Expression of emotion in voice and music

Abstract

Summary: Vocal communication of emotion is biologically adaptive for socially living species and has therefore evolved in a phylogenetically continuous manner. Human affect bursts or interjections can be considered close parallels to animal affect vocalizations. The development of speech, unique to the human species, has relied on the voice as a carrier signal, and thus emotion effects on the voice become audible during speech. This article reviews (a) the evidence on listeners' ability to accurately identify a speaker's emotion from voice cues alone, (b) the research efforts trying to isolate the acoustic features that determine listener judgments, and (c) the findings on actual acoustic concomitants of a speaker's emotional state (real or portrayed by actors). Finally, based on speculations about the joint origin of speech and vocal music in nonlinguistic affect vocalizations, similarities of emotion expression in speech and music are discussed.

The Dock-in Model of Music Culture and Cross-cultural Perception

“…This interpretation is consistent with the notion that similar emotion-specific acoustic cues are used to communicate emotion in both speech and music (Juslin & Laukka, 2003;Scherer, 1995). The use of the adjective musical (instead of the noun music) is thus revealing, because it allows to recognize in a whole collection of sound phenomena some aspects to be considered as musical (Nattiez, 1977).…”

Tryptophan Enhancement/Depletion and Reactions to Failure on a Cooperative Computer Game

“…Acoustic analysis of the verbal messages sent as feedback showed increased high-frequency energy after winning and decreased high-frequency energy after losing by running out of time in the depleted group, as compared to the enhanced group. Previous research suggests that increases in high-frequency energy reflect arousal and excitement, and decreases reflect sadness (Scherer 1995). It seems then that the depleted subjects may have been more excited when they won and more deflated when they ran out of time.…”

Comparing the acoustic expression of emotion in the speaking and the singing voice

“…The emotional power of the singing voice, although frequently acknowledged (Scherer, 1995;Sundberg, 1989), has only rarely been studied in an experimental fashion. Yet, in performing vocal music in Western music traditions (liturgical works, opera, and different kinds of song), professional singers have to be able to produce an extraordinary range of emotional meanings.…”