Vocal Fry Patterns While Reading

INTRODUCTION

The use of vocal fry is common in running speech and has potential psychosocial and vocal health consequences. Determining the different patterns of vocal fry is relevant to differentiating phonatory function, understanding cultural and linguistic use of vocal fry, and clinical diagnostics and intervention. The purpose of this project was to study and categorize patterns of vocal fry in running speech.

METHODOLOGY

Analyses were performed on recordings of the Rainbow Passage read out loud by five healthy females 18-21 years old. Praat was used to create audio files with text grids. The audio recordings were examined visually (the audio signal and its spectrogram) and perceptually in order to determine different patterns of vocal fry seen in the audio signal. Criteria for detecting vocal fry were (1) the presence of an acoustic transient (a relatively large and fast dip in acoustic pressure, presumably near glottal closure) with a relatively long cycle period compared to normal phonation periods, or (2) a frequency at or lower than approximately an octave below the nearby normal speaking fundamental frequency.

RESULTS

There were 174 total vocal fry samples obtained from the recordings. Six vocal fry patterns were observed. The patterns were: single pulse fry (FRY1), double pulse fry (FRY2), multiple pulse fry (FRY3), period doubling fry (FRY4), inaudible fry (FRY5), and indeterminate vocal fry (FRY6). Single pulse fry was divided into a single (one) pulse fry cycle (FRY1a), a series of even single pulse fry cycles (FRY1b), and a series of uneven single pulse fry cycles (FRY1c). Double pulse fry was divided into a primary then another primary pulse fry cycle (FRY2a), a secondary then a primary pulse fry cycle (FRY2b), and a primary then a secondary pulse fry cycle (FRY2c). Multiple pulse fry, where a higher frequency was modulated by a lower frequency, was divided into the higher frequency being near the speaking fundamental frequency (FRY3a) and the higher frequency being inconsistent or well below the expected speaking fundamental frequency (FRY3b). The category single pulse fry had the most samples, with 76% of the total occurrences, followed by period doubling 13%, and the rest 11%. Relative to where the fry patterns occurred within syllables, 36% occurred at the onset of the syllable, 26% early in the syllable, 25% later in the syllable, and 13% at the end of the syllable. These tallies did not include the sixth category, indeterminate vocal fry (FRY6), which was not included in the study proper but recognized as indicating complicated patterns that did not fall within the first five categories.

CONCLUSIONS

Vocal fry is a complex, multifaceted phenomenon. The results of this study suggest that there are identifiable patterns of vocal fry. These patterns need to be differentiated especially regarding the glottal adductory nature and phonatory function of each pattern, glottal closure appearing to be the primary physiological causative factor of the salient negative pressure dips (the adduction behavior will be reported in a study in progress). Further research is necessary to determine other potential categories of vocal fry, determine if there are individual idiosyncratic patterns of vocal fry, determine possible differences in vocal fry produced by individuals of different ages and gender expression and other factors, and research the physiologic, acoustic, aerodynamic, and perceptual reality of each pattern.

Within-talker and within-session stability of acoustic characteristics of conversational and clear speaking stylesa)

In speech production research, talkers often perform a speech task several times per recording session with different speaking styles or in different environments. For example, Lombard speech studies typically have talkers speak in several different noise conditions. However, it is unknown to what degree simple repetition of a speech task affects speech acoustic characteristics or whether repetition effects might offset or exaggerate effects of speaking style or environment. The present study assessed speech acoustic changes over four within-session repetitions of a speech production taskset performed with two speaking styles recorded in separate sessions: conversational and clear speech. In each style, ten talkers performed a set of three speech tasks four times. Speaking rate, median fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency range, and mid-frequency spectral energy for read sentences were measured and compared across test blocks both within-session and between the two styles. Results indicate that statistically significant changes can occur from one repetition of a speech task to the next, even with a brief practice set and especially in the conversational style. While these changes were smaller than speaking style differences, these findings support using a complete speech set for training while talkers acclimate to the task and to the laboratory environment.

The Effect of Noise on Initiation and Maintenance of Clear Speech and Associated Mental Demand

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to explore (a) the influence of different types of background noise and their informational content on the ability of speakers to initiate and maintain clear speech (CS), a widely utilized technique for enhancing speech intelligibility, and (b) the impact of background noise and CS usage on speakers' mental demand.

