Effects of vocal training and phonatory task on voice onset time.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal-acoustic differences between trained singers and nonsingers during speech and singing tasks.


METHODS
Thirty male participants were separated into two groups of 15 according to level of vocal training (ie, trained or untrained). The participants spoke and sang carrier phrases containing English voiced and voiceless bilabial stops, and voice onset time (VOT) was measured for the stop consonant productions.


RESULTS
Mixed analyses of variance revealed a significant main effect between speech and singing for /p/ and /b/, with VOT durations longer during speech than singing for /p/, and the opposite true for /b/. Furthermore, a significant phonatory task by vocal training interaction was observed for /p/ productions.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicated that the type of phonatory task influences VOT and that these influences are most obvious in trained singers secondary to the articulatory and phonatory adjustments learned during vocal training.
McCrea
Christopher R
CR
Department of Communicative Disorders, East Tennessee State University, Johnson, City, Tennessee 37614, USA. mccrea@etsu.edu
Morris
Richard J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010699:Phonation; D010700:Phonetics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D014834:Voice Training