The First Formant Characteristics in Vocalize of One Soprano

Song, Yun-Kyung; Jin, Sung-Min

J Korean Soc Laryngol Phoniatr Logop > Volume 16(1); 2005 > Article

Journal of The Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics 2005;16(1): 10-14.

소프라노 1인의 모음곡 발성 시 제 1 포먼트의 변화양상

송윤경¹, 진성민²

¹이화여자대학교 언어병리학 협동과정
²성균관대학교 의과대학 강북삼성병원 이비인후과학교실

The First Formant Characteristics in Vocalize of One Soprano

Yun-Kyung Song¹, Sung-Min Jin²

¹Interdiciplinery Program of Communication Disorders, The Graduate School, Ewha Womans University
²Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University

ABSTRACT

Background and Objectives
: Vowels are characterized on the basis of formant patterns. The first formant(F1) is determined by high-low placement of the tongue, and the second formant (F2) by front-back placement of the tongue. The fundamental frequency(F0) of a soprano often exceed the normal frequency of the first formant. And the vocal intensity is boosted when F0 is high and a harmonic coincides with a formant. This is called a formant tuning. Experienced singers thus learned how to tune their formants over a resonable range by lowering the tongue to maximize their vocal intensity. So, the current study aimed to identify the formant tuning in one experienced soprano by comparing the first formants of vowel [i] in three different voice production : speech, ascending scale, and vocalize.
Materials and Method
: All voices recordings of vowel [i] in speech, ascending scale (from F4 note to A4 note), and vocalize(:Ridente la calam") were made with digital audio tape-corder in a sound treated room. And the captured data were analyzed by the long term average(LTA) power spectrum using the FFT algorithm of the Computerized Speech Lab(CSL, Kay elementrics, Model, 4300B).
Results
: Although the first formant of vowel [i] in speech was 238Hz, those of ascending scale [i] were 377Hz, 405Hz, 453Hz respectively in F4(349z), G4(392Hz), A4(440Hz) note, and 722Hz, 820Hz, 918Hz respectively in F5 (698Hz), G5(784Hz), A5(880Hz) note. In vocalize, first formants of [i] were 380Hz, 398Hz, 453Hz respectively in F4, G4, A4 note, and 720Hz, 821Hz, 890Hz respectively in F5, G5, A5 note.
Conclusion
: These results showed that the first formant of ascending scale and vocalize sustained higher frequency than fundamental frequency in high pitch. This finding implicates that the formant tuning of vowel [i] in ascending scale was also noted in vocalize.

KEY WORDS： Formant;Formant tuning;Vowel modification;