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Vocal Repertoire Analysis

Introduction to Voice: Anatomy, Acoustical Physics, Fast Fourier
Transforms, Repertoire Overview

Annika Socolofsky
Anatomy & Physiology
How the voice works
Jo Estill et al. The Estill Voice Model p. 26, IMAGE 2-20: Structures included in Estill Voice Training
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b89RSY
CaUBo&feature=emb_title
Filter

Lips

Source

Power
Power-Source-
Filter Model
Power-Source-Filter Model
Experiment 1
• (A) Breathe in quietly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Then
exhale abruptly (with great force) through your nose, still keeping your
mouth closed.
• (B) Breathe in quietly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Then
pinch your nose shut and exhale abruptly (with great force) through your
mouth.

Questions
• What is the sound difference between A & B?
• What is the physiological difference between A & B?
• Why do these two filters sound different?
Power-Source-Filter Model
Experiment 2
• (A) Breathe in quietly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Then
pinch your nose shut and exhale slowly and quietly through your mouth.
• (B) Breathe in quietly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Then
pinch your nose shut and exhale slowly through your mouth while
pronouncing the letter “H.”

Questions
• What is the sound difference between A & B?
• What is the physiological difference between A & B
• Why do these two filters sound different?
http://sal.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/BStory_HandbookSinging_ChapterReprint.pdf
Embodied
Knowledge

https://tppublications.com/phonetics-poster.html
Physiology Recap
• The human voice uses the power-source-filter model
• Power is muscle force from the diaphragm
• Sound source is the true vocal folds
• Filter is the vocal tract
• The vocal tract has several main cavities,
most notably:
• Oral cavity
• Nasal cavity
• These two cavities separated by the velum,
or soft palate
Physiology Recap

All of these filter components can be

combined in different combinations of
positions in order to filter the sound
source differently.

More on that in a bit…

A Brief Physics Primer
Promise it’ll be worth it
Sound waves
• “Sound is a compression and rarefaction within a medium… A sound
source, such as the oscillating vocal folds or a vibrating piano string,
increase a slight pressurization (compression) of air molecules, followed
immediately by a depressurization (rarefaction)… The compression wave
thereby is transferred along the line from one molecule to another until it
runs out of energy or impacts someone’s eardrum.” – Scott McCoy, Your
Voice: An Inside View
• “All this action happens very quickly. Under typical conditions, sound
travels (propogates) at approximately 350 meters per second, independent
of pitch of loudness.” – Scott McCoy, Your Voice: An Inside View
• Pitched waves are periodic (cycle regularly)
Wave types

Longitudinal wave – Transverse wave –

sound through gasses, sound through solids
liquids, plasma, solids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INqfM1kdfUc&feature=
emb_title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsQrKrSY-
78&feature=emb_title
Properties of Sound
• Frequency (f) – related to pitch, measured in Hz (hertz)
• Inverse: wavelength (λ)
• Amplitude – related to loudness
• Speed – fixed in a given medium, such as air
• Direction

• Duration
• Spectral Envelope – objective measurement of timbre or tone color
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGKffdaI4Pg&f
eature=emb_title
A
Frequency & Pitch
• Frequency (Hz) = cycles (wavelengths) per second
• Pitch = our perception of frequency
• 440 Hz (λ =78.4 cm) 440 Hz in octave
• 880 Hz (λ = 39.2 cm)
880 Hz in octave
• 1760 Hz (λ = 19.6 cm)
• Nonlinear relationship
It’s a surprising fact about how we hear sounds that we perceive notes an equal multiple apart in
frequency as being equally separated in pitch. This is the basis of the equal tempered scale,
where the frequencies actually follow the exponential staircase, but they sound like they follow
the linear staircase.
Decibels & Loudness
• Amplitude = magnitude of compressions and rarefactions within a
sound wave
• Loudness = our perception of amplitude
• Better measured in a unit called decibels, which has a logarithmic relationship
to amplitude
Highest A = 1.0

Loudest = 0 dB
 An increase of 1 dB =
an amplitude increase
of 12.2%

https://theproaudiofiles.com/amplitude-and-loudness/
Sine wave –
a single mathematical curve that describes a smooth, periodic oscillation
Harmonics, Overtones & Partials

Partials/overtones

harmonic inharmonic
overtones overtones
Frequencies that Frequencies that
are multiples of are NOT multiples
the fundamental of the fundamental
(x*F)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC9Q
h709gas&feature=emb_title
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyyhHFKI8
E&feature=emb_title
Spectral Analysis & Timbre
Combining all that physics with the voice
Spectral Analysis
• Spectrogram - a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies
of a signal as it varies with time. When applied to an audio signal,
spectrograms are sometimes called sonographs, voiceprints, or
voicegrams.
• Fast Fourier Transform - an algorithm that converts a signal from its
original domain (often time or space) to a representation in the
frequency domain and vice versa.
Practice with live spectrogram
1 2 3 4 5 6 7…

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8…

Scott McCoy – Your Voice: An Inside View p. 23

Idealized glottic sound spectrum (synthesized)

Spectral slope,
or “spectral
envelope”

https://www.mq.edu.au/about/about-the-university/faculties-and-departments/faculty-of-human-sciences/departments-
and-centres/department-of-linguistics/our-research/phonetics-and-phonology/speech/acoustics/acoustic-theory-of-speech-
production/sound-sources-in-the-vocal-tract
Case Studies in Timbre
Timbral and other vocal characteristic scales
• Bright/Dark
• Twang/Loft
• Lyric/Dramatic
• Healthy/damaged
• Clear/breathy
• Conversational/Ringing
• Non-nasal/Nasal
• Free/Forced
• Vibrato/Straight tone
• Wobble/flutter
• Stylistic/Non-stylistic
Maria Callas – “O Mio Babbino Caro”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi-
oSnGfRM4&feature=emb_title
Diana Damrau – “O Mio Babbino Caro”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0SX5G7DGbI&feature=emb_titl
e
Renee Flemming – “O Mio Babbino Caro”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf-tjXevlyQ&feature=emb_title
David Phelps – “O Mio Babbino Caro”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxyQc7DXN5Y&feature=emb_titl
e