Abstract
Despite the great need for valid measures of voice quality, we are still unable to adequately quantify what a person sounds like. Drawing on recent theoretical and experimental work, we propose assessment of overall quality as a whole, rather than using individual rating scales. This paper describes experiments evaluating a psychoacoustic model that includes vocal tract formant frequencies and bandwidths, four source spectral slope parameters (H1–H2, the slope of the harmonic spectrum from 2–4 kHz and from 450–452 kHz, and the overall spectral slope from H2 to the highest harmonic), the noise-to-harmonics ratio, F0, and slow variability in F0 and amplitude (tremor). To assess the adequacy of this model, we will copy-synthesize 30 pathological voices while manipulating only these parameters. To the extent that listeners judge that the natural and synthetic tokens match exactly, the psychoacoustic model will be considered valid. Discussion will include analysis of mismatches to determine what parameters should be added to or subtracted from the model and its application for use in evaluation of disordered voice quality and modes of phonation. [Work supported by NIH.]
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