METHOD

Five adult females were asked to read sentences using both habitual and CS under four distinct noise conditions: quiet, multitalker (MT) noise, reversed multitalker (RevMT) noise, and speech-shaped (SS) noise. Following this, speakers rated their perceived level of mental demand for each speaking condition using the modified NASA Task Load Index scale. A two-part listening experiment with 48 listeners was conducted to evaluate the speakers' effectiveness in initiating and maintaining CS.

RESULTS

Speakers initiated CS more successfully in noise than in quiet, with better performance observed in the presence of RevMT noise as compared to SS noise. Regarding the maintenance of CS, none of the speakers were successful in a quiet environment. Furthermore, the ability to maintain CS was most adversely affected in MT noise, followed by RevMT noise and SS noise.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that the effect of background noise on speech production is complex and multifaceted. The noise type affected speakers' ability to initiate and maintain CS as well as the mental demand associated with the speech task. The results underscore the importance of considering the characteristics of background noise and cognitive aspects of speech production when training and evaluating speakers' performance.

Indexing Cognitive Resource Usage for Acquisition of Initial Voice Therapy Targets

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to index cognitive resource usage for acquisition of initial targets of two common voice therapy techniques (resonant voice therapy [RVT] and conversation training therapy [CTT]) based on the theorized depletion effect (i.e., when an initial task requiring high cognitive load leads to poorer performance on a subsequent task).

METHOD

Eleven vocally healthy participants, ages 23-41 years, read aloud the Rainbow Passage and produced consonant-vowel resonant targets (/mi, ma, mu/) followed by a baseline computerized Stroop task and a 15-min washout. Following this baseline period, participants watched and interacted with two videos instructing them in RVT or CTT initial targets. After viewing each video and practicing the associated vocal skills, participants rated the degree of mental effort required to engage in the target vocal technique on a modified Borg scale. Participants recorded their attempts at RVT on /mi, ma, mu/ and CTT on the Rainbow Passage, which were later rated by three voice-specialized speech-language pathologists as to how representative they were of each respective target technique. Changes in fundamental frequency and average auditory-perceptual ratings from baseline were examined to determine if participants adjusted their technique from RVT and CTT baseline to acquisition.

RESULTS

Performance on the Stroop task was, on average, worse post CTT than post RVT, but both post-CTT and post-RVT Stroop scores were poorer than baseline. These results suggest that both treatment techniques taxed cognitive resources but that CTT was more cognitively taxing than RVT. However, despite differences in raw averages, no statistically significant differences were found between the baseline, post-CTT, and post-RVT Stroop scores, likely due to the small sample size. Participant ratings of mental effort for CTT and RVT were statistically similar. Likewise, poorer post-RVT Stroop scores were associated with participants' greater perceived mental effort with RVT acquisition, but there was no significant association between mental effort ratings for CTT acquisition and post-CTT Stroop scores. Significantly higher fundamental frequency and perceived ratings of the accuracy of technique from baseline to acquisition for both CTT and RVT were found, providing evidence of vocal behavior changes as a result of each technique.

CONCLUSIONS

Brief exposure to initial treatment tasks in CTT is more cognitively depleting than initial RVT tasks. Results also indicate that vocally healthy participants are able to make a voice change in response to a brief therapy prompt. Finally, participant-rated measures of mental effort and secondary measures of cognitive depletion do not always correlate.

The New Normal - Virtual and Hybrid Presentations: Developing Content, Designing Slides, and Delivery Guidelines

OBJECTIVE

To outline best practices for virtual and hybrid presentation effectiveness.

METHODS

Retrospective review of recommendations from world experts in how to develop a solid story, design slides that visually communicate, and improve delivery skills that connect with the audience. Virtual and hybrid presenting is not as strongly dependent on all the new technical and software means as supposed. Presentation basics remain critical.

RESULT

Best practice in presentation effectiveness will statistically decrease the incidence of and risk factors for Nodding-off Episodes per Lecture (NOELs).

CONCLUSION

The future of presenting is here, and it is mostly online. Mastering the presentation basics and understanding the limitations and opportunities for this new virtual/hybrid presentation space will allow presenters the reach and influence their message deserves.

Conversation Training Therapy: Let's Talk It Through

This article introduces a novel approach to voice therapy called conversation training therapy (CTT). CTT is the first voice therapy approach to remove the therapeutic hierarchy common in most treatment programs. Rather, CTT uses patient-driven conversation as the sole stimuli in therapy to increase perceptual awareness of voice production in conversational speech. The genesis as to why CTT was developed, as well as the conceptual, theoretical, and component parts of CTT, will be explained. In addition, this article will offer examples of the language of therapy, as it applies to CTT and how to trouble-shoot if problems arise. Medical documentation relevant to CTT will also be outlined. Last, results from a recent efficacy study on CTT will be reported.

