Summary
Objective
Since the recent early music (EM) revival, a subset of singers have begun to specialize
in a style of singing that is perceptually different from the more “mainstream” romantic
operatic (RO) singing style. The aim of this study is to characterize EM with respect
to RO singing in terms of its vibrato characteristics and the singer's formant cluster.
Study Design
This study presents a within-subject experimental design.
Methods
Ten professional singers (5 F; 5M) versed in both EM and RO repertoire were enrolled
in the study. Each singer recorded the first 10 bars of the famous Aria, “Amarilli
Mia Bella” (Giulio Caccini, 1602) a cappella, in RO and EM styles, in random order. Three sustained notes were extracted from
the acoustical recordings and were analyzed using the free user-friendly software
Biovoice to extract five parameters: vibrato rate, vibrato extent, vibrato jitter
(Jvib), vibrato shimmer, and quality ratio (QR), an estimation of the singer's formant
power.
Results
Vibrato in EM singing was characterized by a higher rate, a smaller extent, and less
regular cycle-cycle period duration (higher Jvib) compared to RO singing. As in previous studies, RO singing presented a more prominent
singer's formant, as indicated by a smaller QR.
Conclusions
Acoustical analysis of some vibrato characteristics and the Singer's Formant significantly
differentiated EM from RO singing styles. Given the acoustical distinctions between
EM and RO styles, future scientific and musicological studies should consider distinguishing
between the two styles rather than using a singular term for and description of Western
Classical singing.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 31, 2023
Accepted:
February 7,
2023
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
