Long-term-average spectrum characteristics of country singers during speaking and singing.

Five premier male country singers involved in our previous studies spoke and sang the words of both the national anthem and a country song of their choice. Long-term-average spectra were made of the spoken and sung material of each singer. The spectral characteristics of county singers' speech and singing were similar. A prominent peak in the upper part of the spectrum, previously described as the "speaker's formant," was found in the county singers' speech and singing. The singer's formant, a strong spectral peak near 2.8 kHz, an important part of the spectrum of classically trained singers, was not found in the spectra of the country singers. The results support the conclusion that the resonance characteristics in speech and singing are similar in country singing and that county singing is not characterized by a singer's formant.

Formant frequencies in country singers' speech and singing.

In previous investigations breathing kinematics, subglottal pressures, and voice source characteristics of a group of premier country singers have been analyzed. The present study complements the description of these singers' voice properties by examining the formant frequencies in five of these country singers' spoken and sung versions of the national anthem and of a song of their own choosing. The formant frequencies were measured for identical phonemes under both conditions. Comparisons revealed that the singers used the same or slightly higher formant frequencies when they were singing than when they were speaking. The differences may be related to the higher fundamental frequency in singing. These findings are in good agreement with previous observations regarding breathing, subglottal pressures, and voice source, but are in marked contrast to what has been found for classically trained singers.

Voice source characteristics in six premier country singers.

Voice source characteristics as derived from inverse filtering were analyzed in 6 country singers' speech and singing. Results showed that the closed quotient varied systematically with vocal loudness, and that glottal compliance (the ratio between transglottal AC volume displacement and subglottal pressure) decreased with increases in fundamental frequency but remained unaffected by vocal loudness. No striking differences were found in source characteristics between speech and singing within subjects. The degree of phonatory press, as judged by a panel of 19 expert listeners, appeared related to the range in which the singer was singing and to the sound pressure level gain from a doubling of subglottal pressure.

Estimated subglottal pressure in six professional country singers.

Estimates of subglottal pressure in six professional male country singers were obtained during the /p/ occlusion while the subjects spoke, sang a country tune, and sang the tune of the United States national anthem. The subglottal pressure values, which were very similar in both the speech-like and singing-mode syllables, usually measured below 45 cm of water column, but they ranged as high as 59 cm. The sound pressure level in singing was also measured and was lower than that discovered in classically trained singers at high subglottal pressures.

Respiratory function during speaking and singing in professional country singers.

Respiratory function during speaking and singing was investigated in six male professional country singers. Function was studied using magnetometers to transduce anteroposterior diameter changes of the rib cage and abdomen while subjects performed various respiratory maneuvers, speaking activities, and singing activities. Results indicated that respiratory behavior during speaking was generally the same as that of other normal subjects. Respiratory behavior during singing resembled that of speaking. Discussion includes comparison of respiratory performance of present singers with untrained singers and classically trained singers. Implications are offered regarding how the results might be applied to the prevention of voice disorders by education and training of country singers.

A clearer view of singing voice production: 25 years of progress.

Voice research has enjoyed its most productive period of history during the past 25 years. Many of the enigmas related to the biomechanics and acoustics of the singing voice have been resolved. This paper presents state-of-the-art understanding regarding the following topics: vibrato, the singer's formant, formant tracking, voice registers, subglottal pressure, voice classification, modes of vocal fold vibration, laryngeal position during singing, flow glottography, and singing synthesis. In addition to these topics, the people who have made the most significant contributions to the advancement of singing research are recognized.