ABSTRACT Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (O... more ABSTRACT Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on those who use their voices as a tool of trade. A cohort study involving 20 female professional voice users was carried out assessing irregularity of vocal fold vibration, based on: 1) period-to-period frequency peaks (CFx), and 2) period-to-period amplitude peaks (CAx) in the cycle-to-cycle excitation of the vocal tract. These vocal measures and blood samples were collected at three points of the menstrual cycle, for both natural and OCP cycles. No significant differences were found in vocal parameters assessed between the natural and OCP cycles. The intake of this OCP was not found to have a systematic effect on the vocal parameters studied. Based on these results the modern OCP preparations can be considered safe medications which do not have a negative effect on voice quality in professional voice users.
Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, Feb 1, 2012
PURPOSE Difficulties with intonation and vibrato control during the menstrual cycle have been rep... more PURPOSE Difficulties with intonation and vibrato control during the menstrual cycle have been reported by singers; however, this phenomenon has not yet been systematically investigated. METHOD A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial assessing effects of the menstrual cycle and use of a combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) on pitch control in singing is presented. Audio-electrolaryngograph recordings were made and blood samples were taken from 9 singers in each of the 3 phases of the menstrual cycle both under the placebo and the OCP conditions for a total of 6 months. Participants sang an exercise consisting of an ascending octave followed by a descending major triad, starting on pitches F4 and B4. Pitch control was assessed in terms of the octave's deviations from pure intonation and of the vibrato rate and extent. RESULTS Significant differences were found between the 3 phases of the cycle regarding octave size only for pitch F5 during OCP use. Significant vibrato rate differences between placebo and OCP conditions were found only for pitch F5. CONCLUSION OCP use may have an effect on pitch control in singers. Possible explanations point to a complex interaction between hormonal milieu and pitch control, enhancing the need for longitudinal studies.
Source-filter interaction can disturb vocal fold vibration frequency. Resonance frequency/bandwid... more Source-filter interaction can disturb vocal fold vibration frequency. Resonance frequency/bandwidth ratios (Q-values) may affect such interaction. Occurrences of fundamental frequency (fo) disturbances were measured in ascending pitch glides produced by four female and five male singers phonating into a 70 cm long tube. Pitch glides were produced with varied resonance Q-values of the vocal tract + tube compound (VT + tube): (i) tube end open, (ii) tube end open with nasalization, and (iii) with a piece of cotton wool in the tube end (conditions Op, Ns, and Ct, respectively). Disturbances of fo were identified by calculating the derivative of the low-pass filtered fo curve. Resonance frequencies of the compound VT+tube system were determined from ringings and glottal aspiration noise observed in narrowband spectrograms. Disturbances of fo tended to occur when a partial was close to a resonance of the compound VT+tube system. The number of such disturbances was significantly lower whe...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2011
Singers use formant tuning to avoid discontinuities in voice quality between registers. Around th... more Singers use formant tuning to avoid discontinuities in voice quality between registers. Around the passaggio, a set of spectrum characteristics has been identified as important to achieve this register equalization. Previous studies suggest different formant tuning strategies in male voices. The present investigation attempts to corroborate these suggestions experimentally. Eight professional tenor or baritone singers sang ascending scales on the vowels [a, æ, i, u] ending on pitches F4, F4, or G4 (350, 370, and 392 Hz, respectively) and including their passaggio notes. These scales were sung with two different formant strategies: (a) as in their normal classical singing technique and (b) as in a non-classical, musical theatre style. Formant frequencies were measured using the custom made DECAP inverse-filtering software (GRANQVIST). Results revealed formant tuning differences between the two styles. For the classical singing technique, systematic changes of formant frequencies with...