The quantitative prevalence of creaky voice (vocal fry) in varieties of English: A systematic review of the literature

Background/aim

It is widely believed that ‘creaky voice’ (‘creak’, ‘vocal fry’, ‘glottal fry’) is increasingly prevalent among some English speakers, particularly among young American women. Motivated by the widespread and cross-disciplinary interest in the phenomenon, this paper offers a systematic review of peer-reviewed research (up to January 2019) on the prevalence of creaky voice in varieties of English. The review aimed to understand whose and what speech has been studied, how creaky voice prevalence has been measured, and what the findings collectively reveal.

Method

Literature was located by searching four electronic databases (ProQuest, PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science) and the proceedings of two recurrent conferences (‘ICPhS’ and ‘SST’). Studies were included if they reported the prevalence of creaky voice in naturalistic samples of English spoken by vocally-healthy speakers. Reference lists of included studies were cross-checked.

Results

Only ten studies meeting inclusion criteria were identified. All studies sampled a small number of speakers and/or short durations of speech. Nine were recent studies of American-English speakers, and many of these sampled young, female, college students. Across the ten studies, creaky voice was detected using three types of methods, and prevalence was calculated using five different formulae. The findings show that prevalence varies across groups, individuals, and contexts. However, the precise nature of this variability remains unclear due to the scarcity and methodological heterogeneity of the research.

Conclusions

This paper illustrated the application of systematic literature review methods in sociophonetic research—a field in which such methods are not common. The review found that creaky voice prevalence in English is not well understood, and that widespread claims of its recent increase among young American women have not been empirically confirmed. A number of specific limitations in the existing research are highlighted, which may serve as a guide for future research design.

Voice Quality in Adults Treated for Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Long-Term Follow-Up After One- or Two-Stage Palate Repair

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the current study was to assess voice quality among adults treated for unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), after one- or two-stage palate closure, and compare it to a noncleft control group.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study of patients with UCLP with long-term follow-up and noncleft controls.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients with UCLP born between 1960 and 1987, treated at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden, were examined (n = 73) at a mean of 35 years after primary surgery. Forty-seven (64%) patients had been treated with 1-stage palate closure and 26 with 2-stage closure (36%). The noncleft control group consisted of 63 age-matched volunteers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Ratings of perceptual voice characteristics from blinded voice recordings with Swedish Voice Evaluation Approach method. Acoustic voice analysis including pitch and spectral measures.

RESULTS

Among the patients, the mean values for the 12 evaluated variables on a visual analog scale (0 = no abnormality, 100 = maximal abnormality) ranged between 0.1 and 17, and the mean for all was 6 mm. Voice variables were similar between patients and controls, except the total mean of all the perceptual voice variables, as well as "vocal fry"; both slightly lower among patients ( P = .018 and P = .009). There was no difference in any variable between patients treated with 1-stage and 2-stage palate closure. No clear relationship was found between velopharyngeal insufficiency and dysphonia.

CONCLUSIONS

The voice characteristics among adults treated for UCLP in childhood are not different from those of individuals without cleft.

Voice Quality in Adults Treated for Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: Long-term Follow-up After 1- or 2-Stage Palate Repair

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the current study was to assess voice quality among adults treated for unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), after 1- or 2-stage palate closure, and compare it to a noncleft control group.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study in UCLP patients with long-term follow-up and noncleft controls.

PARTICIPANTS

UCLP patients born 1960-1987, treated at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden, were examined (n = 73) at a mean of 35 years after primary surgery. Forty-seven patients (64%) had been treated with 1-stage palate closure and 26 with 2-stage closure (36%). The noncleft control group consisted of 63 age-matched volunteers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

Ratings of perceptual voice characteristics from blinded voice recordings with Swedish Voice Evaluation Approach (SVEA) method. Acoustic voice analysis including pitch and spectral measures.

RESULTS

Among the patients, the mean values for the 12 evaluated variables on a VAS scale (0 = no abnormality, 100 = maximal abnormality) ranged between 1 and 22 and the mean for all was 6 mm. Voice variables were similar between patients and controls except the total mean of all the perceptual voice variables, as well as "vocal fry"-both slightly lower among patients ( P = .018 and P = .009). There was no difference in any variable between patients treated with 1-stage and 2-stage palate closure. No clear relationship was found between VPI and dysphonia.

CONCLUSION

The voice characteristics among adults treated for UCLP in childhood are not different from those of individuals without cleft.