Summary
Objectives
Pitch perception distortion (PPD) is a novel term describing a phenomenon in which
an amplified, accompanied singer's perception of their sung pitch relative to band
or accompaniment becomes ambiguous, leading to one of two conditions: a) the singer
believes they are out of tune with the accompaniment, but are in tune as perceived
by a listener, or b) the singer believes they are in tune with the accompaniment,
but are not. This pilot study aims to investigate the existence and incidence of PPD
among amplified, accompanied performers and identify associated variables.
Design/Methods
115 singers were recruited to participate in an online survey, which collected information
on musical training, performance environment, and PPD experience.
Results
Reported PPD incidence was 68%, with 92% of respondents indicating that PPD occurred
rarely. The factors reported as most associated with PPD experiences included loud
stage volume, poor song familiarity, singing outside one's habitual pitch range, and
singing loudly. Contrary to previous studies and our hypotheses, no association was
found between modality of auditory feedback (e.g., in-ears versus floor monitors)
and incidence of PPD. Additionally, higher levels of training were found to be associated
with higher incidence of PPD.
Conclusions
The reported incidence supports that PPD exists beyond chance and anecdotal experience.
In light of the highly trained sample, the data suggest that pitch accuracy in accompanied,
amplified performance may be more associated with aural environment–specifically loud
stage volume–and a highly trained singer's tuning strategy in response to that environment
rather than a singer's mastery of vocal intonation skills in isolation. Loud stage
volume was implicated as a primary factor associated with PPD, which may be related
to the stapedius reflex. Future investigations will target attempted elicitation of
PPD in trained singers after establishing baseline auditory reflex thresholds and
objective measurements of intonation accuracy.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 31, 2023
Accepted:
December 19,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofFootnotes
Presented at: The Voice Foundation 50th Annual Symposium (Oral Presentation); June 6, 2021. Online.The Pan American Vocology Association Annual Symposium (Poster); August 15, 2021. Online.The International Physiology & Acoustics of Singing Conference (Poster); May 5, 2022. Online.
Identification
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© 2023 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
