Previous investigations have found that female voice-related attractiveness to males increases when both conception likelihood (CL) and voice fundamental frequency (fo) are elevated. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a perceptual experiment where 78 heterosexual males rated sexual attractiveness of 9 female voice samples, recorded at menstrual, follicular and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle under two double-blinded randomly allocated conditions: a natural menstrual cycle (placebo condition) and when using an oral contraceptive pill (OCP condition). The voice samples yielded a total of 54 stimuli that were visually sorted and rated using Visor software. Concentrations of estrogens, progesterone and testosterone were analyzed, and measurements of speaking fundamental frequency (sfo) and its standard deviation (sfoSD), fo derivative (dfo) and fo slope were made. A multilevel ordinal logistic regression model nested in listeners and in females, and adjusted by phase and condition, was carried out to assess the association between ratings and: (1) phases and conditions; (2) sex steroid hormonal concentrations; and (3) voice parameters. A high probability of obtaining high ratings of voice sexual attractiveness was found for: (1) menstrual phase of placebo use and follicular phase of OCP use; (2) for low estradiol to progesterone ratio and testosterone concentrations; and (3) for low dfo. The latter showed a moderate statistical association with ratings of high attractiveness, as compared with the small association found for the remaining variables. It seems that the voice is a weak cue for female CL. Female sexual attraction to males may be a consequence of what females do in order to regulate their extended sexuality across the menstrual cycle rather than of estrus cues, the use of paralinguistic speech patterns being an example.

Descriptions of acoustical characteristics of Fado, a Portuguese urban style sung in Lisbon and Oporto, are scarce, particularly concerning Fado-Canção, a related style sung in Coimbra. The present study aims at describing long-term average spectrum (LTAS) parameters of 16 professional singers while singing and reading the lyrics of a typical Fado-Canção. LTAS parameters were investigated in terms of: (1) equivalent sound level (Leq); (2) spectral differences between 3 frequency bands 0–2, 2–5, and 5–8 kHz; and (3) quantification of spectral prominence between 2 and 4 kHz, calculated as the level difference between the peak in this frequency region and a reference trendline between 1 and 5 kHz, henceforth Formant Cluster Prominence (FCP). Given that Fado-Canção, besides Fado and traditional styles, originated also from classical singing, and that previous studies on Fado suggest the absence of a singer's formant cluster, the averaged LTAS for all Fado-Canção singers was further compared to the LTAS of two world-touring opera baritones singing an operatic aria and a lied. Results show that Fado-Canção is commonly sung with a Leq of 86.4 dB and a FCP of about 10 dB, values significantly higher when compared to reading. The FCP in Fado-Canção, although smaller than for the two classical opera singers’ examples (14.8 and 20 dB, respectively), suggests that the style preserved some of its original lyrical influence. However, because younger singers present higher energy in the 5–8 kHz region relative to the remaining frequency bands as compared to older singers, it seems that Fado-Canção may be drifting towards non-classical vocal practices. FCP seems to be a promising straightforward method to quantify the degree of formant clustering around the region of the singer's formant in LTAS, allowing comparisons between different singers and singing styles. 

Glottal adduction is a crucial aspect in voice education and vocal performance: it has major effects on phonatory airflow and, consequently, on voice timbre. As the voice is a non-visible musical instrument, controlling it could be facilitated by providing real-time visual feedback of phonatory airflow. Here, we test the usefulness of a flow ball (FB) training device, visualizing, in terms of the height of a polystyrene ball placed in a plastic basket, phonatory airflow during phonation. Audio and electroglottographic recordings of five postgraduate, classically trained singer students were made under three subsequent conditions: before, during, and after phonating into the FB. The calibrated audio signal was inverse-filtered, using an electroglottograph signal to guide the manual tuning of the inverse filters. Mean phonatory airflow, peak-to-peak pulse amplitude, and normalized amplitude quotient were extracted from the resulting flow glottograms. After the FB condition, increases of mean flow and peak-to-peak pulse amplitude were observed in four singers. In addition, the singers’ mean normalized amplitude quotient increased significantly. The findings, although exploratory, suggest that reduction of glottal adduction can be observed immediately after FB phonation. 

