Perturbation of voice signals in register transitions on sustained frequency in professional tenors.
OBJECTIVE
Vocal register transitions in the passaggio region remain an unclarified field in classically trained male singers.


METHODS
We examined the acoustic and electroglottographic signals of seven tenors' transitions from voix mixte to falsetto on a sustained pitch F4 (349Hz) on the vowels /a, e, i, o, u, and æ/.


RESULTS
It was found that in many of the tested subjects, register transitions between voix mixte and falsetto were performed very continuously without clear register transition events. However, an increase of frequency and amplitude perturbation (jitter, relative average perturbation, and shimmer) was observed during register transitions.


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that professional tenors are able to avoid sudden registration events frequently observed in untrained voices.
Institute of Musicians' Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Freiburg University Medical Center, Freiburg, Germany. matthias.echternach@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Matthias
M
Echternach
Louisa
L
Traser
Bernhard
B
Richter
D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D004568:Electrodiagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063346:Singing; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013997:Time Factors; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult