Vocal tract adjustments in the high soprano range

Maëva Garnier (1) , Nathalie Henrich Bernardoni (2) , John Smith (1) , Joe Wolfe (1)

1 UNSW - School of Physics [UNSW Sydney]
2 GIPSA-GAMA - GIPSA - Group aeroacoustics, modeling and application

Twelve sopranos with different levels of expertise (4 nonexperts, 4 advanced, 4 professionals) sustained pitches from A4 (~440 Hz) to their highest pitch (ranging from C6 to D7, i.e., from ~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 (f0, 2f0, etc). Lip articulation was measured from simultaneous video recordings. Adjustment of R1 near to f0 (R1: f0 tuning) was observed below C6 to D6 (~1000-1200 Hz) for both expert and non-expert singers. Experts began this tuning at lower pitches. Some singers combine R2:2f0 adjustment with R1: f0 tuning. Some singers increased mouth area with increasing pitch over the whole R1: f0 tuning range. Other singers showed this strategy on the higher part of the R1: f0 range only, and used another, as yet unidentified, articulatory strategy on the lower part. To achieve very high pitches, some singers extended the range of R1: f0 tuning as far as E6 to F#6 (~1300-1500 Hz) while others adjusted R2 near f0 over the highest pitch range.

Mots clés: Singing; Sopranos; Articulation; Formants; Resonance tuning; Vocal tract; Whistle voice; Registers

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]; Acoustique [physics.class-ph]; Musique, musicologie et arts de la scène

Maëva Garnier, Nathalie Henrich Bernardoni, John Smith, Joe Wolfe. Vocal tract adjustments in the high soprano range. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2010, 127 (6), pp.3771-3780. ⟨10.1121/1.3419907⟩. ⟨hal-00480078⟩