title: Modeling the voice source in terms of spectral slopes.
abstract: A psychoacoustic model of the voice source spectrum is proposed. The model is characterized by four spectral slope parameters: the difference in amplitude between the first two harmonics (H1-H2), the second and fourth harmonics (H2-H4), the fourth harmonic and the harmonic nearest 2 kHz in frequency (H4-2 kHz), and the harmonic nearest 2 kHz and that nearest 5 kHz (2 kHz-5 kHz). As a step toward model validation, experiments were conducted to establish the acoustic and perceptual independence of these parameters. In experiment 1, the model was fit to a large number of voice sources. Results showed that parameters are predictable from one another, but that these relationships are due to overall spectral roll-off. Two additional experiments addressed the perceptual independence of the source parameters. Listener sensitivity to H1-H2, H2-H4, and H4-2 kHz did not change as a function of the slope of an adjacent component, suggesting that sensitivity to these components is robust. Listener sensitivity to changes in spectral slope from 2 kHz to 5 kHz depended on complex interactions between spectral slope, spectral noise levels, and H4-2 kHz. It is concluded that the four parameters represent non-redundant acoustic and perceptual aspects of voice quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive #0108, La Jolla, California 92023-0108, USA.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garellek
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0071, USA.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Samlan
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095-1794, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Gerratt
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095-1794, USA.
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kreiman
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult