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INTRODUCTION
The singers formant (FS) remains an unresolved
issue in voice circles. Very few contemporary trainers
of advanced voices would argue that the FS does not
exist. In fact, techniques directed at facilitating its development have been and continue to be widely used.
These include attempts at lowering the larynx and
Accepted for publication April 30, 2001.
Presented at the 28th Symposium: Care of the Professional
Voice, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 26, 1999.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Rudolf
Weiss, PhD, Director, Linguistics Program, Hu 237, Western
Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9057.
e-mail: weiss@cc.wwu.edu
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Equipment
WWU study
Recordings were made at the facilities of the Music
Department at Western Washington University between
January and June 1995. A Marantz (Marantz Corporation, Aurora, IL) 1120 integrated amplifier, a Technics
(Matsushita Electric Corporation of America, Secaucus,
NJ) Model M227k tape deck, and Realistic (Radio
Shack Corporation, Fort Worth, TX) Commercial Model 33.10708 microphones were the equipment used.
UFL study
Recordings were made in the facilities of the Music Department at the University of Florida between
October and December 1998. A Sony (Sony Electronics, Inc., Park Ridge, NJ) TDC-8 DAT deck, an
ART professional tube mike preamplifier, and a Sony
WH20 head microphone were the equipment used.
The specifications of the equipment (microphones
and tape decks) used at both sites was such that dB
levels maintained were well within 3 dB with distortion levels less than 1% and the signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 50 dB within the analyzed frequency
range of 0.1 to 10 kHz.
Analysis procedures
Samples of forte production of the five cardinal
vowels sung at low, mid, and high pitch were digitized via Signalyze 3.1221 at a sampling rate of 44
kHz. A cross-section analysis of the harmonics of
each sung vowel was made at or near the center of the
steady-state portion of each vowel using analysis routines in Signalyze set to the narrow band setting. A
Power Macintosh 7600/132 was used to perform the
analysis. The values of each measurable harmonic detectable in the 2008000 Hz range was calculated in
respect to frequency (Hz) and amplitude (dB). This
information was then transferred to Microsoft Excel
5 22 and processed as a spreadsheet. Composite values
were then correlated for the singers in each group.
Discussion of subjects and procedures
The subjects ranged from 20 to 65 years in age. All
participants in this study were advanced singers who
considered their voices of stage quality with the accompanying appropriate resonance. All reported being in good health and in good singing voice at the
time of the recordings. In the recording sessions, each
participant was asked to produce their most resonant
voice, one they felt contained a singers formant and
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FIGURE 1. High [e] production (921 Hz) showing weak harmonic production in expected
singers formant region.
Journal of Voice, Vol. 15, No. 4, 2001
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RUDOLF WEISS ET AL
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mid
50
low
high
dB
40
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 2. Averages of all harmonics for all vowels produced at three pitches by WWU group.
Journal of Voice, Vol. 15, No. 4, 2001
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60
mid
50
low
40
dB
high
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 3. Averages of all harmonics for all vowels produced at three pitches by UFL group.
50
low [a]
low [e]
40
low [I]
dB
low [o]
low [u]
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 4. Harmonics of vowels at low pitch (261 Hz) for WWU group.
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50
[a]
[e]
40
[I]
dB
[o]
[u]
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 5. Harmonics of vowels at low pitch (261 Hz) for UFL group.
60
high [a]
50
high [e]
high [I]
40
dB
high [o]
high [u]
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Hz
FIGURE 6. Harmonics of vowels at high pitch (932 Hz) for WWU group.
7000
8000
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60
[a]
50
[e]
[I]
[o]
40
dB
[u]
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 7. Harmonics of vowels at high pitch (932 Hz) for UFL group.
50
40
dB
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 8. Harmonic of vowels at mid pitch (622 Hz) for WWU group.
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UFL mid-pitch vowels
70
60
[a]
50
[e]
[I]
[o]
40
dB
[u]
30
20
10
0
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
Hz
FIGURE 9. Harmonics of vowels at mid pitch (622 Hz) for UFL group
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appropriate for sopranos to encourage a voice facilitating maximal projection. Vowel differentiation is
unrealistic and virtually unattainable when attempting extremely high notes, and high-frequency reinforcement considerably broader than that of the male
FS is a common denominator among strong female
voices even at mid-pitch and low-pitch production.
The broadband high harmonic reinforcement phenomenon typical of strongly projecting soprano voices could simply be called extended frequency reinforcement or EFR for want of a better term to
distinguish this from the FS.
Acknowledgements: This study was funded in part by a
grant from the Bureau for Faculty Research, Western
Washington University. Thanks is also extended to the Institute for the Advanced Study of the Communication
Processes, University of Florida, for the generous use of
their facilities, to the willing participants and their voice
coaches, and to Donna Mustard and Caite York for their
valuable assistance in the preparation of the article.
CONCLUSION
This study, performed in two stages with two sets
of advanced soprano singers, yielded consistent results showing that there is strong resonance in a
broad spectrum from approximately 2.6 to 4.6 kHz
for low-sung vowels. For high-sung vowels, there
was no typical band of reinforcement. The first four
or five harmonics (to about 4.7 kHz) were typically
reinforced. Weaker voices tended to be distinguished
by harmonics becoming progressively weaker at
higher frequency levels, sometimes so weak as not to
register at all; the strongest voices were able to extend their harmonic strength well into a higher part of
the spectrum. In some cases a range of reinforcement
extended considerably further upward and strong energy could still be detected in the 810 kHz range.
Furthermore, despite efforts of formant tracking,
vowel quality differentiation at high-pitch levels is
almost negligible.
Since the wider reinforcement band of 2 kHz or
more for the soprano voice at low-pitch and midpitch levels were considerably broader than that of
the mens FS, it could be safely assumed that the
physiological manifestations necessary to produce
this effect are also dissimilar to the mens (which
usually involves lowering the larynx). This would
imply that different pedagogical techniques might be
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