Advertisement
Review Article| Volume 27, ISSUE 5, P655.e9-655.e15, September 2013

Acoustic and Phonatory Characterization of the Fado Voice

      Summary

      Fado is a Portuguese musical genre, instrumentally accompanied by a Portuguese and an acoustic guitar. Fado singers' voice is perceptually characterized by a low pitch, hoarse, and strained voice. The present research study sketches the acoustic and phonatory profile of the Fado singers' voice. Fifteen Fado singers produced spoken and sung phonatory tasks. For the spoken voice measures, the maximum phonation time and s/z ratio of Fado singers were near the inefficient physiological threshold. Fundamental frequency was higher than that found in nonsingers and lower than that found in Western Classical singers. Jitter and shimmer mean values were higher compared with nonsingers. Harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) was similar to the mean values for nonsingers. For the sung voice, jitter was higher compared with Country, Musical Theater, Soul, Jazz, and Western Classical singers and lower than Pop singers. Shimmer mean values were lower than Country, Musical Theater, Pop, Soul, and Jazz singers and higher than Western Classical singers. HNR was similar for Western Classical singers. Maximum phonational frequency range of Fado singers indicated that male and female subjects had a lower range compared with Western Classical singers. Additionally, Fado singers produced vibrato, but singer's formant was rarely produced. These sung voice characteristics could be related with life habits, less/lack of singing training, or could be just a Fado voice characteristic.

      Key Words

      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to Journal of Voice
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      References

        • Castelo-Branco S.
        O Fado no Século XX: Uma abordagem multidisciplinar ao património cultural intangível português.
        Centro de Estudos em Música e Dança (FCSH–UNL)-Instituto de Etnomusicologia, Lisboa, Portugal2004
        • Gouveia D.
        Ao Fado tudo se canta?.
        DG Edições, Lisboa, Portugal2010
        • Nery R.
        Para uma história do Fado.
        Corda Seca–Público, Lisboa, Portugal2004
        • Alonso J.
        • Ferrer M.
        • León J.
        • Travieso C.
        Cuantificación de la calidad de la voz para su evaluación clinica por médio del análisis acústico.
        IV Jornadas em Tecnologia del Habla, Madrid, Spain2006
        • Araújo S.
        • Grellet M.
        • Pereira J.
        • Rosa M.
        Normatização de medidas acústicas da voz normal.
        Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol. 2002; 8: 540-544
        • Hirano M.
        Medidas de voz.
        in: Guimarães I. A ciência e a arte da voz humana. 1st ed. Escola Superior de Saúde do Alcoitão, Alcabideche, Portugal1981: 161
        • Kent R.
        • Kent J.
        • Rosenbek J.
        Medidas de voz.
        in: Guimarães I. A ciência e a arte da voz humana. 1st ed. Escola Superior de Saúde do Alcoitão, Alcabideche, Portugal1987: 161
        • Toyoda C.
        • Ogawa M.
        • Oya Y.
        • Kawai M.
        Maximum phonation time as a tool of screening respiratory muscle weakness in myopathic patients.
        No To Shinkei. 2004; 56 ([In Japanese]): 873-876
        • Pindzola R.
        A Voice Assessment Protocol for Children and Adults.
        Pro-Ed, Austin, TX1987
        • Stemple J.
        Voice Therapy, Clinical Studies.
        Mosby-Year Book, St. Louis, MO1993
        • Colton R.
        • Casper J.
        Understanding Voice Problems, A Physiological Perspective for Diagnosis and Treatment.
        2nd Ed. Lippicott Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD1996
        • Guimarães I.
        • Abberton E.
        Fundamental frequency in speakers of Portuguese for different voice sample.
        J Voice. 2005; 19: 592-606
        • Sorensen D.
        • Horii Y.
        Medidas de voz.
        in: Guimarães I. A ciência e a arte da voz humana. 1st ed. Escola Superior de Saúde do Alcoitão, Alcabideche, Portugal1982: 167-168
        • Drew R.
        • Sapir S.
        Average speaking fundamental frequency in soprano singers with and without symptoms of vocal attrition.
        J Voice. 1995; 9: 134-141
        • Rothman H.B.
        • Brown Jr., W.
        • Sapienza C.
        Acoustic analyses of trained singers perceptually identified from speaking samples.
        J Voice. 2001; 15: 25-35
        • Baken R.
        • Orlikoff R.
        Clinical Measurement of Speech and Voice.
        Singular Publishing, San Diego, CA2002
        • Brockmann M.
        • Drinnan M.
        • Storck C.
        • Carding P.
        Reliable jitter and shimmer measurements in voice clinics: the relevance of vowel, gender, vocal intensity, and fundamental frequency effects in a typical clinical task.
        J Voice. 2011; 25: 44-53
      1. Deem J. Frequency Perturbation in Adult Speakers Using 12 Algorithms. Thesis (PhD), Memphis State University. Dissertation Abstracts International. 1988;49–12:5256, Section B.

