title: Evaluating the influence of warmup on singing voice quality using acoustic measures.
abstract: Vocal warmup is generally accepted as vital for singing performance. However, only a limited number of studies have evaluated this effect quantitatively. In this study, we evaluated the effect of vocal warmup on voice production, among young female singers, using a set of acoustic parameters. Warmup reduced frequency-perturbation (p < 0.001) and amplitude-perturbation values (p < 0.05). In addition, warmup increased singer's formant amplitude (p < 0.05) and improved noise-to-harmonic ratio (p < 0.05). Tone-matching accuracy, however, was not affected by warmup. The effect of vocal warmup on frequency-perturbation parameters was more evident among mezzo-soprano singers than it was among soprano singers. It was also more evident in the low pitch-range than in the higher pitch-ranges (p < 0.05). The results of this study provide valid support for the advantageous effect of vocal warmup on voice quality and present acoustic analysis as a valuable and sensitive tool for quantifying this effect.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Disorders, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. oferamir@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Ofer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Amir
authors.forename: Noam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Amir
authors.forename: Orit
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Michaeli
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010699:Phonation / Q000502:physiology*; D010700:Phonetics; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D014831:Voice / Q000502:physiology*; D014833:Voice Quality