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Ethel Smyth. Serenade in D Major for Orchestra. Edited by John L. Snyder. Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2021. (Recent Researches in the Music of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, [...]

Purpose: The aim of the study was to examine associations between speaking fundamental frequency ([f.sub.os]), vowel formant frequencies (F), listener perceptions of speaker gender, and vocal femininity-masculinity. Method: An exploratory study was undertaken to examine associations between [f.sub.os], [F.sub.1]-[F.sub.3], listener perceptions of speaker gender (nominal scale), and vocal femininity-masculinity (visual analog scale). For 379 speakers of Australian English aged 18-60 years, [f.sub.os] mode and [F.sub.1]-[F.sub.3] (12 monophthongs; total of 36 Fs) were analyzed on a standard reading passage. Seventeen listeners rated speaker gender and vocal femininity-masculinity on randomized audio recordings of these speakers. Results: Model building using principal component analysis suggested the 36 Fs could be succinctly reduced to seven principal components (PCs). Generalized structural equation modeling (with the seven PCs of F and [f.sub.os] as predictors) suggested that only [F.sub.2] and [f.sub.os] predicted listener perceptions of speaker gender (male, female, unable to decide). However, listener perceptions of vocal femininity-masculinity behaved differently and were predicted by [F.sub.1], [F.sub.3], and the contrast between monophthongs at the extremities of the [F.sub.1] acoustic vowel space, in addition to [F.sub.2] and [f.sub.os]. Furthermore, listeners' perceptions of speaker gender also influenced ratings of vocal femininity-masculinity substantially. Conclusion: Adjusted odds ratios highlighted the substantially larger contribution of F to listener perceptions of speaker gender and vocal femininity-masculinity relative to [f.sub.os] than has previously been reported., Gender is one of the first pieces of social information accessible from a speaker's voice (Kreiman & Sidtis, 2011; Schweinberger et al., 2014). Findings of studies examining event-related potentials of [...]

British Royal and State Funerals: Music and Ceremonial Since Elizabeth I. By Matthias Range. Woodbridge, Suffolk: The Boydell Press, 2016. [xvii, 408 p. ISBN 9781783270927 (hardback). $90.00.] Music examples, illustrations, [...]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to provide a systematic review of the aspects of verbal communication contributing to listener perceptions of speaker gender with a view to providing clinicians with guidance for the selection of the training goals when working with transsexual individuals. Method: Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines were adopted in this systematic review. Studies evaluating the contribution of aspects of verbal communication to listener perceptions of speaker gender were rated against a new risk of bias assessment tool. Relevant data were extracted, and narrative synthesis was then conducted. Meta-analyses were conducted when appropriate data were available. Results: Thirty-eight articles met the eligibility criteria. Meta-analysis showed speaking fundamental frequency contributing to 41.6% of the variance in gender perception. Auditory-perceptual and acoustic measures of pitch, resonance, loudness, articulation, and intonation were found to be associated with listeners' perceptions of speaker gender. Tempo and stress were not significantly associated. Mixed findings were found as to the contribution of a breathy voice quality to gender perception. Nonetheless, there exists significant risk of bias in this body of research. Conclusions: Speech and language clinicians working with transsexual individuals may use the results of this review for goal setting. Further research is required to redress the significant risk of bias., The number of individuals with gender dysphoria requesting support from health professionals has increased substantially over the last 50 years (Arcelus et al., 2015). Gender dysphoria is experienced by individuals [...]

Ernest Newman: A Critical Biography. By Paul Watt. (Music in Britain, 1600-2000.) Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell, 2017. [xvii, 253 p. ISBN 9781783271900. $90.] Illustrations, appendix, bibliography, index. Ernest Newman was a [...]

TEACHER RATING SCALES ARE an efficient, practical way to gather information on children's behaviour problems in school. Previous research has reported on agreement between parents' and teachers' reports, but less attention has been paid to inter-teacher agreement in young children, to the distinction between relative and absolute agreement, or to variability in teachers' agreement. In the present study, 26 United States teachers of three- to five-year-olds reported on the behaviour of 132 children in their classrooms, with the widely used Achenbach Teacher Report Form. Stronger agreement was seen on ratings of externalising than internalising behaviour. Absolute agreement was not always high even when teachers showed close relative agreement. Agreement varied significantly across informant pairs, suggesting that some teacher pairs rate children's behaviour in very similar ways, while others agree very little. Agreement was stronger in higher-SES than lower-SES classrooms., Introduction In the United States (US), formal schooling typically begins with grade school at age five with what is termed kindergarten. However, the majority of US children now first attend [...]

