title: Objective Identification of Prepubertal Female Singers and Non-singers by Singing Power Ratio Using Matlab.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The field of music is increasingly gaining scope and attracting researchers from varied fields in terms of improvising the art of voice modulation in singing. There has been a lot of competition, and young budding singers are emerging with more talent. This study is aimed to develop software to differentiate a prepubertal voice as that of a singer or a non-singer using an objective tool-singing power ratio (SPR)-as an objective measure to quantify the resonant voice quality.
  
  
  METHODS
  Recordings of singing and phonation were obtained from 30 singers and 30 non-singer girls (8-10 years). Three professional singers perceptually evaluated all samples using a rating scale and categorized them as singers or non-singers. Using Matlab, a program was developed to automatically calculate the SPR of a particular sample and classify it into either of two groups based on the normative values of SPR developed manually.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Positive correlation for SPR of phonation or singing was found between perceptual and manual ratings, and objective values of SPR. Software could automatically give the SPR values for samples that are fed and could further differentiate them as singer or non-singer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Researchers need not depend on professional singers or musicians for the judgment of voice for research purposes. This software uses an objective tool, which serves as an instrument to judge singing talent using singing and phonation samples of children. Also, it can be used as a first line of judgment in any singing audition process, which could ease the work of professionals.
authors.affiliation: All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Manasagangothri, Mysuru, Karnataka, India. Electronic address: usha_yeshu@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Usha
authors.affiliation: All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Manasagangothri, Mysuru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Y V
authors.initials: YV
authors.lastname: Geetha
authors.affiliation: California State University, Long Beach, California.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Darshan
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000367:Age Factors; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D009038:Motion; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D010699:Phonation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D046468:Sexual Development; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D063346:Singing; D012985:Software Design; D013016:Sound; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D014732:Vibration; D014833:Voice Quality
keywords: non-singers; objective evaluation; prepubertal singers; singing power ratio; voice quality