An acoustic comparison of alto and tenor voices
نویسندگان
چکیده
Spectra of vowels sung a t identical pitches by two tenor voices and two alto voices a r e compared. The formant frequencies and the source spectra a r e studied by matching the spectra on a terminal analogue of the vocal tract. As regards the source spectrum the alto voices show a higher relative amplitude of the fundamental than the tenor voices. As regards the formants, ari apparent difference i s that the frequency of the fourth formant i s lower in the tenors than in the altos. The generality of these findings is discussed. It i s a well established fact that, disregarding individual variations, the average male vocal-tract length i s longer than that of the female. I This explains why female speakers have higher formant frequencies than male speakers, other things being equal, Fant (1973). In distinguishing the sexes by voice one would then assume that the formant frequencies play a prominent role. However, in a previous study, Coleman ( 1973) has demonstrated that the differences between femaleness and maleness in voice quality i s due to the fundamental f rei quency difference in the fir st place. According to his results i t was easier to evoke an impression of maleness than of femaleness in a test situation. Whether he combined "male" formant frequencies with "female" fundamental frequency or vice versa, the responses were in favor of maleness. Another interesting finding was recently made by Cleveland (1 97 6). He measured the formant frequencies in professional tenor, barytone, 1 and bass singers. The tenqrs were found to possess higher formant frequencies than the basses, the bar ytone s lying inbetween in most vowels. Also, the formant frequency differences between basses and tenors showed a vowel dependence which was strikingly similar to the corresponding differences found by Fant (1973) between male and female speakers. Consequently, the formant frequencies of a tenor voice would be rather similar to those of a female voice. Cleveland' s investigation seems to imply that the formant frequencies would not differ to any great extent between tenor and alto voices. However, their fundamental frequency ranges overlap by at least half an * This i s a condensed version of a part of b g r enJ s thesis work. 1
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