• Journal of Information Processing Systems
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.218-227
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• 2018

Vocal effort detection is important for both robust speech recognition and speaker recognition. In this paper, the spectral information entropy feature which contains more salient information regarding the vocal effort level is firstly proposed. Then, the model fusion method based on complementary model is presented to recognize vocal effort level. Experiments are conducted on isolated words test set, and the results show the spectral information entropy has the best performance among the three kinds of features. Meanwhile, the recognition accuracy of all vocal effort levels reaches 81.6%. Thus, potential of the proposed method is demonstrated.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.27-38
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• 2002

The purpose of this article is to present the acoustic parameters (VOT, jitter, shimmer, vF0, vAm, NHR, SPI, VTI, DVB, DSH) for consonants (/pipi/, /$p^{h}ip^{h}i$/, /p'ip'i/) and sustained vowels (/a/, /e/, /i/) produced by normal subjects and dysphonia patients at two vocal effort(normal, high) by Lombard effect using 60dB white noise. Lombard effect indicates the vocal effort increase in noisy situation. At normal vocal effort, in general the acoustic parameter values of patients are greater than normal. And in noisy situation, significant decrease of acoustic values is seen in normal compared with in dysphonia patients. The clinical implication of this finding, the vocal quality in dysphonia is not compensated by vocal effort as well as normal subjects because of the inefficiency caused by abnormal vocal fold appearance and function. And with this result, we can counsel that the voice quality can not be improved as well as the patient expect.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.75-83
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to find clues to the risk of voice disorders in soprano students. The subjects of the study were 17 soprano students and 18 general students (women). The phonation of vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/ with C4 and F4 notes in each group were recorded. Then, only soprano students were made to record their classical vocalization containing vibrato. Formant, formant energy, bandwidth, VAI (vowel area index), VSA (vowel space area) and L/H ratio were analyzed. There was significant difference in F3 such that the singers' note was measured around 3 kHz which seems to be 400 Hz higher than one from general students. But, There was no significant difference in L/H ratio between soprano student and the general student. There was a significant difference in F3 in the comparison of the soprano students' two vocalization methods. Classical vocalization was measured at 200Hz higher than sustained phonation in F3. Vocal tract adjustment was made and vowel space changed, but there was no significant difference in F3 energy, which is the index of singers' formant according to the phonation method. The L/H ratio, which can be a direct indicator of vocal effort, has no difference in phonation method and is lowered in all phonation methods as the pitch increases. C4 and F4 pitches are lower than the singing range of the soprano. When the pitch changes, vocal effort increases like a general student which will be an indicator of the risk of vocalization. This will be a clue to the vocalization of the immature soprano student.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.67-74
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• 2021

This study examines the effectiveness of semi-occluded vocal tract exercise (SOVTE) conducted through telepractice for 10 female teachers who have experienced vocal discomfort while working in early childhood education facilities (childcare centers, kindergartens). The effects of SOVTE conducted through telepractice were evaluated based on the Korean voice handicap index (KVHI), the Korean version of the voice activity and participation profile (K-VAPP), vocal effort, and auditory perception evaluation by using the grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain (GRBAS) scale. The results show that total, functional, and physical scores of KVHI significantly reduced after SOVTE. The total score in K-VAPP significantly reduced after SOVTE. Moreover, vocal effort significantly decreased after SOVTE. However, statistically significant differences were not noted in GRB scales before and after SOVTE. In conclusion, early childhood teachers experienced reduced vocal discomfort SOVTE conducted through telepractice. The study results indicate that voice therapy conducted through telepractice is an effective method for reducing vocal discomfort in early childhood teachers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.48-52
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• 2019

Background and Objectives : Functional aphonia is characterized by incomplete closure of the vocal folds. Semi-occluded vocal tract exercise (SOVTE) allows smoothly vocal folds collision without damage to the vocal folds tissues to produce normal vocal intensity. The purpose of this study is to report the effect of SOVTE in patients with functional aphonia. Materials and Method : Seven patients diagnosed with functional aphonia were treated with 1-3 voice therapy sessions using voiced lip-trill, humming, Lax Vox in SOVTE. To assess the effectiveness of semi-occluded vocal tract exercise, cepstral analysis and auditory perceptual assessment were performed before and after voice therapy. Results : F0 (fundamental frequency), CPP (cepstral peak prominence) and L/H ratio (low/high spectral ratio) were significantly increased, while CPP Standard deviation, L/H ratio Standard deviation were decreased. In addition, 'Grade', 'Breathiness' and 'Asthenia' were significantly decreased in the GRBAS scale after SOVTE (p<0.05). Conclusion : In our study, SOVTE seemed to be effective to elicit voice quickly and promote vocal folds vibration without muscular effort in patients with functional aphonia.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.39-49
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• 2016

