2. ARTICULATION AND FORMANTS - PowerPoint Presentation

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2. ARTICULATION AND FORMANTS

MUSIC 318 MINI-COURSE ON SPEECH AND SINGING

Science of Sound, Chapter 15

The Speech Chain, Chapter 4http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/

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VOWELS OF AMERICAN ENGLISH

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MUSCLES OF THE TONGUE

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TONGUE POSITIONS FOR CARDINAL VOWELS

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VOCAL TRACT CONFIGURATIONS FOR VOWELS i, o, oo

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THE EFFECT OF FORMANTS ON SOUND

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FORMANT FREQUENCIES AND AMPLITUDES(AVERAGE OF 76 SPEAKERS)

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Voice Acoustics: an introduction Speech science has a long history. Speech and voice acoustics are an active area of research in many labs, including our own, which studies the singing and speaking voice. This document gives an introduction and overview. This is followed by a more detailed account, sometimes using experimental data to illustrate the main points. Throughout, a number of simple experiments are suggested to the reader. Introduction and overview The source The filter Vowels Consonants Source-filter interactions Contrasting the voice with wind instruments The Source-Filter model Some difficulties The source at the larynx Different registers and vocal mechanisms Producing a sound When is the source independent of the filter? Resonances, spectral peaks, formants, phonemes and timbre Phonemes The vocal tract as a pipe or duct Resonances, frequency, pitch and hearing Timbre and singing The origin of vocal tract resonances Tract-wave interactions Do the ‘source’ and the ‘filter’ affect each other? Does the glottis affect the tract resonances? Do pressure waves affect the vocal fold vibration? Do singers and speakers use tract resonances and pitch in a coordinated way? Harmonic singing The singers formant References Links

Voice Acoustics: an introduction Speech science has a long history. Speech and voice acoustics are an active area of research in many labs, including our own, which studies the singing and speaking voice. This document gives an introduction and overview. This is followed by a more detailed account, sometimes using experimental data to illustrate the main points. Throughout, a number of simple experiments are suggested to the reader.

THE WEBSITE

http://

www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/voice.html

IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. PROFS. WOLFE AND SMITH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES IN AUSTRALIA TEACH A COURSE SIMILAR TO THIS ONE.

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VOWEL FORMANT FREQUENCIES

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CLOSED PIPE MODEL OFTHE VOCAL TRACT

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SIMPLE MODELS OF THE VOCAL TRACT

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OPEN AND CLOSED PIPES

OPEN

PIPE

CLOSED

PIPE

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USING VOCAL FRY TO DETERMINE FORMANTS

VOCAL FRY SPECTRA OF FOUR FRONT VOWELS. CURSOR ON F2 OF /

ae/

/i/ /e/ /ε/ /ae/

VOCAL FRY IS A BUBBLING AIR THROUGH CLOSED VOCAL FOLDS AT A RATE SLOW ENOUGH THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IMPULSES ARE HEARD AS SEPARATE TICKS. THE RESULTANT WEAK SOUND ARTICULATES THE VARIOUS VOWELS, AND THEIR SPECTRA CAN REVEAL THE FREQUENCIES OF AT LEAST THE FIRST TWO FORMANTS.

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CONSONANTS

CONSONANTS INVOLVE VERY RAPID, SOMETIMES SUBTLE , CHANGES IN SOUND.

CONSONANTS ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO ANALYZE AND TO DESCRIBE ACOUSTICALLY

CONSONANTS MAY BE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE

MANNER OF ARTICULATION

AS PLOSIVE, FRICATIVE, NASAL, LIQUID, AND SEMIVOWEL.

