Spectral and vocal tract diagram differences in spoken and sung vowel production by soprano singers
Diferenças espectrais e no diagrama do trato vocal na vogal /a/ falada e cantada por cantoras sopranos
Glaucia Verena Sampaio de Souza; Marcia Simões-Zenari; Katia Nemr
Abstract
Keywords
Resumo
Objetivo: descrever e analisar possíveis diferenças acústicas apresentadas na vogal /a/ emitida na fala em tom habitual e no canto em tom grave por cantoras sopranos, por meio da frequência fundamental, dos formantes e da associação entre Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) e diagrama do trato vocal (DTV).
Métodos: estudo exploratório com amostras de 32 sopranos profissionais adultas, sem queixas e/ou alterações vocais autorreferidas. Foram analisadas três repetições da vogal /a/ em tom habitual de fala e na emissão cantada no tom grave (C3, 261Hz), totalizando 192 amostras. Além de serem realizadas as análises por LPC, por FFT e pelo DTV, foram extraídas as medidas da frequência fundamental (f0) e as dos cinco primeiros formantes (F1, F2, F3, F4 e F5).
Resultados: na vogal cantada, a f0 média foi de 259 Hz, F1 aproximou-se do valor observado na emissão falada, os valores de F1 foram maiores que a f0, em F2, observou-se correspondência nas sobreposições de FFT e LPC e no traçado do DTV.
Conclusão: o aumento do segundo formante na vogal cantada em relação à falada provavelmente foi ocasionado pelas modificações do trato vocal, como se observou no DTV. As análises apresentadas de FFT, LPC e DTV indicaram distinções entre a vogal falada no tom habitual e cantada no tom grave realizadas por cantoras sopranos.
Palavras-chave
Referencias
1. Dejonckere PH, Bradley P, Clemente P, Cornut G, Crevier-Buchman L, Friedrich G et al. A basic protocol for functional assessment of voice pathology, especially for investigating the efficacy of (phonosurgical) treatments and evaluating new assessment techniques. Guideline elaborated by the Committee on Phoniatrics of the European Laryngological Society (ELS). Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2001;258(2):77-82.
2. Roy N, Barkmeier-Kraemer J, Eadie T, Sivasankar MP, Mehta D, Paul D et al. Evidence-based clinical voice assessment: A systematic review. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2013;22(2):212-26.
3. Nemr K, Amar A, Abrahão M, Leite GCA, Köhle J, Santos AO et al. Comparative analysis of perceptual evaluation, acoustic analysis and indirect laryngoscopy for vocal assessment of a population with vocal complaint. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol. 2005;71(1):13-7.
4. Nemr K, Simões-Zenari M, Duarte JMT, Lobrigate KE, Bagatini FA. Dysphonia Risk Screening Protocol. Clinics. 2016;71(3):114-27.
5. Leite APD, Carnevale LB, Rocha HL, Pereira CA, Filho LL. Relation between voice self-assesment and clinic evaluation data in dysphonic individuals. Rev. CEFAC. 2015;17(1):44-51.
6. Corazza VR, Silva VFC, Queija DS, Dedivitis RA, Barros APB. Correlation among stroboscopic, perceptual and acoustic analysis findings in adult subjects without vocal complaint. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol. 2004;70(1):30-4.
7. Valentim AF, Côrtes MG, Gama ACC. Spectrographic analysis of the voice: Effect of visual training on the reliability of evaluation. Rev soc bras fonoaudiol. 2010;15(3):335-42.
8. Kempster GB, Gerratt BR, Abbott KV, Barkmeier-Kraemer J, Hillman RE. Consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice: Development of a standardized clinical protocol. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2009;18(2):124-32.
9. Faham M, Laukkanen AM, Ikävalko T, Rantala L, Geneid A, Holmqvist-Jämsén S et al. Acoustic voice quality index as a potential tool for voice screening. J Voice. 2021;35(2):226-32.
10. Brown WS, Morris RJ, Hollien H, Howell E. Speaking fundamental-frequency characteristics as a function of age and professional singing. J Voice. 1991;5(4):310-5.
11. Titze IR. Toward standards in acoustic analysis of voice. J Voice. 1994;8(1):1-7.
12. Bloothooft G, Plomp R. Spectral analysis of sung vowels. I. Variation due to differences between vowels, singers, and modes of singing. J Acoust Soc Am. 1984;75(4):1259-64.
