Towards Improved Auditory-Perceptual Assessment of Timbres: Comparing Accuracy and Reliability of Four Deconstructed Timbre Assessment Models.

Unlabelled: Timbre is a central quality of singing, yet remains a complex notion poorly understood in psychoacoustic studies. Previous studies note how no single acoustic variable or combinations of variables consistently predict timbre dimensions. Timbre varies on a continuum from darkest to lightest.

Towards Automated Vocal Mode Classification in Healthy Singing Voice-An XGBoost Decision Tree-Based Machine Learning Classifier.

Auditory-perceptual assessment is widely used in clinical and pedagogical practice for speech and singing voice, yet several studies have shown poor intra- and inter-rater reliability in both clinical and singing voice contexts. Recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning offer models for automated classification and have demonstrated discriminatory power in both pathological and healthy voice. This study develops and tests an XGBoost decision tree based machine learning classifier to develop automated vocal mode classification in healthy singing voice.

A mixed-method feasibility study of the use of the Complete Vocal Technique (CVT), a pedagogic method to improve the voice and vocal function in singers and actors, in the treatment of patients with muscle tension dysphonia: a study protocol.

Background: Muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) results from inefficient or ineffective voice production and is the cause of voice and throat complaints in up to 40% of patients presenting with hoarseness. Standard treatment is voice therapy (SLT-VT) delivered by specialist speech therapists in voice disorders (SLT-V). The Complete Vocal Technique (CVT) is a structured, pedagogic method which helps healthy singers and other performers optimise their vocal function enabling them to produce any sound required.

Extreme Vocals-A Retrospective Longitudinal study of Vocal Health in 20 Professional Singers Performing and Teaching Rough Vocal Effects.

Background: Rough vocal effects, extreme, or extended vocal techniques to sound intentionally hoarse or rough are an integral part of many genres and styles, and research has recently demonstrated the involvement of supraglottic narrowing and vibrations to produce such sounds. The vocal health of singing with rough vocal effects is poorly documented, especially in a longitudinal manner, while much vocal pedagogy continuously treats the sounds as harming to or dangerous for the vocal mechanism.

Objective: To longitudinally investigate the vocal health of professional singers who perform the five rough-sounding vocal effects Distortion, Growl, Grunt, Rattle, and Creaking as part of their singing and teaching.

Deconstructing Timbre into 5 Physiological Parameters: Vocal Mode, Amount of Metal, Degree of Density, Size of Larynx, and Sound Coloring.

Unlabelled: Timbre has been related to adjustment at the source as well as adjustments in resonance, including laryngeal height and hypopharynx area and volume. However, it is often presented in vocal pedagogy as solely related to resonance. Very little data is available on the laryngeal adjustments at both source and resonance involved in achieving various timbres across a variety of phonation types.

Extreme Vocal Effects Distortion, Growl, Grunt, Rattle, and Creaking as Measured by Electroglottography and Acoustics in 32 Healthy Professional Singers.

Unlabelled: Vocal effects - also called extreme or extended vocal techniques - with the intention to sound hoarse or rough are widely used as part of many genres and styles of singing, yet scarcely documented in research. Physiological studies detail the involvement of supraglottic structures for the production of vocal effects, yet the acoustic impact of such involvement has not been documented systematically across phonation types.

Purpose: To report acoustic measurements and electroglottography-specific measurements for the five rough-sounding vocal effects Distortion, Growl, Grunt, Rattle, and Creaking across phonation types to demonstrate differences between notes with and without vocal effects added.

Assessing and Quantifying Air Added to the Voice by Means of Laryngostroboscopic Imaging, EGG, and Acoustics in Vocally Trained Subjects.

Objective: To assess and quantify singers' strategies for adding air to phonation to sound "breathy" in a healthy manner STUDY DESIGN: Case-control study with 20 professional singers.

Methods: Twenty singers were recorded performing sustained vowels in the Complete Vocal Technique Neutral vocal mode with and without audible air added to the voice by means of laryngostroboscopic imaging using a videonasoendoscopic camera system, electroglottography, long-term average spectrum, as well as acoustic signals and audio perception. Singers completed Voice Handicap Index and Reflux Symptom Index questionnaires prior to examination.

Laryngostroboscopic Exploration of Rough Vocal Effects in Singing and their Statistical Recognizability: An Anatomical and Physiological Description and Visual Recognizability Study of Distortion, Growl, Rattle, and Grunt using laryngostroboscopic Imaging and Panel Assessment.

Objectives: To study vocal effects in singing from the pedagogical method complete vocal technique as related to specific and discrete supraglottic structures and activities by means of laryngostroboscopic imaging and panel testing.

Study Design: This is a case-control study with a double-panel assessment.

Methods: Twenty singers were recorded performing four of the rough vocal effects from the method Complete Vocal Technique.

Investigating Laryngeal "Tilt" on Same-pitch Phonation-Preliminary Findings of Vocal Mode Metal and Density Parameters as Alternatives to Cricothyroid-Thyroarytenoid "Mix".

Objectives: The objective of this work was to study the parameters "metal" and "density" and their combinatory conditions in relation to the vocal modes Overdrive, Edge, and Curbing from the pedagogical method Complete Vocal Technique by means of laryngostroboscopic imaging, high-speed videoendoscopy, electroglottography (EGG), long-time-average spectrum (LTAS), and acoustics.

Study Design: This is a three-subject exploratory study.

Methods: Three singers were recorded performing various metal and density conditions of Overdrive, Edge, and Curbing from the Complete Vocal Technique method by means of laryngostroboscopic imaging using a videonasoendoscopic camera system and the Laryngostrobe program, high-speed videoendoscopy, EGG, LTAS, and acoustic signals using SpeechStudio.

Curbing-The Metallic Mode In-between: An empirical study qualifying and categorizing restrained sounds known as Curbing based on audio perception, laryngostroboscopic imaging, acoustics, LTAS, and EGG.

Objectives: This study aims to study the categorization Curbing from the pedagogical method Complete Vocal Technique as a reduced metallic mode compared with the full metallic modes Overdrive and Edge by means of audio perception, laryngostroboscopic imaging, acoustics, long-term average spectrum (LTAS), and electroglottography (EGG).

Methods: Twenty singers were recorded singing sustained vowels in a restrained character known as Curbing. Two studies were performed: (1) laryngostroboscopic examination using a videonasoendoscopic camera system and the Laryngostrobe program; and (2) simultaneous recording of EGG and acoustic signals using Speech Studio.

Overdrive and Edge as Refiners of "Belting"?: An Empirical Study Qualifying and Categorizing "Belting" Based on Audio Perception, Laryngostroboscopic Imaging, Acoustics, LTAS, and EGG.

Objectives: We aimed to study the categorizations "Overdrive" and "Edge" from the pedagogical method Complete Vocal Technique as refiners of the often ill-defined concept of "belting" by means of audio perception, laryngostroboscopic imaging, acoustics, long-term average spectrum (LTAS), and electroglottography (EGG).

Study Design: This is a case-control study.

Methods: Twenty singers were recorded singing sustained vowels in a "belting" quality refined by audio perception as "Overdrive" and "Edge.