A psycho-acoustical analysis of vocal effort by opera singers

Abstract

A singer’s vocal output will be affected by a number of factors such as the size of the auditorium used for the performance. In this paper, the ‘‘large hall’’ and ‘‘small hall’’ voices of singers were explored in terms of the specific loudness pattern, which represents the distribution of loudness in the auditory system. Recordings of seven professional opera singers were made in an anechoic room and in a small recital hall. Singers were asked to imagine they were in a small hall for one set of recordings and in a large hall for another set. Each singer sang the same song under these two ‘‘conditions.’’ The recordings were then analyzed to determine spectral and temporal changes. Spectral analysis was used to calculate the strength of the singers formant under these conditions, and this was compared with the specific loudness patterns. Results help us to understand why the singer’s formant is so important for vocal projection.