Transferring Vocal Expression of F0 Contour Using Singing Voice Synthesizer

A system for transferring vocal expressions separately from singing voices with accompaniment to singing voice synthesizers is described. The expressions appear as fluctuations in the fundamental frequency contour of the singing voice, such as vibrato, glissando, and kobushi. The fundamental frequency contour of the singing voice is estimated using the subharmonic summation in a limited frequency range and aligned temporally to chromatic pitch sequence. Each expression is transcribed and parameterized in accordance with designed rules. Finally, the expressions are transferred to given scores on the singing voice synthesizer. Experiments demonstrated that the proposed system can transfer the vocal expressions while retaining singer’s individuality on two singing voice synthesizers: the Vocaloid and the CeVIO.