Resonance Tuning in Professional Operatic Sopranos (original) (raw)
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Vocal tract resonances in singing: Strategies used by sopranos, altos, tenors, and baritones
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2011
The first two vocal tract resonances (R1 and R2) of 22 classically trained sopranos, altos, tenors, and baritones were measured while they sang four different vowels over their normal pitch range. The resonances of the tract and the harmonics of the voice were measured simultaneously by injecting a broadband acoustic current into the tract at their mouth. Sopranos were found to tune R1 close to the fundamental frequency f(0) (R1:f(0) tuning) over at least part of their upper range for all vowels studied, particularly when f(0) was around or above the value of R1 for speech. Additionally, most sopranos employed R2:2f(0) tuning over some of their range, often simultaneously with R1:f(0) tuning. Altos used R1:f(0) tuning for vowels having lower values of R1 in speech, but can switch to R1:2f(0) tuning in the lower part of their range. Tenors and baritones generally used R1:2f(0) and R1:3f(0) tunings over part of their range and employed a number of different tunings to higher harmonics...
Vocal tract resonances in singing: The soprano voice
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2004
The vocal tract resonances of trained soprano singers were measured while they sang a range of vowels softly at different pitches. The measurements were made by broad band acoustic excitation at the mouth, which allowed the resonances of the tract to be measured simultaneously with and independently from the harmonics of the voice. At low pitch, when the lowest resonance frequency R1 exceeded f 0 , the values of the first two resonances R1 and R2 varied little with frequency and had values consistent with normal speech. At higher pitches, however, when f 0 exceeded the value of R1 observed at low pitch, R1 increased with f 0 so that R1 was approximately equal to f 0 . R2 also increased over this high pitch range, probably as an incidental consequence of the tuning of R1. R3 increased slightly but systematically, across the whole pitch range measured. There was no evidence that any resonances are tuned close to harmonics of the pitch frequency except for R1 at high pitch. The variations in R1 and R2 at high pitch mean that vowels move, converge, and overlap their positions on the vocal plane (R2,R1) to an extent that implies loss of intelligibility.
The tuning of vocal resonances and the upper limit to the high soprano range
2010
The upper limit of the useful range for many sopranos is around C6 or ‘high C’. Others can extend their range well above this. This study investigated how sopranos use the resonances of their vocal tracts in the high and very high ranges. Twelve sopranos (4 non experts, 4 advanced, 4 professionals) produced glissandi up to their highest note (from 1000 to 2300 Hz). Later, they sustained pitches on [a] vowels, from A4 (~440 Hz) to their highest sustainable note, while the frequencies (R1 and R2) of the first two vocal tract resonances were measured by broadband excitation at the mouth. Adjustment of R1 near to f 0 (R1:f 0 tuning) was observed below C6 for both expert and nonexpert singers. Experts began this tuning at lower pitches. Some singers also exhibited R2:2f 0 adjustment over the lower part of the R1:f 0 tuning range. In the very high range (above C6), the singers used one of two strategies. Some extended the R1:f 0 tuning as far as E6 or F#6. Others adjusted R2 near f 0 over...
The acoustics of registers and resonances in singing
The wide range of the singing voice, from below C2 (65 Hz) to above F6 (1397 Hz), requires a number of strategies that can involve different mechanisms of laryngeal vibration and various adjustments of the vocal tract resonances. The adjustments are made because a vocal tract resonance can boost the radiation of a voice harmonic when it falls close to a resonance frequency. Here we report how singers with different voice categories tune their vocal tract resonances. For the lower voices, the lowest resonance R1 is sometimes tuned to a high harmonic, while high voices consistently tune R1 to the fundamental over a range of about C5 to C6 (523 to 1046 Hz). The second resonance, R2, can be simultaneously tuned to the second harmonic in the pitch range C5 to F5 (523 to 700 Hz). At the very highest pitches, sopranos can no longer increase R1 sufficiently and must then switch to adjusting R2 so its frequency is close to that of the fundamental.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2014
Seven male operatic singers sang the same notes and vowels in their chest and their falsetto registers, covering the overlap frequency range where two main laryngeal mechanisms can be identified by means of electroglottography: M1 in chest register and M2 in falsetto register. Glottal contact quotients determined using electroglottography were typically lower by 0.27 in M2 than in M1. Vocal tract resonance frequencies were measured by using broadband excitation at the lips and found to be typically lower in M2 than in M1 sung at the same pitch and vowel; R1 typically by 65 Hz and R2 by 90 Hz. These shifts in tract resonances were only weakly correlated with the changes in the contact quotient or laryngeal height that were measured simultaneously. There was considerable variability in the resonance tuning strategies used by the singers, and no evidence of a uniform systematic tuning strategy used by all singers. A simple model estimates that the shifts in resonance frequencies are consistent with the effective glottal area in falsetto register (M2) being 60%-70% of its value in chest register (M1).