Different coexisting definitions regarding mental representation cause difficulties in the provis... more Different coexisting definitions regarding mental representation cause difficulties in the provision of a comprehensive theoretical model that can conceptualize mental representation in music performance contexts. Mental representation has been understood as an anticipatory plan of the actual music performance. It has been recognized to affect the quality of the performance; a greater refinement is likely to increase performance quality. Despite its additional suggested pedagogical importance to instrumental learning, its development, from practice to performance, is still poorly understood. Grounded in a systematic literature review, a theoretical model is here proposed aiming at the clarification of the concept of mental representation and its application in performance practices.
This investigation aimed at developing and validating a scale measuring perceived self-efficacy i... more This investigation aimed at developing and validating a scale measuring perceived self-efficacy in singing with respect to voice function, the Singing Voice Function Self-Efficacy Scale ( Singing-VoSES). Voice experts validated an 18-item scale, subsequently administered online, targeting specifically professional and semi-professional female singers. These inclusion criteria were met by a total of 439 participants. Results of both exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis suggest that Singing-VoSES is a valid scale, with items grouped into three self-efficacy dimensions: Higher Range and Transitions, Middle Range and Lower Range. Middle Range and Lower Range dimensions were both significantly higher than Higher Range and Transitions. Singing high notes and notes within transitional vocal ranges require a refined neuromotor control of the voice, and thus may be particularly challenging. Comparisons between pre and postmenopausal singers were made, as menopause has been associa...
Singing pedagogy has increasingly adopted guide awareness through the use of meaningful real-time... more Singing pedagogy has increasingly adopted guide awareness through the use of meaningful real-time visual feedback. Technology typically used to study the voice can also be applied in a singing lesson, aiming at facilitating students’ awareness of the three subsystems involved in voice production—breathing, oscillatory and resonatory—and their underlying physiological, aerodynamical and acoustical mechanisms. Given the variety of real-time visual feedback tools, this article provides a comprehensive overview of such tools and their current and future pedagogical applications in the voice studio. The rationale for using real-time visual feedback is discussed, including both the theoretical and practical applications of visualizing physiological, aerodynamical and acoustical aspects of voice production. The monitorization of breathing patterns is presented, displaying lung volume as the sum of abdominal and ribcage movements signals. In addition, estimates of subglottal pressure are vi...
Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on th... more Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on those who use their voices as a tool of trade. A cohort study involving 20 female professional voice users was carried out assessing irregularity of vocal fold vibration, based on: 1) period-to-period frequency peaks (CFx), and 2) period-to-period amplitude peaks (CAx) in the cycle-to-cycle excitation of the vocal tract. These vocal measures and blood samples were collected at three points of the menstrual cycle, for both natural and OCP cycles. No significant differences were found in vocal parameters assessed between the natural and OCP cycles. The intake of this OCP was not found to have a systematic effect on the vocal parameters studied. Based on these results the modern OCP preparations can be considered safe medications which do not have a negative effect on voice quality in professional voice users.
RECOMENDAÇÕES DE MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS CONTRA CONTÁGIO PELO VIRUS SARS-CoV-2 NO ÂMBITO DAS PRÁCTICA... more RECOMENDAÇÕES DE MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS CONTRA CONTÁGIO PELO VIRUS SARS-CoV-2 NO ÂMBITO DAS PRÁCTICAS MÚSICAIS Baseadas nas recomendações elaboradas pelo Instituto de Música e Medicina da Escola Superior de Música de Friburgo e o Hospital Universitário de Friburgo, na Alemanha No contexto Português do plano de contingência da propagação do vírus SARS-CoV-2, os músicos contam com as medidas de prevenção da transmissão da COVID-19 publicadas pela Direção Geral de Saúde (DGS) na Orientação nº 0..
Autoria: Mara Behlau; Edição: Filipa M.B. Lã DIA MUNDIAL DA VOZ Mara Behlau, Fonoaudióloga, Coord... more Autoria: Mara Behlau; Edição: Filipa M.B. Lã DIA MUNDIAL DA VOZ Mara Behlau, Fonoaudióloga, Coordenadora do portal www.world-voice-day.org A voz humana é um dos aspectos mais importantes da projeção da personalidade, caracterizando, em grande parte, o modo como nos relacionamos com o mundo. Para a maioria das pessoas, a voz é o que automaticamente sai da boca ao se falar, mas o valor real desse comportamento só é percebido numa situação de limitação, problema ou perda de voz. Arcos farínge..
Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) (imagem adaptada de Wikipédia). “Penso que não deve existir ne... more Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) (imagem adaptada de Wikipédia). “Penso que não deve existir nenhum momento em que não estejamos preocupados com a nossa próxima performance. Tudo afeta a voz, basta estar cansado. E devemos aceitar que para uma mulher, em certas alturas do mês, uma certa névoa, um timbre baço, invadem-lhe a voz.” (tradução da autora, a partir de Davis & Davis, 1993: 347). Estas foram as palavras de Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) numa entrevista concedida à revista Life ..
Glottal adduction is a crucial aspect in voice education and vocal performance: it has major effe... more Glottal adduction is a crucial aspect in voice education and vocal performance: it has major effects on phonatory airflow and, consequently, on voice timbre. As the voice is a non-visible musical instrument, controlling it could be facilitated by providing real-time visual feedback of phonatory airflow. Here, we test the usefulness of a flow ball (FB) training device, visualizing, in terms of the height of a polystyrene ball placed in a plastic basket, phonatory airflow during phonation. Audio and electroglottographic recordings of five postgraduate, classically trained singer students were made under three subsequent conditions: before, during, and after phonating into the FB. The calibrated audio signal was inverse-filtered, using an electroglottograph signal to guide the manual tuning of the inverse filters. Mean phonatory airflow, peak-to-peak pulse amplitude, and normalized amplitude quotient were extracted from the resulting flow glottograms. After the FB condition, increases ...
Autoria: Filipa M.B. Lã; Edição: João Barros A Associação Croata de Maestros de Coro (HUZ), a cad... more Autoria: Filipa M.B. Lã; Edição: João Barros A Associação Croata de Maestros de Coro (HUZ), a cada 2 anos, organiza um simpósio em Chorusologia, definida como Ciência da Voz Coral, uma ação de formação contínua destinada a maestros de coro e coralistas, em Zagrev, capital da Croácia – ARS CHORALIS. Já é a quarta vez que sou convidada a participar neste simpósio, que ocorre sempre na semana que sucede a Páscoa, e nunca me canso de apresentar os resultados das minhas investigações aos cerca de ..
“Shakira cancela concerto em Portugal e adia digressão devido a problema nas cordas vocais”. Esta... more “Shakira cancela concerto em Portugal e adia digressão devido a problema nas cordas vocais”. Esta foi a manchete publicada no passado dia 14 de novembro de 2017 no Observador. É preocupante constatar o número de vezes que cantores e cantoras internacionais de música pop-rock têm que recorrer ao repouso vocal e, consequentemente, ao cancelamento de espetáculos. Esta semana foi a Shakira mas, por exemplo, a cantora britânica Adele, ou os cantores americanos Sam Smith e Maghan Trainor já foram t..
Menopause is a certainty in a female singer’s life; depletion of estrogens may lead to physical, ... more Menopause is a certainty in a female singer’s life; depletion of estrogens may lead to physical, mental, and vocal symptoms. To investigate the extent to which these symptoms affect singers, a systematic literature review was carried out using eight interdisciplinary bibliographic databases. Combinations of the following key words were used: menopause, climacterium, singing, singers, and choir. From 18 studies, including three doctoral dissertations and a master’s thesis, only 10 met the inclusion criteria. The heterogeneity of study designs and methods of data collection and analysis precluded the carrying out of a meta-analysis. Instead, descriptors of symptoms affecting the voice, and vocal characteristics associated with menopause ( menopause descriptors) were categorized, and their frequency of occurrence determined, according to six types of primary dataset: (1) self-reported symptoms, (2) acoustic characteristics, (3) observations of the larynx, (4) perceptual evaluations, (5...
