Summary
Objectives
The study aimed to investigate and compare the acoustic and aerodynamic characteristics
of choral singers and nonsingers.
Method
Twenty choral singers and 20 nonsingers in the age range of 20–30 years with no vocal
pathology participated in the study. For acoustic analysis, the voice sample was recorded
and analyzed using Praat software (Phonetic Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands) version 6.0.33
and for aerodynamic evaluation, Helios 401 PC based spirometer (Recorders & Medicare System Pvt. Ltd., Panchkula, Haryana, India) was used.
Results
The results from acoustic analysis of female groups revealed higher F0 in singers
than nonsingers; higher jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR) values
were obtained for nonsingers compared to singers. Results from acoustic analysis of
male groups revealed significantly higher F0 in singers than nonsingers and significantly
higher shimmer and NHR values for nonsingers compared to singers. Results from aerodynamic
analysis for both male and female groups revealed higher vital capacity, forced vital
capacity, and slow vital capacity in singers than nonsingers.
Conclusion
The results revealed better control over phonatory and respiratory subsystems among
singers compared to nonsingers, although the singers were untrained. This could be
possible due to the fact that long-term singing practices involving vocal modulation
and changes in the breathing pattern, better respiratory control during the expiratory
phase among singers. However, as the participants of the singing group are untrained,
further studies are required to compare the acoustic and the aerodynamic characteristics
with trained singers.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 10, 2018
Accepted:
March 27,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
