Mapping Individual Voice Quality over the Voice Range : The Measurement Paradigm of the Voice Range Profile

Abstract: The acoustic signal of voiced sounds has two primary attributes: fundamental frequency and sound level. It has also very many secondary attributes, or ‘voice qualities’, that can be derived from the acoustic signal, in particular from its periodicity and its spectrum. Acoustic voice analysis as a discipline is largely concerned with identifying and quantifying those qualities or parameters that are relevant for assessing the health or training status of a voice or that characterize the individual quality. The thesis presented here is that all such voice qualities covary essentially and individually with the fundamental frequency and the sound level, and that methods for assessing the voice must account for this covariation and individuality. The central interest in the "voice field" measurement paradigm becomes to map the proportional dependencies that exist between voice parameters. The five studies contribute to ways of doing this in practice, while the framework text presents the theoretical basis for the analysis model in relation to the practical principles.