Aerodynamic and acoustical measures of speech, operatic, and broadway vocal styles in a professional female singer

• Published in: Journal of voice Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 283 - 297
• Main Authors: (Ed) Stone, R.E, Cleveland, Thomas F, Sundberg, P.Johan, Prokop, Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Mosby, Inc 01.09.2003; Elsevier, Inc; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Acoustic properties; Adult; Broadway singing; Broadway theater; Closed quotient; Comparative Analysis; Female; Formants; Glottal compliance; Glottal leakage; Glottis - physiology; Humans; LTAS; Measurement; Music; Opera Singers; Operatic singing; Phonation - physiology; Physiological aspects; Physiological Processes; Singers; Singing Styles; Source spectrum; Speech Acoustics; Speech Production Measurement; Subglottal pressure; Vibrato; Vocal Cords - physiology; Vocal music; Vocal registers; Voice Quality - physiology; Closed quotient; Operatic singing; Glottal compliance; Vibrato; Glottal leakage; Subglottal pressure; LTAS; Formants; Broadway singing; Source spectrum
• ISSN: 0892-1997; 1873-4588
• DOI: 10.1067/S0892-1997(03)00074-2

Understanding how the voice is used in different styles of singing is commonly based on intuitive descriptions offered by performers who are proficient in only one style. Such descriptions are debatable, lack reproducibility, and lack scientifically derived explanations of the characteristics. We undertook acoustic and aerodynamic analyses of a female subject with professional experience in both operatic and Broadway styles of singing, who sang examples in these two styles. How representative the examples are of the respective styles was investigated by means of a listening test. Further, as a reference point, we compared the styles with her speech. Variation in styles associated with pitch and vocal loudness was investigated for various parameters: subglottal pressure, closed quotient, glottal leakage, H 1-H 2 difference (the level difference between the two lowest partials of the source spectrum), and glottal compliance (the ratio between the air volume displaced in a glottal pulse and the subglottal pressure). Formant frequencies, long-term-average spectrum, and vibrato characteristics were also studied. Characteristics of operatic style emerge as distinctly different from Broadway style, the latter being more similar to speaking.