Comment: Advances in Studying the Vocal Expression of Emotion: Current Contributions and Further Options

Abstract

I consider the five contributions in this special section as evidence that the research area dealing with the vocal expression of emotion is advancing rapidly, both in terms of the number of pertinent empirical studies and with respect to an ever increasing sophistication of methodology. I provide some suggestions on promising areas for future interdisciplinary research, including work on emotion expression in singing and the potential of vocal symptoms of emotional disorder. As to the popular discussion of the respective role of universality versus language/culture differences, I suggest to move on from exclusively studying the accuracy of recognition in judgment studies to a more differentiated approach adding production aspects, taking into account the multiple vocal and acoustic features that interact to communicate emotion.

An acoustic study of vocal expression in two genres of Yoruba oral poetry

“…Studies on affective use of vocal expression find that pitch raising and increased loudness are the most reliable cues for high level of arousal, such a excitement, fear and anger (Banse and Scherer, 1996;Juslin and Laukka, 2003;Johnstone et al, 2005;Goudbeek and Scherer, 2010;Lindquist et al, 2016;Scherer, 2021). It remains to be seen whether the pitch raising and increased loudness in Ìjálá and È .…”

“…Studies show that vocal expressions, such as pitch raising and increased loudness, communicate emotions (Scherer, 1985;Juslin and Laukka, 2003). For instance, high pitch and increased loudness are associated with high level arousal such as anger, happiness and excitement (Banse and Scherer, 1996;Juslin and Laukka, 2003;Johnstone et al, 2005;Goudbeek and Scherer, 2010;Lindquist et al, 2016;Scherer, 2021). The use of vocal expression is not limited to affective communication.…”

An Effective Approach to Improving the Performance of Chorus Stage

“…First of all, contemporary music creation has many techniques and methods that effectively break through traditional definitions and constantly innovate, reasonably incorporating the latest concepts into it makes the entire music performance very diverse. Secondly, with the continuous improvement of audience aesthetics, the expressive power of music has also undergone a diversified development, giving a diversified expression to music performance [6] .…”

Affect Expression: Global and Local Control of Voice Source Parameters

“…There is an extensive body of research on the vocal correlates of emotion. Publications by Scherer and colleagues, e.g., [7][8][9][10][11] have shed considerable light on how changes in the level and dynamic range of f0 and intensity are involved in affect signalling. These are presented in global terms, insofar as they do not provide information on whether/how such dynamic changes relate to the prosodic constituents of the utterance.…”