Commentary on "Comparison of Word Intelligibility in Spoken and Sung Phrases" by Lauren Collister and David Huron

We note that the intelligibility of vowels is reduced at high pitches, and propose that decreased decoding of vowels may partially account for the reported findings. Analysis of performance as a function of pitch is recommended. We surmise that reverberation associated with the large microphone distance might have generated reverberation that interfered disproportionately with identification of consonants in sung stimuli, which usually have greater sound intensity than spoken stimuli. Finally, we note the potential relevance of vibrato for speech intelligibility

Interaktív fonetikai eszköz az artikulációs csatorna keresztmetszet-függvényének meghatározására

A projekt célja annak az eldöntése volt, hogy a SuperCollider programozási környezet mennyire alkalmas egy interaktív artikulációs modell implementálására. Az elkészült szoftver az APEX nevű, kétdimenziós modellt használja, amit az artikulációs csatorna alakja és a formánsok közötti összefüggés vizsgálatára hoztak létre

Exploring the potential of virtual reality technology to investigate the health and well being benefits of group singing

There is a growing body of academic research aiming to quantify and understand the associated health and well being benefits of group singing. The social interaction is known to strongly contribute to perceived improvements to mental and physical health but there are also indications that singing together elicits better well being outcomes that other community activities. This paper introduces the Vocal Interaction in an Immersive Virtual Acoustic (VIIVA) system, which allows the user to take part in a group singing activity in 360 degree virtual reality, hearing themselves in the recorded venue alongside the other singers. The VIIVA is intended to make group singing accessible to those unable to attend real community choirs but also as a tool for experimental research into the health and well being benefits of group singing. This paper describes the system and presents a number of methodologies and applications which are discussed in relation to three ongoing research projects. Preliminary work indicates that the VIIVA system and the devised setups provide a promising tool with which to study the health and well being benefits of group singing, and in particular to control for the social interactions inherent in real group singing activities

Choir acoustics : an overview of scientific research published to date

Choir acoustics is but one facet of choir-related research, yet it is one of the most tangible. Several aspects of sound can be measured objectively, and such results can be related to known properties of voices, rooms, ears and musical scores. What follows is essentially an update of the literature overview in my Ph.D. dissertation from 1989 of empirical investigations known to me that deal specifically with the acoustics of choirs, vocal groups, or choir singers. This compilation of sources is no doubt incomplete in certain respects; nevertheless, it will hopefully prove to be useful for researchers and others interested in choir acoustics.QC 20200324Also published in TMH-QPSR 43(1), 1-8, 2002.</p

Hi-Fi voice: observations on the distribution of energy in the singing voice spectrum above 5 kHz

Current audio technology enables the weak spectrum of the voice above 4-5 kHz to be studied reliably. It isknown that energy in the 5-20 kHz range can be perceived even when it is 50 dB or more below the main voicespectrum peak. These upper frequencies are conventionally emphasized in broadcasting and production of popularvocal music; yet very few studies of the acoustic content of this range have been made. High fidelity recordingswere made of vowels sustained by speakers and singers. A general characterization of the two highestoctaves (5-20 kHz) in the spectrum was sought. The prevalence of high-frequency energy and the covariationwith overall SPL were highly variable, but several landmark features were identified. In addition to the commonlyobserved zero at 4-5 kHz, spectral dips were often seen also at 10-12 kHz, so as to form clusters of resonancesin the regions 5-10 kHz and 10-20 kHz. Harmonic energy was observed up to 20 kHz in some loud sung tones. It is suggested that octave numbers are useful for referring to these uppermost frequency bands.QC 20111219</p

Pragmatic De-Noising of Electroglottographic Signals

In voice analysis, the electroglottographic (EGG) signal has long been recognized as a useful complement to the acoustic signal, but only when the vocal folds are actually contacting, such that this signal has an appreciable amplitude. However, phonation can also occur without the vocal folds contacting, as in breathy voice, in which case the EGG amplitude is low, but not zero. It is of great interest to identify the transition from non-contacting to contacting, because this will substantially change the nature of the vocal fold oscillations; however, that transition is not in itself audible. The magnitude of the cycle-normalized peak derivative of the EGG signal is a convenient indicator of vocal fold contacting, but no current EGG hardware has a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio of the derivative. We show how the textbook techniques of spectral thresholding and static notch filtering are straightforward to implement, can run in real time, and can mitigate several noise problems in EGG hardware. This can be useful to researchers in vocology

Choir acoustics : an overview of scientific research published to date

Choir acoustics is but one facet of choir-related research, yet it is one of the most tangible. Several aspects of sound can be measured objectively, and such results can be related to known properties of voices, rooms, ears and musical scores. What follows is essentially an update of the literature overview in my Ph.D. dissertation from 1989 of empirical investigations known to me that deal specifically with the acoustics of choirs, vocal groups, or choir singers. This compilation of sources is no doubt incomplete in certain respects; nevertheless, it will hopefully prove to be useful for researchers and others interested in choir acoustics.QC 20200324Also published in TMH-QPSR 43(1), 1-8, 2002.</p

Update 3.1 to FonaDyn : A system for real-time analysis of the electroglottogram, over the voice range

The human voice is notoriously variable, and conventional measurement paradigms are weak in terms of providing evidence for effects of treatment and/or training of voices. New methods are needed that can take into account the variability of metrics and types of phonation across the voice range. The “voice map” is a generalization of the Voice Range Profile (a.k.a. the phonetogram), with the potential to be used in many ways, for teaching, training, therapy and research. FonaDyn is intended as a proof-of concept workbench for education and research on phonation, and for exploring and validating the analysis paradigm of voice-mapping. Version 3.1 of the FonaDyn system adds many new functions, including listening from maps; displaying multiple maps and difference maps to track effects of voice interventions; smoothing/interpolation of voice maps; clustering not only of EGG shapes but also of acoustic and EGG metrics into phonation types; extended multichannel acquisition;24-bit recording with optional max 140 dB SPL; a built-in SPL calibration and signal diagnostics tool; EGG noise suppression; more Matlab integration; script control; the acoustic metrics Spectrum Balance, Cepstral Peak Prominence and Harmonic Richness Factor (of the EGG); and better window layout control. Stability and usability are further improved. Apple M-series processors are now supported natively.QC 20240214</p

Acoustics for Choral Singing

tmh_import_13_01_02, tmh_id_3815 QC 20130617</p