Vocal tract adjustments in the high soprano range
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2010
Twelve sopranos with different levels of expertise (4 nonexperts, 4 advanced, 4 professionals) sustained pitches from A4 ( approximately 440 Hz) to their highest pitch (ranging from C6 to D7, i.e., from approximately 1000 to 2300 Hz). The frequencies of their first two vocal tract resonances (R1 and R2) were measured by broadband excitation at the mouth and compared with the voice harmonics (f(0), 2f(0), etc). Lip articulation was measured from simultaneous video recordings. Adjustment of R1 near to f(0) (R1:f(0) tuning) was observed below C6 to D6 ( approximately 1000-1200 Hz) for both expert and non-expert singers. Experts began this tuning at lower pitches. Some singers combine R2:2f(0) adjustment with R1:f(0) tuning. Some singers increased mouth area with increasing pitch over the whole R1:f(0) tuning range. Other singers showed this strategy on the higher part of the R1:f(0) range only, and used another, as yet unidentified, articulatory strategy on the lower part. To achieve v...
Amplitude Effects of Vocal Tract Resonance Adjustments When Singing Louder
Journal of Voice, 2020
In the literature on vocal pedagogy we may find suggestions to increase the mouth opening when singing louder. It is known that sopranos tend to sing loud high notes with a wider mouth opening which raises the frequency of the first resonance of the vocal tract (f R1) to tune it close to the fundamental. Our experiment with classically trained male singers revealed that they also tended to raise the f R1 with the dynamics at pitches where the formant tuning does not seem relevant. The analysis by synthesis showed that such behaviour may contribute to the strengthening of the singer's formant by several dB-s and to a rise in the centre of spectral gravity. The contribution of the f R1 raising to the overall sound level was less consistent. Changing the extent of the mouth opening with the dynamics may create several simultaneous semantic cues that signal how prominent the produced sound is and how great the physical effort by the singer is. The diminishing of the mouth opening when singing piano may also have an importance as it helps singers to produce a quieter sound by increasing the distance between the f R1 and higher resonances, which lowers the transfer function of the vocal tract at the relevant spectral regions.
Resonance Tuning in Three Girl Choristers
Journal of Voice, 2016
The phenomenon of resonance tuning, whereby a singer modifies the shape of their vocal tract to increase the acoustic power output, is commonly exploited across large pitch ranges by professional sopranos and has been observed to a lesser degree in nonexpert adult singers. This study considers the employment of two common resonance tuning techniques in experienced child singers; tuning the first vocal tract resonance to the fundamental (R1:f o) and tuning the second resonance to the second harmonic (R2:2 fo). Methods. Wide-band excitation at the subject's mouth during singing was used to measure the vocal tract resonances of three girl choristers, and vowel formant values in speech were extracted from samples of spoken text. Measured resonance values were cross-referenced with first and second harmonics for sung vowels across the subjects' ranges to identify the resonance tuning techniques employed, and these results were compared with those previously observed by others in professional adult classical singers. Results and Conclusions. There was clear evidence that the subjects employed resonance tuning techniques comparable with the strategies used by adult singers. The protocol and results presented here pave the way for further studies exploring the development of resonance tuning techniques in young soprano voices, with the potential to impact on approaches to classical singing training in the future.
Vocal tract resonances in speech, singing, and playing musical instruments
Hfsp Journal, 2009
In both the voice and musical wind instruments, a valve (vocal folds, lips, or reed) lies between an upstream and downstream duct: trachea and vocal tract for the voice; vocal tract and bore for the instrument. Examining the structural similarities and functional differences gives insight into their operation and the duct‐valve interactions. In speech and singing, vocal tract resonances usually