Voice characteristics of amateur female tenors are comparable with those of male tenors.
In order to explore the suitability of adding female voices to the tenor sections of amateur choirs, six male and six female tenors were screened for voice characteristics. Audio signals and signals from an electroglottograph were analyzed by means of VoceVista computer software. All subjects produced closed quotients of 60% or higher in singing with a loud chest voice. There was more variance between the individuals than between groups of male and female singers. Long-time average spectra showed a general trend in the presence of a high-intensity peak between 4 and 5 kHz. The results revealed no significant differences in the most important voice characteristics between female and male tenor voices.
van Lankeren
Hanny
H
Zingen Zien en Horen-Research, Oude Eekmolenweg 71, Wageningen 6706 AN, the Netherlands. hanny@zingenzienenhoren.nl
D004568:Electrodiagnosis; D005260:Female; D005931:Glottis / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D012984:Software; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013997:Time Factors; D014831:Voice / Q000502:physiology