The present study examined the change of aerodynamic features after laryngomicrosurgery in patients with vocal polyps. Aerodynamic evaluation was performed in thirty-nine patients (15 males and 24 females) one week before surgery and four weeks after surgery. Evaluation protocols of vital capacity, maximum sustained phonation(MXPH), and voicing efficiency(VOFT) were used to collect 29 phonatory aerodynamic measures, requiring voice with a comfortable pitch and loudness. Statistically significant changes were found for phonation time and airflow values in the MXPH protocol, while changes were also found for airflow values, subglottal pressure values and acoustic resistance values in the VOFT protocol. Although phonation time was increased in both male and female patients, gender-dependent changes were found in airflow measurements. Men's phonation time increased with no difference in airflow rate, but women's phonation time increased with decreased airflow rate and lower subglottal pressure. The changes of aerodynamic features may be affected by women's self-perceived change for vocal attitude, which was reducing sense of vocal effort after surgery.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.43-49
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• 1999

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to systematically analyze and compare e acoustic sound structure of vocal major student's singing voice. Materials and Methods : The nineteen vocal major students were the subject group and healthy nineteen females were the control group for this study. The subject group was taken a strobovideolaryngoscopy by the use of flexible nasopharyngoscopy. And acoustic analysis was taken between two groups. Additionally the inquiry on usual voice problems and management was performed by thirty-six vocal major students. Results : The subject group presents many functional voice disorder findings such as AP contraction(44%), phase difference(36%) tremor(25%), posterior gap(17%), hyperadduction of vestibular fold(6%), and anterior gap(3%) on strobovideolaryngoscopy. And the vocal major students did reveal an enhanced number of high frequency harmonic partials when singing compared to the control group in the narrow band spectrum study. But there was no significant difference in jitter, shimmer and noise to harmonic ratio in both groups. Almost all vocal major students present a lot of voice problems in singing such as loss of high note(17%), loss of quiet voice(17%), effortful and tired voice(36%) etc on inquiry. And they always effort to prevent vocal dysfunction by the use of various type of method such as voice rest(28%), hydration(28%), gargling with salt(11%) etc. Conclusions : The vocal major students always take care of maintaining a good voice condition, but a lot of vocal major students revealed abnormal strobovideolaryngoscopic findings and they are absent in the conception of systemic and scientific voice management. Therefore, the young singers need a good voice training and voice therapy Program under the good ralationship of laryngologist and voice training teacher.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.27-34
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• 2023

This study aimed to provide knowledge helpful for understanding voice problems related to occupations in the clinical field through an investigation and comparison of subjective vocal symptoms of 12 professional actors and 12 speech-language pathologists Among the 11 symptoms, "Difficulty with high pitch when singing," "Hypertension in the neck when speaking," and "Feel voice fatigue" were the most frequent symptoms in both groups. Additionally, the professional voice users reported a higher frequency of "Difficulty with high pitch when singing" (p=.049), "Hoarse voice" (p=.021), "Difficulty (requiring effort) when speaking" (p=.032), "Pain in the neck when speaking" (p=.009), and "Feel vocal fatigue" (p=.018) than the elite vocal performer group. This may be due to the different voice-related environments and differences in voice demands during occupational activities between the two groups.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.157-166
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to understand the characteristics of contemporary vocalization and songs in order to learn various vocal methods in musical vocal classes and apply them to students. Musical vocalization methods change and evolve according to the demands of the times. Today, the characteristics of contemporary musicals cannot be limited to anyone genre, and the genre of music as well as the style of work are derived from several genres and coexist. 'The Girl in 14G,' the subject of this study, is a song that appeared in the album of Kristin Chenoweth, a famous American musical actress who uses various vocal techniques. Jeanine Tesori composed this song with various vocal techniques such as Classical, Jazz, Belting, and Mixed Voice to express New York's representative music genres of Broadway Musical, Metropolitan Opera and East Village Jazz. The development of the song consists of a difficult process in which one actor has to act across three different characters in three musical styles and singing methods. Singing 'The Girl in 14G' requires a lot of effort and practice as it is necessary to acquire various vocal techniques, which makes it a good text for students and actors in the educational perspective. As a result, this study confirmed that this song is a representative piece with a solid musical and dramatic composition and is a good example that shows the convergence characteristics of contemporary musical vocal techniques.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.6
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• pp.197-217
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• 1999

In a noisy class, the acoustic-phonetic features of the teacher and the perceptual features of learners are changed comparison with a quiet environment. Acoustical analyses were carried out on a set of French monosyllables consisting of 17 consonants and three vowel /a, e, i/, produced by 1 male speaker talking in quiet and in 50, 60 and 70 dB SPL of masking noise on headphone. The results of the acoustic analyses showed consistent differences in energy and formant center frequency amplitude of consonants and vowels, $F_1$ frequency of vowel and duration of voiceless stops suggesting the increase of vocal effort. The perceptual experiments in which 18 undergraduate female students learning French served as the subjects, were conducted in quiet and in 50, 60 dB of masking noise. The identification scores on consonants were higher in Lombard speech than in normal speech, suggesting that the speaker's vocal effort is useful to overcome the masking effect of noise. And, with increased noise level, the perceptual response to the French consonants given had a tendency to be complex and the subjective reaction score on the noise using the vocabulary representative of 'unpleasant' sensation to be higher. And, in the point of view on the L2(second language) acquisition, the influence of L1 (first language) on L2 examined in the perceptual result supports the interference theory.