ABSTRACT Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (O... more ABSTRACT Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on those who use their voices as a tool of trade. A cohort study involving 20 female professional voice users was carried out assessing irregularity of vocal fold vibration, based on: 1) period-to-period frequency peaks (CFx), and 2) period-to-period amplitude peaks (CAx) in the cycle-to-cycle excitation of the vocal tract. These vocal measures and blood samples were collected at three points of the menstrual cycle, for both natural and OCP cycles. No significant differences were found in vocal parameters assessed between the natural and OCP cycles. The intake of this OCP was not found to have a systematic effect on the vocal parameters studied. Based on these results the modern OCP preparations can be considered safe medications which do not have a negative effect on voice quality in professional voice users.
Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, Feb 1, 2012
PURPOSE Difficulties with intonation and vibrato control during the menstrual cycle have been rep... more PURPOSE Difficulties with intonation and vibrato control during the menstrual cycle have been reported by singers; however, this phenomenon has not yet been systematically investigated. METHOD A double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial assessing effects of the menstrual cycle and use of a combined oral contraceptive pill (OCP) on pitch control in singing is presented. Audio-electrolaryngograph recordings were made and blood samples were taken from 9 singers in each of the 3 phases of the menstrual cycle both under the placebo and the OCP conditions for a total of 6 months. Participants sang an exercise consisting of an ascending octave followed by a descending major triad, starting on pitches F4 and B4. Pitch control was assessed in terms of the octave's deviations from pure intonation and of the vibrato rate and extent. RESULTS Significant differences were found between the 3 phases of the cycle regarding octave size only for pitch F5 during OCP use. Significant vibrato rate differences between placebo and OCP conditions were found only for pitch F5. CONCLUSION OCP use may have an effect on pitch control in singers. Possible explanations point to a complex interaction between hormonal milieu and pitch control, enhancing the need for longitudinal studies.
Source-filter interaction can disturb vocal fold vibration frequency. Resonance frequency/bandwid... more Source-filter interaction can disturb vocal fold vibration frequency. Resonance frequency/bandwidth ratios (Q-values) may affect such interaction. Occurrences of fundamental frequency (fo) disturbances were measured in ascending pitch glides produced by four female and five male singers phonating into a 70 cm long tube. Pitch glides were produced with varied resonance Q-values of the vocal tract + tube compound (VT + tube): (i) tube end open, (ii) tube end open with nasalization, and (iii) with a piece of cotton wool in the tube end (conditions Op, Ns, and Ct, respectively). Disturbances of fo were identified by calculating the derivative of the low-pass filtered fo curve. Resonance frequencies of the compound VT+tube system were determined from ringings and glottal aspiration noise observed in narrowband spectrograms. Disturbances of fo tended to occur when a partial was close to a resonance of the compound VT+tube system. The number of such disturbances was significantly lower whe...
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2011
Singers use formant tuning to avoid discontinuities in voice quality between registers. Around th... more Singers use formant tuning to avoid discontinuities in voice quality between registers. Around the passaggio, a set of spectrum characteristics has been identified as important to achieve this register equalization. Previous studies suggest different formant tuning strategies in male voices. The present investigation attempts to corroborate these suggestions experimentally. Eight professional tenor or baritone singers sang ascending scales on the vowels [a, æ, i, u] ending on pitches F4, F4, or G4 (350, 370, and 392 Hz, respectively) and including their passaggio notes. These scales were sung with two different formant strategies: (a) as in their normal classical singing technique and (b) as in a non-classical, musical theatre style. Formant frequencies were measured using the custom made DECAP inverse-filtering software (GRANQVIST). Results revealed formant tuning differences between the two styles. For the classical singing technique, systematic changes of formant frequencies with...
Different coexisting definitions regarding mental representation cause difficulties in the provis... more Different coexisting definitions regarding mental representation cause difficulties in the provision of a comprehensive theoretical model that can conceptualize mental representation in music performance contexts. Mental representation has been understood as an anticipatory plan of the actual music performance. It has been recognized to affect the quality of the performance; a greater refinement is likely to increase performance quality. Despite its additional suggested pedagogical importance to instrumental learning, its development, from practice to performance, is still poorly understood. Grounded in a systematic literature review, a theoretical model is here proposed aiming at the clarification of the concept of mental representation and its application in performance practices.
This investigation aimed at developing and validating a scale measuring perceived self-efficacy i... more This investigation aimed at developing and validating a scale measuring perceived self-efficacy in singing with respect to voice function, the Singing Voice Function Self-Efficacy Scale ( Singing-VoSES). Voice experts validated an 18-item scale, subsequently administered online, targeting specifically professional and semi-professional female singers. These inclusion criteria were met by a total of 439 participants. Results of both exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis suggest that Singing-VoSES is a valid scale, with items grouped into three self-efficacy dimensions: Higher Range and Transitions, Middle Range and Lower Range. Middle Range and Lower Range dimensions were both significantly higher than Higher Range and Transitions. Singing high notes and notes within transitional vocal ranges require a refined neuromotor control of the voice, and thus may be particularly challenging. Comparisons between pre and postmenopausal singers were made, as menopause has been associa...
Singing pedagogy has increasingly adopted guide awareness through the use of meaningful real-time... more Singing pedagogy has increasingly adopted guide awareness through the use of meaningful real-time visual feedback. Technology typically used to study the voice can also be applied in a singing lesson, aiming at facilitating students’ awareness of the three subsystems involved in voice production—breathing, oscillatory and resonatory—and their underlying physiological, aerodynamical and acoustical mechanisms. Given the variety of real-time visual feedback tools, this article provides a comprehensive overview of such tools and their current and future pedagogical applications in the voice studio. The rationale for using real-time visual feedback is discussed, including both the theoretical and practical applications of visualizing physiological, aerodynamical and acoustical aspects of voice production. The monitorization of breathing patterns is presented, displaying lung volume as the sum of abdominal and ribcage movements signals. In addition, estimates of subglottal pressure are vi...
Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on th... more Few studies have been concerned with the effects of combined oral contraceptive pills (OCP) on those who use their voices as a tool of trade. A cohort study involving 20 female professional voice users was carried out assessing irregularity of vocal fold vibration, based on: 1) period-to-period frequency peaks (CFx), and 2) period-to-period amplitude peaks (CAx) in the cycle-to-cycle excitation of the vocal tract. These vocal measures and blood samples were collected at three points of the menstrual cycle, for both natural and OCP cycles. No significant differences were found in vocal parameters assessed between the natural and OCP cycles. The intake of this OCP was not found to have a systematic effect on the vocal parameters studied. Based on these results the modern OCP preparations can be considered safe medications which do not have a negative effect on voice quality in professional voice users.
RECOMENDAÇÕES DE MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS CONTRA CONTÁGIO PELO VIRUS SARS-CoV-2 NO ÂMBITO DAS PRÁCTICA... more RECOMENDAÇÕES DE MEDIDAS PREVENTIVAS CONTRA CONTÁGIO PELO VIRUS SARS-CoV-2 NO ÂMBITO DAS PRÁCTICAS MÚSICAIS Baseadas nas recomendações elaboradas pelo Instituto de Música e Medicina da Escola Superior de Música de Friburgo e o Hospital Universitário de Friburgo, na Alemanha No contexto Português do plano de contingência da propagação do vírus SARS-CoV-2, os músicos contam com as medidas de prevenção da transmissão da COVID-19 publicadas pela Direção Geral de Saúde (DGS) na Orientação nº 0..
Autoria: Mara Behlau; Edição: Filipa M.B. Lã DIA MUNDIAL DA VOZ Mara Behlau, Fonoaudióloga, Coord... more Autoria: Mara Behlau; Edição: Filipa M.B. Lã DIA MUNDIAL DA VOZ Mara Behlau, Fonoaudióloga, Coordenadora do portal www.world-voice-day.org A voz humana é um dos aspectos mais importantes da projeção da personalidade, caracterizando, em grande parte, o modo como nos relacionamos com o mundo. Para a maioria das pessoas, a voz é o que automaticamente sai da boca ao se falar, mas o valor real desse comportamento só é percebido numa situação de limitação, problema ou perda de voz. Arcos farínge..
Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) (imagem adaptada de Wikipédia). “Penso que não deve existir ne... more Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) (imagem adaptada de Wikipédia). “Penso que não deve existir nenhum momento em que não estejamos preocupados com a nossa próxima performance. Tudo afeta a voz, basta estar cansado. E devemos aceitar que para uma mulher, em certas alturas do mês, uma certa névoa, um timbre baço, invadem-lhe a voz.” (tradução da autora, a partir de Davis & Davis, 1993: 347). Estas foram as palavras de Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) numa entrevista concedida à revista Life ..
Glottal adduction is a crucial aspect in voice education and vocal performance: it has major effe... more Glottal adduction is a crucial aspect in voice education and vocal performance: it has major effects on phonatory airflow and, consequently, on voice timbre. As the voice is a non-visible musical instrument, controlling it could be facilitated by providing real-time visual feedback of phonatory airflow. Here, we test the usefulness of a flow ball (FB) training device, visualizing, in terms of the height of a polystyrene ball placed in a plastic basket, phonatory airflow during phonation. Audio and electroglottographic recordings of five postgraduate, classically trained singer students were made under three subsequent conditions: before, during, and after phonating into the FB. The calibrated audio signal was inverse-filtered, using an electroglottograph signal to guide the manual tuning of the inverse filters. Mean phonatory airflow, peak-to-peak pulse amplitude, and normalized amplitude quotient were extracted from the resulting flow glottograms. After the FB condition, increases ...
Autoria: Filipa M.B. Lã; Edição: João Barros A Associação Croata de Maestros de Coro (HUZ), a cad... more Autoria: Filipa M.B. Lã; Edição: João Barros A Associação Croata de Maestros de Coro (HUZ), a cada 2 anos, organiza um simpósio em Chorusologia, definida como Ciência da Voz Coral, uma ação de formação contínua destinada a maestros de coro e coralistas, em Zagrev, capital da Croácia – ARS CHORALIS. Já é a quarta vez que sou convidada a participar neste simpósio, que ocorre sempre na semana que sucede a Páscoa, e nunca me canso de apresentar os resultados das minhas investigações aos cerca de ..
“Shakira cancela concerto em Portugal e adia digressão devido a problema nas cordas vocais”. Esta... more “Shakira cancela concerto em Portugal e adia digressão devido a problema nas cordas vocais”. Esta foi a manchete publicada no passado dia 14 de novembro de 2017 no Observador. É preocupante constatar o número de vezes que cantores e cantoras internacionais de música pop-rock têm que recorrer ao repouso vocal e, consequentemente, ao cancelamento de espetáculos. Esta semana foi a Shakira mas, por exemplo, a cantora britânica Adele, ou os cantores americanos Sam Smith e Maghan Trainor já foram t..
Menopause is a certainty in a female singer’s life; depletion of estrogens may lead to physical, ... more Menopause is a certainty in a female singer’s life; depletion of estrogens may lead to physical, mental, and vocal symptoms. To investigate the extent to which these symptoms affect singers, a systematic literature review was carried out using eight interdisciplinary bibliographic databases. Combinations of the following key words were used: menopause, climacterium, singing, singers, and choir. From 18 studies, including three doctoral dissertations and a master’s thesis, only 10 met the inclusion criteria. The heterogeneity of study designs and methods of data collection and analysis precluded the carrying out of a meta-analysis. Instead, descriptors of symptoms affecting the voice, and vocal characteristics associated with menopause ( menopause descriptors) were categorized, and their frequency of occurrence determined, according to six types of primary dataset: (1) self-reported symptoms, (2) acoustic characteristics, (3) observations of the larynx, (4) perceptual evaluations, (5...
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