Objective: This study investigates the impact of maxillary advancement (Le Fort Iosteotomy) on consonant proficiency in patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and explores how these patients and lay people perceive their speech 1 year post Le Fort I osteotomy. Design: Retrospective group study before and after treatment. Participants: All patients with CLP who had undergone Le Fort I osteotomy for maxillary retrognathia between 2007 and 2010 at Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden (n = 21). Six patients were excluded due to additional malformations and missing data. Two experienced speech and language pathologists assessed consonant proficiency, and speech accuracy was determined by lay listeners from pre- and postoperative standardized audio recordings. The patients' satisfaction with speech postoperatively was collected from medical records. Main Outcome Measures: Percentage of oral consonants correct and acoustic analysis of /s/, lay listeners' opinion, and patients' satisfaction with speech. Results: One year postoperation, 11 of the 15 patients had improved articulation, especially on the /s/-sound, without speech intervention. The mean percentage of oral consonants correct before treatment (82%) was significantly improved later (95%; P > .01). This assessment was supported by the patients' satisfaction with speech. However, lay listeners' opinion on accuracy was inconsistent. Length of maxillary advancement or change in occlusion did not correlate with change in articulation. Conclusion: Maxillary advancement performed to normalize occlusion and facial profile improved consonant proficiency in patients with CLP 1 year postoperation. Lay listeners' and patients' perceptions of speech need further exploration.

Objective: To compare reliability in auditory-perceptual assessment of hypernasality for 3 different methods and to explore the influence of language background. Design: Comparative methodological study. Participants and Materials: Audio recordings of 5-year-old Swedish-speaking children with repaired cleft lip and palate consisting of 73 stimuli of 9 nonnasal single-word strings in 3 different randomized orders. Four experienced speech-language pathologists (2 native speakers of Brazilian-Portuguese and 2 native speakers of Swedish) participated as listeners. After individual training, each listener performed the hypernasality rating task. Each order of stimuli was analyzed individually using the 2-step, VISOR and Borg centiMax scale methods. Main Outcome Measures: Comparison of intra- and inter-rater reliability, and consistency for each method within language of the listener and between listener languages (Swedish and Brazilian-Portuguese). Results: Good to excellent intra-rater reliability was found within each listener for all methods, 2-step:kappa = 0.59-0.93; VISOR: intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.80-0.99; Borg centiMax (cM) scale: ICC = 0.80-1.00. The highest inter-rater reliability was demonstrated for VISOR (ICC = 0.60-0.90) and Borg cM-scale (ICC = 0.40-0.80). High consistency within each method was found with the highest for the Borg cM scale (ICC = 0.89-0.91). There was a significant difference in the ratings between the Swedish and the Brazilian listeners for all methods. Conclusions: The category-ratio scale Borg cM was considered most reliable in the assessment of hypernasality. Language background of Brazilian-Portuguese listeners influenced the perceptual ratings of hypernasality in Swedish speech samples, despite their experience in perceptual assessment of cleft palate speech disorders.

Objectives:. Resonance tube phonation with tube end in water is a voice therapy method in which the patient phonates through a glass tube, keeping the free end of the tube submerged in water, creating bubbles. The purpose of this experimental study was to determine flow-pressure relationship, flow thresholds between bubble types, and bubble frequency as a function of flow and back volume. Methods. A flow-driven vocal tract simulator was used for recording the back pressure produced by resonance tubes with inner diameters of 8 and 9 mm submerged at water depths of 0-7 cm. Visual inspection of bubble types through video recording was also performed. Results. The static back pressure was largely determined by the water depth. The narrower tube provided a slightly higher back pressure for a given flow and depth. The amplitude of the pressure oscillations increased with flow and depth. Depending on flow, the bubbles were emitted from the tube in three distinct types with increasing flow: one by one, pairwise, and in a chaotic manner. The bubble frequency was slightly higher for the narrower tube. An increase in back volume led to a decrease in bubble frequency. Conclusions. This study provides data on the physical properties of resonance tube phonation with the tube end in water. This information will be useful in future research when looking into the possible effects of this type of voice training.

