Soul and Musical Theater: A Comparison of Two Vocal Styles

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

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. These extremes are associated with laryngeal and vocal tract adjustments related to smaller and larger vocal tract area and variations in vocal fold vibratory characteristics. Perceptually, timbre assessment is influenced by spectral characteristics and formant frequency adjustments, though these dimensions are not independently perceived. Perceptual studies repeatedly demonstrate difficulties in correlating variations in timbre stimuli to specific measures. A recent study demonstrated how acoustic predictive salience of voice category and voice weight across pitches contribute to timbre assessments and concludes that timbre may be related to as-of-yet unknown factor(s). The purpose of this study was to test four different models for assessing timbre; one model focused on specific anatomy, one on listener intuition, one utilizing auditory anchors, and one using expert raters in a deconstructed timbre model with five specific dimensions.

METHODS

Four independent panels were conducted with separate cohorts of professional singing teachers. Forty-one assessors took part in the anatomically focused panel, 54 in the intuition-based panel, 30 in the anchored panel, and 12 in the expert listener panel. Stimuli taken from live performances of well-known singers were used for all panels, representing all genders, genres, and styles across a large pitch range. All stimuli are available as Supplementary Materials. Fleiss' kappa values, descriptive statistics, and significance tests are reported for all panel assessments.

RESULTS

Panels 1 through 4 varied in overall accuracy and agreement. The intuition-based model showed overall 45% average accuracy (SD ± 4%), k = 0.289 (<0.001) compared to overall 71% average accuracy (SD ± 3%), k = 0.368 (<0.001) of the anatomical focused panel. The auditory-anchored model showed overall 75% average accuracy (SD ± 8%), k = 0.54 (<0.001) compared with overall 83% average accuracy and agreement of k = 0.63 (<0.001) for panel 4. Results revealed that the highest accuracy and reliability were achieved in a deconstructed timbre model and that providing anchoring improved reliability but with no further increase in accuracy.

CONCLUSION

Deconstructing timbre into specific parameters improved auditory perceptual accuracy and overall agreement. Assessing timbre along with other perceptual dimensions improves accuracy and reliability. Panel assessors' expert level of listening skills remain an important factor in obtaining reliable and accurate assessments of auditory stimuli for timbre dimensions. Anchoring improved reliability but with no further increase in accuracy. The study suggests that timbre assessment can be improved by approaching the percept through a prism of five specific dimensions each related to specific physiology and auditory-perceptual subcategories. Further tests are needed with framework-naïve listeners, nonmusically educated listeners, artificial intelligence comparisons, and synthetic stimuli to further test the reliability.

Association of Genre of Singing and Phonotraumatic Vocal Fold Lesions in Singers

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS

To determine if (1) the likelihood of presenting with phonotraumatic lesions differs by singing genre in treatment-seeking singers and (2) if the distribution of phonotraumatic lesion types differs by singing genre.

STUDY TYPE

Retrospective.

METHODS

Records of singers who presented with a voice complaint over the course of 2.5 years (June 2017-December 2019) were reviewed to determine the proportion of those with phonotraumatic lesions as a function of genre (Study 1). Separately, the lesion types and genres of singers diagnosed with phonotraumatic lesions over a 9-year period (July 2011-March 2020) were determined (Study 2).

RESULTS

In Study 1, 191 of 712 (26.8%) dysphonic singers were diagnosed with phonotraumatic lesions. Country/folk, gospel/jazz, and musical theater singers were more likely to present with phonotraumatic lesions. In Study 2, in 443 singers with phonotraumatic lesions, polyps and pseudocysts, but not nodules, were found to be distributed unequally across genres (χ² p = 0.006, p < 0.0001, p = 0.064, respectively). Praise/worship singers had significantly higher proportions of polyps compared to choral singers (OR 4.8 [95% CI 1.9-12.5]) or compared to musical theater singers (OR 7.2 [95% CI 2.5-20.8]). Opera singers had significantly higher proportions of pseudocysts than choral singers (OR 3.1 [95% CI 1.5-6.1]) or musical theater singers (OR 3.7 [95% CI 1.8-7.6]).

CONCLUSIONS

The higher incidence of polyps in praise/worship singers likely reflects the more emphatic nature of singing and the tendency for acute injury. The higher incidence of pseudocysts in opera singers may reflect a more chronic nature of injury.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

4 Laryngoscope, 2023.

Laryngeal Pathologies Associated with the Genre of Singing and Professional Singing Status in a Treatment-Seeking Population

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS

Singers have high vocal demands and are at increased risk of developing voice disorders. Different singing genres place different technical demands on the voice. However, differences in laryngeal pathology based on genre have not been well-researched. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of laryngeal pathology in different genres of professional and amateur singers who present with a voice complaint.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective review.

