Article,

Spectral analysis of sung vowels. III. Characteristics of singers and modes of singing

, and .
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 79 (3): 852--864 (March 1986)

Abstract

The1/3-oct spectra of nine different vowels, sung by 14 professionalmale and female singers in nine different modes of singing,were analyzed to reveal spectral characteristics of individual singers andmodes of singing. The main spectral differences between singers couldbe described in two dimensions characterizing, respectively, differences among maleand among female singers. Spectral characteristics of these dimensions suggestedthat interindividual differences among males, like the average difference betweenmales and females, arise mainly from differences in vocal tractdimensions, whereas interindividual differences among females may have a glottalbasis. The spectral characteristics of the modes of singing couldbe represented for each vowel in two dimensions. Differences amongthe soft (pianissimo), light, neutral, free, straight, extra vibrato, andloud (fortissimo) modes were mainly due to the spectral effectof vocal effort, which constituted a very dominant first spectraldimension. This dimension essentially reflected the slope of the spectrum.The second dimension mainly described the spectral differences between thedark and pressed modes of singing. A possible explanation ofthe results in terms of glottal and supraglottal morphological variationis discussed.

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