Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Donald Miller" <milskal@h...>
"Donald Miller" <milskal@h...>
Date:  Wed Nov 8, 2000  9:24 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Re: The Vowel Line



>From: "Don Miller" <milskal@h...>
>From: "Don Miller" <milskal@h...>
>Reply-To: vocalist-temporary@egroups.com
>To: vocalist-temporary@egroups.com
>Subject: Re: [vocalist-temporary] Phrase finish with Vibrato?/Controlled
>Vibrato?

Dear Robin, Lloyd, David (my acquaintances in Cyberspace) and Vocalisters,

I have followed the most interesting discussion of the acceleration of
vibrato frequency toward the end of the tone. Robin's view ("It's just a
normal vibrato, gradually speeded up," etc) is supported by the scientific
literature on the singing voice: there is a respectable study (I think
Sundberg is the senior author) that finds this acceleration toward the end
of the tone as a common feature among the recorded artists investigated.
(If anyone is curious, I think I can find the reference.) But far better
than quoting authorities, scientific or otherwise, is direct empirical
investigation of one's own. This can be accomplished fairly easily with the
help of the excellent spectrogram program available as freeware on the
Internet at www.monumental.com/rshorne. One records the phonation of
interest and then measures the (average) time interval between the distinct
vibrato peaks in the spectrogram. My measurements of the sound bite that
started this discussion show that the vibrato rate for five early cycles in
the last note is a slow 4.9 Hz, speeding up to 5.8 Hz for five cycles near
the end. The trill, incidentally, shows a vibrato rate of 7.5 Hz.

It seems to me that Robin is also right in saying that the effect is quite
subtle, and that special attention should be paid to vocal tract adjustments
toward the end of the tone. Along with the tendency to accelerate, I have
noticed in some voices a tendency for the vibrato to become excessively wide
as the end approaches. Visual monitoring in real time can be an important
aid in clearing up this problem. (Technology functions here as an aid to
the knowledgeable teacher, not as a replacement for the teacher, who must be
able to hear the phenomenon in question.)

Awareness of many other important details that often escape our notice in
the act of singing can be sharpened by the use of such feedback. But even
where the program is free there is a cost in acquiring the ability to
interpret the signals. Those who are not deterred by this "knowledge tax"
might want to check out even more powerful feedback signals on display at
www.vocevista.com.

Don Miller

Groningen Voice Research Lab
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
d.g.miller@m...
d.g.miller@m...


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