Abstract
The phonation types used in the young male role in Kunqu Opera were investigated. Two national young male role singers volunteered as the subjects. Each singer performed three voice conditions: singing, stage speech, and reading lyrics. Three electroglottogram parameters, the fundamental frequency, contact quotient, and speed quotient, were analyzed. Electroglottogram parameters were different between voice conditions. Five phonation types were found by clustering analysis in singing and stage speech: (1) breathy voice, (2) high adduction modal voice, (3) modal voice, (4) untrained falsetto, and (5) high adduction falsetto. The proportion of each phonation type was not identical in singing and stage speech. The relationship between phonation type and pitch was multiple to one in the low pitch range, and one to one in the high pitch range. The sound pressure levels were related to the phonation types. Five phonation types, instead of only the two phonation types (modal voice and falsetto) that are identified in traditional Kunqu Opera singing theory, were concomitantly used in the young male role’s artistic voices. These phonation types were more similar to those of the young female roles than to those of the other male roles in the Kunqu Opera.
Highlights
The present study focuses on the phonation types from the perspective of electroglottogram (EGG) parameters and investigates (1) the distribution differences of parameters among three conditions, namely, singing, stage speech, and reading lyrics; (2) the phonation types used in singing and stage speech; and (3) the relationships between the pitch and phonation types
For YM2, compared with singing, a higher percentage of breathy voice, high adduction modal voice, modal voice, high adduction falsetto, and less untrained falsetto were employed in stage speech
The present study explored the phonation types used by young male (YM) roles in Kunqu Opera on the basis of the EGG parameters and the characteristics of EGG waveforms
Summary
The Kunqu Opera is a traditional opera in China and inscribed in United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s list of “oral masterpiece and intangible heritage of humanity” It has been handed down orally since the middle of the sixteenth century and is revered as the ancestor of all Chinese operas. There are at least 10 artists in a theatrical troupe, Jing (colorful face role), Guansheng (hat role), Jinsheng (kerchief role), Laosheng (aged male role), Fumo (second aged male role), Zhengdan (middle-aged woman role), Guimendan (young woman role), Liudan (young girl role), Fuchou (second clown role), and Xiaochou (clown role) Their voice timbres mirror the ages, genders, characters, and identities of the various personages. The present study focuses on the phonation types from the perspective of electroglottogram (EGG) parameters and investigates (1) the distribution differences of parameters among three conditions, namely, singing, stage speech, and reading lyrics; (2) the phonation types used in singing and stage speech; and (3) the relationships between the pitch and phonation types
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