METHODS

Retrospective review of patients seen at a tertiary laryngology practice. Self-identified singers who reported their primary singing genre and categorized their singing as a full-time job, part-time job, or amateur involvement were included. Type and prevalence of pathology were calculated based on genre and professional status.

RESULTS

Of the 302 self-identified singers, 54% (n = 164) had laryngeal pathology. Among those with pathology, the most common finding was fibrotic lesion (38.4%, 63/164). Genres in which a majority of singers had pathology were other (69.2%, 9/13), choral (64.7%, 11/17), pop (63.2%, 12/19), musical theater (61.4%, 43/70), country (100%, 4/4), and Latin (100%, 2/2). The highest prevalence of pathology was seen in part-time professional singers (62.2%, 41/66) and full-time professionals (60.8%, 62/102), compared to amateurs (45.1%, 60/133).

CONCLUSIONS

Laryngeal pathology is prevalent in singers presenting with a voice complaint. Regardless of genre or professional status, fibrotic lesions were the most common pathological finding. This study provides preliminary data on the prevalence of different laryngeal pathologies found in singers by genre and degree of professional involvement.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

4 Laryngoscope, 131:2076-2080, 2021.

Multidimensional Timbre Spaces of Cochlear Implant Vocoded and Non-vocoded Synthetic Female Singing Voices

Many post-lingually deafened cochlear implant (CI) users report that they no longer enjoy listening to music, which could possibly contribute to a perceived reduction in quality of life. One aspect of music perception, vocal timbre perception, may be difficult for CI users because they may not be able to use the same timbral cues available to normal hearing listeners. Vocal tract resonance frequencies have been shown to provide perceptual cues to voice categories such as baritone, tenor, mezzo-soprano, and soprano, while changes in glottal source spectral slope are believed to be related to perception of vocal quality dimensions such as fluty vs. brassy. As a first step toward understanding vocal timbre perception in CI users, we employed an 8-channel noise-band vocoder to test how vocoding can alter the timbral perception of female synthetic sung vowels across pitches. Non-vocoded and vocoded stimuli were synthesized with vibrato using 3 excitation source spectral slopes and 3 vocal tract transfer functions (mezzo-soprano, intermediate, soprano) at the pitches C4, B4, and F5. Six multi-dimensional scaling experiments were conducted: C4 not vocoded, C4 vocoded, B4 not vocoded, B4 vocoded, F5 not vocoded, and F5 vocoded. At the pitch C4, for both non-vocoded and vocoded conditions, dimension 1 grouped stimuli according to voice category and was most strongly predicted by spectral centroid from 0 to 2 kHz. While dimension 2 grouped stimuli according to excitation source spectral slope, it was organized slightly differently and predicted by different acoustic parameters in the non-vocoded and vocoded conditions. For pitches B4 and F5 spectral centroid from 0 to 2 kHz most strongly predicted dimension 1. However, while dimension 1 separated all 3 voice categories in the vocoded condition, dimension 1 only separated the soprano stimuli from the intermediate and mezzo-soprano stimuli in the non-vocoded condition. While it is unclear how these results predict timbre perception in CI listeners, in general, these results suggest that perhaps some aspects of vocal timbre may remain.

ARTQUAL

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to formulate and validate a measurement model to evaluate the service quality of cultural centers. This study aims to expand the domain of service quality measurement models by extending the SERVQUAL model to an alternative measurement tool called the ARTQUAL model based on three different preferences and scenarios including concert halls, theater halls and art galleries.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 15 cultural centers. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized in the current research to study the association between aesthetic environments and service quality. An exploratory factor analysis took place to formulate the fundamentals of the measurement model. The validation process is based on a hybrid framework integrating the covariance-based SEM along with the partial least square technique to present a robust validity of the ARTQUAL model. Ultimately, an extensive managerial analysis has been established to show the practicality of the ARTQUAL model.

Findings

This study provides empirical evidence that the ARTQUAL instrument is proven to be valid, reliable and appropriate to evaluate the service quality of cultural centers. Based on the real-world managerial analysis, the ARTQUAL model showed a significant practicality in quality evaluation of aesthetic environments.

Research limitations/implications

One of the most important limitations of quantitative studies, based on aesthetic features, is the cultural preferences. This limitation is due to the nature of cultural preferences and partialities applied in different countries based on the definition of quality involving aesthetic aspects such as age, sex and culture. Meanwhile, the findings of this study can guide the service management experts to better understand and improve customers’ perceptions and orientations of service quality in aesthetic environments.

Originality/value

This paper presents a novel service quality measurement model in order to evaluate the service quality of cultural centers. The originality of the current study is not merely limited to the suggestion of a new quality measurement model, a hybrid statistical validation framework has been provided as well. Therefore, this study provides valuable guidelines to both practitioners and academics to enhance the quality of service measurements in cultural centers.