A comparative study of the maximum vocal levels of classical singers for the two main laryngeal mechanisms

Sylvain Lamesch (1) , Boris Doval , Michèle Castellengo

1 DALEMBERT - Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert

During vocal performance, two main laryngeal vibratory mechanisms (namely M1 and M2) come into play allowing the singer to reach a complete vocal range. A previous study showed that the maximum SPL is on the average 10 dB stronger for the vowel /a/ than for /i/ in M1, but remains the same for the two vowels in M2. To explain this observation, we have studied the energy repartition among the strongest harmonics and their rank. 21 singers (13 males and 8 females) produced crescendi on /a/ and on /i/, from C3 to C5, in M1 and in M2, since this tessitura includes the overlapping area of both mechanisms. We recorded the sounds and the electroglottographic signals. Our results showed that the strongest harmonic is the first one for /i/ within the tessitura under examination, for females as well as for males (except a few tenors). For /a/, the whole spectrum is weaker in M2 than in M1. The number of the strongest harmonic depends on the fundamental frequency, and is lower or equal in M2 compared to M1. We will discuss the contribution of different glottal flow waveforms and resonantial adjustments for M1 and M2, and for /i/ and /a/.

Mots clés: Singing voice; Laryngeal mechanism; Vowel; Spectrum

Domaines: Acoustique [physics.class-ph]

Sylvain Lamesch, Boris Doval, Michèle Castellengo. A comparative study of the maximum vocal levels of classical singers for the two main laryngeal mechanisms. Acoustics 2012, Apr 2012, Nantes, France. ⟨hal-00811266⟩