Nathalie Henrich: “Singing voice assessment by means of electroglottography and impedance measurement techniques”

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). 

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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).