Purpose: Sound pressure level (SPL) measurement of voice and speech is often considered a trivial matter, but the measured levels are often reported incorrectly or incompletely, making them difficult to compare among various studies. This article aims at explaining the fundamental principles behind these measurements and providing guidelines to improve their accuracy and reproducibility. Method: Basic information is put together from standards, technical, voice and speech literature, and practical experience of the authors and is explained for nontechnical readers. Results: Variation of SPL with distance, sound level meters and their accuracy, frequency and time weightings, and background noise topics are reviewed. Several calibration procedures for SPL measurements are described for stand-mounted and head-mounted microphones. Conclusions: SPL of voice and speech should be reported together with the mouth-to-microphone distance so that the levels can be related to vocal power. Sound level measurement settings (i.e., frequency weighting and time weighting/averaging) should always be specified. Classified sound level meters should be used to assure measurement accuracy. Head-mounted microphones placed at the proximity of the mouth improve signal-to-noise ratio and can be taken advantage of for voice SPL measurements when calibrated. Background noise levels should be reported besides the sound levels of voice and speech. 

Objectives: This study aimed to assess vocal behavior in women with voice-intensive occupations to investigate differences between patients and controls and between work and leisure conditions with environmental noise level as an experimental factor. Methods: Patients with work-related voice disorders, 10 with phonasthenia and 10 with vocal nodules, were matched regarding age, profession, and workplace with 20 vocally healthy colleagues. The sound pressure level of environmental noise and the speakers’ voice, fundamental frequency, and phonation ratio were registered from morning to night during 1 week with a voice accumulator. Voice data were assessed in low (≀55 dBA), moderate, and high (\textgreater70 dBA) environmental noise levels. Results: The average environmental noise level was significantly higher during the work condition for patients with vocal nodules (73.9 dBA) and their controls (73.0 dBA) compared with patients with phonasthenia (68.3 dBA) and their controls (67.1 dBA). The average voice level and the fundamental frequency were also significantly higher during work for the patients with vocal nodules and their controls. During the leisure condition, there were no significant differences in average noise and voice level nor fundamental frequency between the groups. The patients with vocal nodules and their controls spent significantly more time and used their voices significantly more in high–environmental noise levels. Conclusions: High noise levels during work and demands from the occupation impact vocal behavior. Thus, assessment of voice ergonomics should be part of the work environmental management. To reduce environmental noise levels is important to improve voice ergonomic conditions in communication-intensive and vocally demanding workplaces.

Objective: To evaluate voice function in patients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia (AdSD) who discontinued botulinum toxin (BTX) treatment because they felt that their voice had improved sufficiently. Patients and Methods: Twenty-eight patients quit treatment in 2004, of whom 20 fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the study, with 3 subsequently excluded because of return of symptoms, leaving 17 patients (11 males, 6 females) included in this follow-up study. A questionnaire concerning current voice function and the Voice Handicap Index were completed. Audio-perceptual voice assessments were done by 3 listeners. The inter- and intrarater reliabilities were r > 0.80. Results: All patients had a subjectively good stable voice, but with differences in their audio-perceptual voice assessment scores. Based on the pre-/posttreatment auditory scores on the overall degree of AdSD, patients were divided into 2 subgroups showing more and less improvement, with 10 and 7 patients, respectively. The subgroup with more improvement had shorter duration from the onset of symptoms until the start of BTX treatment, and included 7 males compared to only 4 males in the subgroup with less improvement. Conclusion: It seems plausible that the symptoms of spasmodic dysphonia may decrease over time. Early intervention and male gender seem to be important factors for long-term reduction of the voice symptoms of AdSD.

Objectives. Flow ball devices have been used as teaching tools to provide visual real-time feedback of airflow during singing. This study aims at exploring static back pressure and ball height as function of flow for two devices, marketed as flow ball and floating ball game. Study Design. This is a comparative descriptive study. Methods. A flow-driven vocal tract simulator was used to investigate the aerodynamic properties of these two devices, testing them for four different ball sizes. The flow range investigated was between 0 and 0.5 L/s. Audio, flow, pressure, and ball height were recorded. Results. The flow pressure profiles for both tested devices were similar to those observed in previous studies on narrow tubes. For lifting the ball, both devices had a flow and a pressure threshold. The tested floating ball game required considerably higher back pressure for a given flow as compared with the flow ball. Conclusions. Both tested devices have similar effects on back pressure as straws of 3.7 and 3.0 mm in diameter for the flow ball and the floating ball game, respectively. One might argue that both devices could be used as tools for practicing semi-occluded vocal tract exercises, with the additional benefit of providing real-time visual feedback of airflow during phonation. The flow threshold, combined with the flow feedback, would increase awareness of flow, rather than of pressure, during exercises using a flow ball device.