level, but also in inducting in the listeners the emotional states intrinsic to each moment of the piece, through vocal, non verbal indicators. The main purpose of this study is the analysis of the acoustic parameters that comprise these indicators and their respective effectiveness. We have attempted to establish a relation between the physiologic changes characteristic of the somatic processes that occur with the triggering of an emotional state and the acoustic profiles of the vocalizations produced in these conditions, starting with a reflection on the role of the singer and his social function, and from there to an analysis of the emotional phenomenon as an integrant part of the biology of both individual and species. The level of emotional induction in the public is determined by the singer’s ability to integrate the processes of expressing emotion in his musical performance, as the acoustic profile resultant of this process reflects not only the quality of the singer’s technique and his vocal characteristics, but also the physiologic changes that occur during the release of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, the alterations in facial expression, in the shape and degree of tension of the vocal tract, or in the respiratory pattern. This mechanism uses the relation between the acoustic signals and emotional states of the sender and the receiver, which is processed through a specific group of neurons: the mirror-neurons. To characterize the acoustic indicators of the simpler emotional states, a set of parameters was developed and applied to the analysis of the sample of vocalizations recollected during induced emotional situations. The singers that took part in this study underwent the same procedure, and their parameters were compared with the paradigm thus established. The degree of compatibility with the norm was rated by an index which emphasised the more significant parameters. The results were compared with those of tests assessing the degree of identification by the public of the acoustic signals conveying emotional sense in musical vocal examples. Those which attained levels of recognition over 90% and under 50% were selected, and the acoustic parameters of particularly relevant segments were analysed in order to determine which were the most decisive for the choice of the audience