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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.

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