        • Scherer R.
        • Vail V.
        • Guo C.
        Required number of tokens to determine representative voice perturbation values.
        J Speech Hear Res. 1995; 38: 1260-1269
        • Titze I.
        Principles of Voice Production.
        National Center for Voice and Speech, Iowa City, IA2000
        • Carrara-de-Angelis E.
        • Cervantes O.
        • Abrahão M.
        Necessidade de medidas objectivas da função vocal: avaliação acústica da voz.
        in: Ferreira L. Costa H. Voz ativa: falando sobre a clínica fonoaudiológica. Roca, São Paulo, Brazil2001
        • Mendes A.
        • Rothman H.
        • Sapienza C.
        • Brown W.
        Effects of vocal training on the acoustic parameters of the singing voice.
        J Voice. 2003; 17: 529-543
        • Dejonckere P.
        • Sundberg J.
        Vibrato.
        Singular Publishing, San Diego, CA1995
        • Callaghan J.
        • David P.
        • Howes P.
        • Thorpe W.
        The relationship between measured vibrato characteristics and perception in western operatic singing.
        J Voice. 2004; 18: 216-230
        • Murbe D.
        • Zahnert T.
        • Kuhlisch E.
        • Sundberg J.
        Effects of professional singing education on vocal vibrato—a longitudinal study.
        J Voice. 2006; 21: 683-688
        • Cordeiro G.
        • Pinho S.
        • Camargo Z.
        Formante do cantor - um enfoque fisiológico.
        in: Pinho S. Temas em voz profissional. Revinter, São Paulo, Brazil2007: 23-30
        • Fant G.
        Acoustic Theory of Speech Production.
        Mouton, Paris, France1970
        • Sundberg J.
        Level and center frequency of the singer’s formant.
        J Voice. 2001; 15: 176-186
        • Sataloff R.
        Vocal Health and Pedagogy: Science and Assessment. Vol. II. Plural Publishing, San Diego, Brazil2006
        • Gusmão C.
        • Campos P.
        • Maia M.
        O Formante do cantor e os ajustes laríngeos utilizados para realizá-lo: uma revisão descritiva.
        Per Musi. 2010; 20: 43-50
        • Sundberg J.
        The Science of the Singing Voice.
        Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL1987
        • Cleveland T.
        • Sundberg J.
        • Stone R.
        Formant frequencies in country singer’s speech and singing.
        J Voice. 1999; 13: 161-167
        • Benninger M.
        • Murry T.
        The Singer's Voice.
        Plural Publishing, San Diego, Brazil2008
        • Ghiringhelli R.
        • Gordo A.
        • Guedes Z.
        Orientação e prevenção de abusos vocais em um grupo de cantores amadores da paróquia Nossa Senhora da Esperança.
        Acta ORL/Técnicas em Otorrinolaringologia. 2010; 28: 56-60
        • Ishii C.
        • Arashiro P.
        • Pereira L.
        Ordenação e resolução temporal em cantores profissionais e amadores afinados e desafinados.
        Pró-Fono Revista de Atualização Científica. 2006; 18: 285-292
        • Mendes A.
        • Costa A.
        • Martins A.
        • Fernandes A.
        • Vicente S.
        • Freitas T.
        Contributos para a construção de um texto foneticamente equilibrado para o Português Europeu.
        Revista CEFAC. 2012; 14: 910-917
        • Camargo T.
        • Barbosa D.
        • Teles L.
        Características da fonetografia em coristas de diferentes classificações vocais.
        Rev Soc Bras Fonoaudiol. 2007; 12: 10-17
        • Sundberg J.
        • Skoog J.
        Dependence of jaw opening on pitch and vowel in singers.
        J Voice. 1997; 11: 301-306
      2. Crump S, Ferreira A. Frequência do Vibrato no MDVP-Advanced, da KayPentax. (A. Rodrigues, & D. Guerreiro, Interviewers). E-mail correspondence at 16th November, 2010.

      3. Crump S. Estudo do Formante do Cantor através do Software Multi-Speech, da KayPENTAX. (A. Rodrigues, & D. Guerreiro, Interviewers). E-mail correspondence at 28th November, 2010.

        • Lee S.H.
        • Kwon H.J.
        • Choi H.J.
        • Lee N.H.
        • Lee S.J.
        • Jin S.M.
        The singer's formant and speaker's ring resonance: a long-term average spectrum analysis.
        Clin Exp Otorhinolaryngol. 2008; 1: 92-96
        • Butte C.
        • Zhang Y.
        • Song H.
        • Jiang J.
        Perturbation and nonlinear dynamic analysis of different singing styles.
        J Voice. 2009; 23: 647-652
        • Broaddus-Lawrence P.
        • Treole K.
        • McCabe R.
        • Allen R.
        • Toppin L.
        The effects of preventive vocal hygiene education on the vocal hygiene habits and perceptual vocal characteristics of training singers.
        J Voice. 2000; 14: 58-71
        • Davies J.
        • Anderson S.
        • Huchison L.
        • Stewart G.
        Interactions between voice clinics and singing teachers: a report on the British Voice Association questionnaire to voice clinics in the UK.
        Logoped Phoniatr Vocol. 2007; 32: 82-86