A Comparative Acoustic Analysis of Bangla Folk Song and RabindraSangeet on Long-Term Average Spectrum

Abstract

Singing is defined as a sensory-motor phenomenon that requires particular balanced physical skills such as respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation. The long-term average spectrum (LTAS) is widely accepted as a robust and effective tool for the assessment of voice characteristics. Eighty female singers within the age range of 18-30 years were considered for the study. Among 80 participants, 40 were asked to perform one traditional song from Bangla Folk representing the Baul style and another 40 were asked to perform a traditional song from Rabindra Sangeet. Recordings were done and then acoustic (LTAS) analyses were done through PRAAT software. Statistical analyses were done for the analyzed data. software package of social sciences (Version 20.0) was used. The averaged LTAS curve of Baul style showed a broad peak in the frequency range between 2000 and 3600Hz and its amplitude about 16 dB, Rabindra Sangeet showed a broader peak in the frequency range between 2200 and 3800 Hz and its amplitude about 15 dB. This evidence showed the presence of singer's formants in both singing styles. It can be concluded from the present study that, there is an acoustical difference between the Bangla Folk and Rabindra Sangeet singing style which can be evidenced using LTAS through PRAAT.