title: Effects of a Straw Phonation Protocol on Acoustic Measures of an SATB Chorus Singing Two Contrasting Renaissance Works.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Researchers have found that semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises may increase vocal economy by reducing phonation threshold pressure and effort while increasing or maintaining consistent acoustic output. This research has focused solely on individual singers. Much singing instruction, however, takes place in choral settings. Choral singers may use different resonance strategies or unconsciously adjust their singing based on the ability to hear their own sound in relation to others. Results of studies with individual singers, then, may not be directly applicable to choral settings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this investigation was to measure the effect of an SOVT protocol (ie, straw phonation) on acoustic changes of conglomerate, choral sound.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a quasi-experimental, one-group, pretest-posttest design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in this study constituted an intact SATB choir (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) (N = 15 singers) who performed from memory two unaccompanied pieces of varied tempos from memory, participated in a 4-minute straw phonation protocol with a small stirring straw, and then sang each piece a second time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The long-term average spectrum results indicated small, statistically significant increases in spectral energy for both pieces in the 0-10 kHz (.32 and .20 dB Sound Pressure Level) and 2-4 kHz regions (.46 and .25 dB SPL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results, although not likely audible to average hearing humans, seem consistent with the assertion that singers enjoy vocal benefits with consistent or increased vocal output. SOVT exercises, therefore, may be useful as a time-efficient way to evoke more efficient and economical singing during choral warm-up and voice building procedures.
authors.affiliation: Vocal/Choral Music Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Electronic address: jeremy-manternach@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Jeremy N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Manternach
authors.affiliation: Vocal/Choral Music Education, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
authors.forename: Chad
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Vocal/Choral Pedagogy Research Group, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Daugherty
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009146:Music; D063346:Singing; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D014834:Voice Training
keywords: Choral acoustics; Choral pedagogy; SOVT; Semi-occluded; Straw phonation