ABSTRACT:
From speech
to singing, the human voice is capable of an amazing variety of sounds.
Assessing human voice production is yet a challenge, as the vocal instrument is
part of the human body, and thus it can not be easily studied. Since Garcia’s
mirror to the present days, clever devices and experimental techniques have
been invented to go further into our understanding of this fascinating
instrument (Henrich, 2006). Among the variety of methods for voice assessment,
several ones are nowadays commonly used in voice science and clinical practice
(Baken and Orlikoff, 2000). Video-endoscopy combined with either stroboscopy or
high-speed imaging helps us to visualize the laryngeal structures during
phonation and to directly observe their vibratory movements. The vocal-folds
vibratory movement can also be assessed indirectly by means of
electroglottography or inverse-filtering techniques. The articulatory behaviour
can be observed using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or Computed Tomography
(CT-scan) techniques. The vocal-tract acoustics can be assessed by formant-estimation
or impedance-measurement methods. Finally, the voice signal itself can easily
be recorded and visualized in a time-frequency domain. In this
presentation, we will focus on two experimental methods which are commonly used
for our research purpose: electroglottography and impedance-measurement
technique. We will illustrate how these experimental techniques can be used to
assess singing voice productions with regard to three different aspects:
laryngeal mechanisms, vibratory structures and resonances. We will demonstrate
how they apply to the understanding of different singing styles: Sardinian
Bassu singing, Bulgarian female singing, and Western Operatic singing References Baken R. J. and
Orlikoff R. F. (2000) Clinical
measurement of speech and voice Singular Publishing Group. Henrich, N. (2006)
Mirroring the voice from Garcia to the present day: some insights into singing
voice registers. Logoped Phoniatr Vocol,
31, pp. 3-14. ABOUT NATHALIE HENRICH
Nathalie Henrich is a voice researcher of the French
National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS, Department of Human and Social
Sciences). She was educated as a researcher and teacher in Physics. She
specialized on human voice production in speech and singing. Her research
projects deal with the physical and physiological characterization of various
vocal techniques, such as Western lyrical singing, Sardinian Bassu singing,
Bulgarian women’s singing, … She is interested in vocal effort management in
speech and singing. She also works on the development and improvement of non-invasive
experimental techniques for human voice analysis, on perception and
verbalisation of voice quality in singing, and on interaction between the
vocal-folds vibratory movement and the articulatory adjustments. Nathalie Henrich is a member of the French Acoustical Society (SFA), of the
French Phoniatrics and Communication Disorders Society (SFP&PaCo), of the
French Ethnomusicology Society (SFE), of the French Association of Spoken
Communication (AFCP), of the COllegium MEdicorum
Theatri (COMET).
She is Associate Editor in the international journal “Logopedics Phoniatrics
Vocology” (Taylor & Francis group). ****** Nathalie
Henrich est Chargée de Recherche au CNRS, rattachée au Département de Sciences
Humaines et Sociales. Normalienne et agrégée de Sciences Physiques, elle s’est
spécialisée sur la production vocale humaine parlée et chantée. Ses travaux de
recherche portent sur la caractérisation physique et physiologique de diverses
techniques vocales : chant lyrique, chant du Bassu Sarde, chant Bulgare
féminin, … Elle s’intéresse à la gestion de l’effort vocal dans la parole et
dans le chant. Elle travaille également sur le développement et l’amélioration de
techniques expérimentales non-invasives d’analyse de la voix humaine, sur la
perception et la verbalisation de la qualité vocale dans le chant, ainsi que
sur les interactions entre le mouvement vibratoire des cordes vocales et les
ajustements articulatoires. Nathalie
Henrich est membre de la Société Française d’Acoustique (SFA), de la Société
Française de Phoniatrie et des Pathologies de la Communication (SFP&PaCo),
de la Société Française d’Ethnomusicologie (SFE), de l’Association Francophone
de la Communication Parlée (AFCP), du COllegium MEdicorum
Theatri (COMET).
Elle est Editeur Associé de la revue internationale “Logopedics
Phoniatrics Vocology” (groupe Taylor & Francis).