Summary: In this study, members of a professional opera chorus were recorded using close microphones, while singing in both choral and solo modes. The analysis included computation of long-term average [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2005.01.006 Byline: Jennifer M. Oates (a), Belinda Bain (a), Pamela Davis (a), Janice Chapman (a ), Dianna Kenny (a ) Abstract: Although considerable progress has been made in the development of acoustic and physiological measures of operatic singing voice, there is still no widely accepted objective tool for the evaluation of its multidimensional features. Auditory-perceptual evaluation, therefore, remains an important evaluation method for singing pedagogues, voice scientists, and clinicians who work with opera singers. Few investigators, however, have attempted to develop standard auditory-perceptual tools for evaluation of the operatic voice. This study aimed to pilot test a new auditory-perceptual rating instrument for operatic singing voice. Nine expert teachers of operatic singing used the instrument to rate the singing voices of 21 professional opera chorus artists from a national opera company. The findings showed that the instrument has good face validity, that it can be legitimately treated as a psychometrically sound scale, and that raters can use the scale consistently, both between and within judges. This new instrument, therefore, has the potential to allow opera singers, their teachers, voice care clinicians, and researchers to evaluate the important auditory-perceptual features of operatic voice quality. Author Affiliation: (a) From the School of Human Communication Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia (a ) Voice Consultant, London, UK (a ) Australian Centre for Applied Research in Music Performance, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Article History: Accepted 20 January 2005 Article Note: (footnote) Supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council and Opera Australia.

Summary: Although considerable progress has been made in the development of acoustic and physiological measures of operatic singing voice, there is still no widely accepted objective tool for the evaluation [...]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2004.07.002 Byline: Rachel Pinczower (a), Jennifer Oates (a ) Abstract: This study explored whether acoustic and perceptual features could distinguish comfortable from maximally projected acting voice. Thirteen professional male actors performed a passage from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar twice. The first delivery used their comfortably projected voices, whereas the second used maximal projection. Acoustic measures, expert ratings, and self-ratings of projection and voice quality were investigated. Long-term average spectra (LTAS) and sound pressure level (SPL) analyses were conducted. Perceptual variables included projection, breathiness, roughness, and strain. When comparing the intensity difference between the higher (2-4 kHz) and lower (0-2 kHz) regions of the spectrum in voice samples from the maximal projected condition, LTAS analyses demonstrated increased acoustic energy in the higher part of the spectrum. This LTAS pattern was not as evident in the comfortable projected condition. These findings offered some preliminary support for the existence of an actor's formant (prominent peak in the upper part of the spectrum) during maximal projection. Author Affiliation: (a) From the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia (a ) School of Human Communication Sciences, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia Article History: Accepted 7 July 2004 Article Note: (miscellaneous) aMelbourne and a Victoria, Australia

Summary: This study explored whether acoustic and perceptual features could distinguish comfortable from maximally projected acting voice. Thirteen professional male actors performed a passage from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar twice. [...]

Britten on Music. Edited by Paul Kildea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. [xv, 448 p. ISBN0-19-816714-8. $49.95.] Illustrations, indexes. Britten on Music, the first published volume of Britten's writings, aims [...]

Michael William Balfe: His Life and His English Operas. By William Tyldesley. (Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain.) Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2003. [xix, 243 p. ISBN 0-7546-0558-2. $84.95.] Music examples, bibliography, index. [...]

The Queens College Music Library is pleased to announce that all 320 tapes of K. Robert Schwarz's interviews with prominent musicians of the twentieth century are now available on compact [...]

Exploratory learning is recognized as a developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education. During exploration, exposure to new things guides children in the acquisition of knowledge, while interactions with a range of familiar and unfamiliar artifacts can support developmental integration. Exploratory activity may occur spontaneously at any time, but it can also be structured and guided to achieve specific curricular and developmental goals. This paper explores preschool children's interactions during semi-structured exploratory activities in three different conditions. Thirty-five 4- to 5-year-old children, from six preschool classrooms, were randomly assigned to three different conditions. Each condition included the same set of 13 different artifacts that were either artistically rendered in black ink on white paper (sketch condition), included in a children's story book (book condition), or had the real artifact itself (tangible object condition). Children's exploration and interactions were videotaped and analyzed to see which, if any, of the three conditions would appear to stimulate and encourage early engineering thinking the most. Initial hypothesis was that the tangible object condition would appear to be the most beneficial. Findings showed that this condition elicited the longest discussions and interactions with the artifacts, and it was also the condition during which children were demonstrating more knowledge and ideas with regard to possible functions of the artifacts. Regarding whether there was a condition that stimulated more interest toward specific artifacts, no clear pattern among the three conditions appeared. Implications are discussed in terms of preschool Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and child development., Introduction We are interested in understanding engineering thinking as it is revealed in young children's activities and interactions with the world of artifacts. Engineering thinking is a new area of […]

The Queens College Music Library, which serves the Aaron Copland School of Music, recently received $386,000 from the estate of Claude V. Palisca upon the death of his wife, Elizabeth [...]