This article combines results from three earlier investigations of the glottal voice source during phonation at varying degrees of vocal loudness (1) in five classically trained baritone singers (Sundberg et al., 1999), (2) in 15 female and 14 male untrained voices (Sundberg et al., 2005), and (3) in voices rated as hyperfunctional by an expert panel (Millgard et al., 2015). Voice source data were obtained by inverse filtering. Associated subglottal pressures were estimated from oral pressure during the occlusion for the consonant /p/. Five flow glottogram parameters, (1) maximum flow declination rate (MFDR), (2) peak-to-peak pulse amplitude, (3) level difference between the first and the second harmonics of the voice source, (4) closed quotient, and (5) normalized amplitude quotient, were averaged across the singer subjects and related to associated MFDR values. Strong, quantitative relations, expressed as equations, are found between subglottal pressure and MFDR and between MFDR and each of the other flow glottogram parameters. The values for the untrained voices, as well as those for the voices rated as hyperfunctional, deviate systematically from the values derived from the equations.

Objectives. Kunqu is a special type of opera within the Chinese tradition with 600 years of history. In it, stage speech is used for the spoken dialogue. It is performed in Ming Dynasty's mandarin language and is a much more dominant part of the play than singing. Stage speech deviates considerably from normal conversational speech with respect to duration, loudness and pitch. This paper compares these properties in stage speech conversational speech. Method. A famous, highly experienced female singer's performed stage speech and reading of the same lyrics in a conversational speech mode. Clear differences are found. Results. As compared with conversational speech, stage speech had longer word and sentence duration and word duration was less variable. Average sound level was 16 dB higher. Also mean fundamental frequency was considerably higher and more varied. Within sentences, both loudness and fundamental frequency tended to vary according to a low-high-low pattern. Conclusions. Some of the findings fail to support current opinions regarding the characteristics of stage speech, and in this sense the study demonstrates the relevance of objective measurements in descriptions of vocal styles.

Background: Nasal and paranasal cavities are supposed to contribute substantially to the vocal tract resonator properties. However, their acoustical effects as well as the effects of sinus surgery on the voice remain unclear. In this work we investigate resonance phenomena of paranasal sinuses prior to and after various rhinosurgical procedures in cadaveric human sinonasal tracts and corresponding 3D casts. Methodology: Nasal and paranasal cavities of formalin-preserved cadavers and corresponding 3D replicas were excited by sine tone sweeps from an earphone placed in the epipharynx.The response was picked up by a microphone at the nostrils. Different FESS procedures were performed and the acoustical responses following excitation were recorded.The measured acoustical changes in the obtained transfer functions were then evaluated. Results: Marked low frequency dips were detected in the transfer functions when sinus cavities were included in the nasal resonator system. These dips showed a significant correlation with sinus volumes. Following FESS procedures they moved upwards in frequency depending on the extent of the surgical intervention. Conclusions: The transfer functions obtained in cadaveric situs and 3D replicas showed dips at the resonance frequencies of the paranasal cavities. Marked acoustic effects in terms of increase in dip frequency following FESS procedures were reproducibly documented.

There has been little research on the acoustic correlates of emotional expression in the singing voice. In this study, two pertinent questions are addressed: How does a singer's emotional interpretation of a musical piece affect acoustic parameters in the sung vocalizations? Are these patterns specific enough to allow statistical discrimination of the intended expressive targets? Eight professional opera singers were asked to sing the musical scale upwards and downwards (using meaningless content) to express different emotions, as if on stage. The studio recordings were acoustically analyzed with a standard set of parameters. The results show robust vocal signatures for the emotions studied. Overall, there is a major contrast between sadness and tenderness on the one hand, and anger, joy, and pride on the other. This is based on low vs high levels on the components of loudness, vocal dynamics, high perturbation variation, and a tendency for high low-frequency energy. This pattern can be explained by the high power and arousal characteristics of the emotions with high levels on these components. A multiple discriminant analysis yields classification accuracy greatly exceeding chance level, confirming the reliability of the acoustic patterns.

This paper will describe an ongoing collaboration between the authors to combine the Director Musices and Conductor programs in order to achieve a more expressive and socially interactive performance of a midi file score by an electronic orchestra. Director Musices processes a “square” midi file, adjusting the dynamics and timing of the notes to achieve the expressive performance of a trained musician. The Conductor program and the Radio-baton allow a conductor, wielding an electronic baton, to follow and synchronize with other musicians, for example to provide an orchestral accompaniment to an operatic singer. These programs may be particularly useful for student soloists who wish to practice concertos with orchestral accompaniments. 

The audio signal from five professional operatic baritone singers was analysed by means of spectrum analysis. Each subject sang a sustained diminuendo, from loudest to softest phonation, three times on the vowels [a:] and [ä:] at fundamental frequencies representing 25%, 50% and 75% of his total pitch range as measured in semitones. During the diminuendi the subjects repeatedly inserted the consonant [p] so that associated subglottal pressures could be estimated from the oral pressure during [p]­occlusions. Pooling the three takes of each condition, ten subglottal pressures (P_S), equidistantly spaced between highest and lowest, were selected for analysis along with the corresponding production of [a:] and [ä:] vowels. The levels of the first formant and the singer’s formant, L₁ and L_SF, were measured as a function of increasing subglottal pressure. Averaged across subjects, an increase in PS resulted in (a) an increase in L1 and (b) a decrease in L₁-L_SF. This implies that a 10 dB increase at or near 600 Hz was, on average, accompanied by an increase of 17 dB of the level near 3 kHz.

A model for describing the change of tempo in final ritardandi is presented. The model was based on the previous finding that runners’ average deceleration can be characterised by a constant brake power. This implies that velocity is as a squareroot function of time or alternatively, a cubic-root function of position. The translation of physical motion to musical tempo is realised by assuming that velocity and musical tempo are equivalent. To account for the variation observed in individual measured ritardandi and in individual decelerations, two parameters were introduced; (1) the parameter q controlling the curvature with q=3 corresponding to the runners’ deceleration, and (2) the parameter v(end) corresponding to the final tempo. A listening experiment gave highest ratings for q=2 and q=3 and lower ratings for higher and lower q values. Out of three tempo functions, the model produced the best fit to individual measured ritardandi and individual decelerations. A commonly used function for modelling tempo variations in phrases (duration is a quadratic function of score position) produced the lowest ratings in the listening experiment and the least good fit to the measured individual ritardandi. The fact that the same model can be used for describing velocity curves in decelerations as well as tempo curves in music provides a striking example of analogies between motion and music.