The timbre of sung vowels.
The perception of timbre differences in a vowel sung by eight male and seven female singers has been investigated by means of two types of listening experiments: (1) using the paradigm of the comparison of similarity, and (2) using judgments on 21 semantic bipolar scales. Using INDSCAL analysis for the similarity-comparison data and MDPREF analysis for the semantic-scale judgments, vowel configurations in a multidimensional perceptual space were derived, as well as a space that showed the weighting of perceptual dimensions by individual listeners (INDSCAL). The interpretation of semantic scales was represented by directions in the perceptual space (MDPREF). The perceptual vowel configurations, either based on timbre similarities or semantic scales judgments, were comparable. Broadly, semantic scales clustered into the categories vocal technique, general evaluation, vibrato, clarity, and sharpness. These five clusters were not independent and could be described in two dimensions. Timbre differences could be predicted on the basis of differences in 1/3-oct spectra of the vowels. It showed up that only sharpness had a constant interpretation for the various stimulus sets and was roughly related to the slope of the spectrum. One experiment, using a song phrase, extended the results to a more general domain.
Bloothooft
G
G
Department of Otolaryngology, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Plomp
R
R
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012660:Semantics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014831:Voice