13. Liu W, Wang Y, Liang C. Formant and voice source characteristics of vowels in Chinese national singing and bel canto. A pilot study. J Voice. 2023;40(2):331-9.
14. Maryn Y, Corthals P, Van Cauwenberge P, Roy N, De Bodt M. Toward improved ecological validity in the acoustic measurement of overall voice quality: Combining continuous speech and sustained vowels. J Voice. 2010;24(5):540-55.
15. Sundberg J. The acoustics of the singing voice. Sci Am. 1977;236(3):82-4,86,88-91.
16. Echternach M, Sundberg J, Arndt S, Markl M, Schumacher M, Richter B. Vocal tract in female registers - A dynamic real-time MRI study. J Voice. 2010;24(2):133-9.
17. Roberts JE, Burchinal M, Footo MM. Phonological process decline from 2 1/2 to 8 years. Journal of Communication Disorders. 1990;23(3):205-17.
18. Barbosa PA, Madureira S. Manual de fonética acústica experimental: aplicações a dados do português. São Paulo, SP: Cortez editora. 2015.
19. Flanagan JL. Some properties of the glottal sound source. J Speech Hear Res. 1958;1(2):99-116.
20. Fant G. Acoustic theory of speech production: With calculations based on X-ray studies of Russian articulations. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mounton.1971.
21. Roubeau B, Henrich N, Castellengo M. Laryngeal vibratory mechanisms: The notion of vocal register revisited. J Voice. 2009;23(4):425-38.
22. de Souza GVS, Duarte JMT, Viegas F, Simoes-Zenari M, Nemr K. An acoustic examination of pitch variation in soprano singing. J Voice. 2020;34(4):9.
23. Titze IR, Maxfield LM, Walker MC. A formant range profile for singers. J Voice. 2017;31(3):382.e9-.e13.
24. Brown WS, Morris RJ, Hicks DM, Howell E. Phonational profiles of female professional singers and nonsingers. J Voice. 1993;7(3):219-26.
25. Barnes JJ, Davis P, Oates J, Chapman J. The relationship between professional operatic soprano voice and high range spectral energy. J Acoust Soc Am. 2004;116:530-8.
26. Boersma P, Van Heuven V. Speak and unSpeak with PRAAT. Glot International. 2001;5(9/10):341-7.
27. Dromey C, Heaton E, Hopkin JA. The acoustic effects of vowel equalization training in singers. J Voice. 2011;25(6):678-82.
28. Ferguson S, Kenny DT, Mitchell HF, Ryan M, Cabrera D. Change in messa di voce characteristics during 3 years of classical singing training at the tertiary level. J Voice. 2013;27(4):523.e35-48.
29. Weiss R, Brown WS Jr., Morris J. Singer's formant in sopranos: Fact or fiction? J Voice. 2001;15(4):457-68.
30. Sundberg J. Articulatory configuration and pitch in a classically trained soprano singer. J Voice. 2009;23(5):546-51.
31. Sundberg J. Ciência da voz: fatos sobre a voz na fala e no canto. São Paulo, SP: EDUSP. 2015.
32. Escudero P, Boersma P, Rauber AS, Bion RAH. A cross-dialect acoustic description of vowels: Brazilian and European Portuguese. J Acoust Soc Am. 2009;126(3):1379-93.
33. Joliveau E, Smith J, Wolfe J. Vocal tract resonances in singing: The soprano voice. J Acoust Soc Am. 2004;116(4):2434-9.
34. Sundberg J. Articulatory configuration and pitch in a classically trained soprano singer. J Voice. 2009;23(5):546-51.
35. Echternach M, Burk F, Koberlein M, Selamtzis A, Dollinger M, Burdumy M et al. Laryngeal evidence for the first and second passaggio in professionally trained sopranos. Plos One. 2017;12(5):18.
36. Henrich N, Smith J, Wolfe J. Vocal tract resonances in singing: Strategies used by sopranos, altos, tenors, and baritones. J Acoust Soc Am. 2011;129(2):1024-35.
Submitted date:
27/08/2025
Accepted date:
30/03/2026
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mendeley
Email