PLOSIVE CONSONANTS (p, b, t, etc.) ARE PRODUCED BY BLOCKING THE FLOW OF AIR (USUALLY IN THE MOUTH) AND RELEASING THE PRESSURE RATHER SUDDENLY

FRICATIVES (f, s,

sh

, etc.) ARE MADE BY CONSTRICTING THE FLOW TO PRODUCE TURBULENCE

NASALS (m, n,

ng

) ARE MADE BY LOWER THE SOFT PALATE TO CONNECT THE NASAL CAVITY TO THE PHARYNX AND BLOCKING THE MOUTH CAVITY SOMEWHERE

SEMIVOWELS (w, y) ARE PRODUCED BY KEEPING THE VOCAL TRACT BRIEFLY IN A VOWEL POSITION AND THEN CHANGING IT RAIDLY TO THE VOWEL SOUND THAT FOLLOWS

IN SOUND THE LIQUIDS (r, l) THE TIP OF THE TONGUE IS RAISED AND THE ORAL CAVITY IS SOMEWHAT RESTRICTED

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PLACE OF ARTICULATION

CONSONANTS ARE FURTHER CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR PLACE OF ARTICULATION, LKPRIMARILY THE LIPS, THE TEETH, THE GUMS, THE PALATE, AND THE GLOTTIS. TERMS USED BY SPEECH SCIENTISTS TO DENOTE PLACE OF ARTICULATION INCLUDE LABIAL (LIPS), DENTAL (TEETH), ALVEOLAR (GUMS), PALATAL (PALATE), VELAR (SOFT PALATE), GLOTTAL (GLOTTIS), AND LABIODENTAL (LIPS AND TEETH)FINALLY, CONSONANTS ARE CLASSIFIED AS VOICED OR UNVOICED

PLACE OF ARTICULATION OF PLOSIVES

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VOCAL TRACT WITH SOFT PALATE LOWERED (AS FOR BREATHING)

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VOCAL TRACT WITH SOFT PLATE RAISED (FOR ARTICULATING NON-NASAL SOUNDS)

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VOICE QUALITY

VOICE QUALITY IS A BROAD TERM THAT REFERS TO THE EXTRALINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF A SPEAKER’S VOICE WITH REGARD TO IDENTITY, PERSONALITY, HEALTH, AND EMOTIONAL STATE.

VOCAL FOLD MASS, VOCAL TRACT LENGTH, TRACHEAL LENGTH, JAW AND TONGUE SIZE, AND NASAL CAVITY VOLUME MAY INDICATE INFORMATION ABOUT AGE, SEX, PHYSIQUE, AND HEALTH.

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NORMAL, “YAWNY”, AND “TWANGY” VOICE

Story,

Titze

, and Hoffman (2001) did a 3-dimensional study of the vocal tract using MRI to determine the shape when vowels /

i

/, /

ae

/, /

α

/, and /u/ were spoken with NORMAL, “YAWNY”, and “TWANGY” voice.

Relative to NORMAL speech, the ORAL CAVITY is widened and the TRACT is lengthened for YAWNYY vowels. F1 and F2 moved closer together.

TWANGY vowels were characterized by shortened TRACT length, widened LIP OPENING, and a slightly constricted ORAL CAVITY. F1 and F2 moved farther apart.

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Story,

Titze

Hoffman, 2001)

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Story,

Titze

and Hoffman, 2001)

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ECHOES

ECHOES

is a quarterly newsletter of the Acoustical Society of America, edited by Thomas

Rossing

. It reports acoustics news, and the editor scans scientific journals for interesting articles about acoustics.

ECHOES can be read online at

http://asa.aip.org/echoes.html

. Copies are also available from the editor.

Here are a couple of recent items about speech production:

A newly-discovered gene, called

tospeak

by its discoverers, enables us to speak by helping to keep our vocal tract limber, according to a story in

Novmber

2009 issue of

Science News.

Researchers discovered the gene in an Australian family with a speaking disorder. Many of the women in the family have weak, husky voices, while their male relatives cannot speak above a whisper. Family members with the speaking problem have short, thick vocal folds that don’t vibrate properly. (

ECHOES,

Winter 2010).

A 60-year old man learned to sing so he could learn to talk again, according to a story in the April 22,2008 issue of

The New York Times.

A stroke had paralyzed the right side of his body and brought on a condition known as

aphasia.

Complex verbal communication was impossible. One day the therapist asked him to sing. “How can I sing if I can’t talk,” he remembered thinking. But as soon as the therapist sang “Happy birthday” he chimed in. (

ECHOES,

Summer 2008)