New objective timbre parameters for classification of voice type and fach in professional opera singers

Abstract

Voice timbre is defined as sound color independent of pitch and volume, based on a broad frequency band between 2 and 4 kHz. Since there are no specific timbre parameters, previous studies have come to the very general conclusion that the center frequencies of the singer’s formants are somewhat higher in the higher voice types than in the lower ones. For specification, a database was created containing 1723 sound examples of various voice types. The energy distribution in the frequency bands of the singer’s formants was extracted for quantitative analysis. When the energy distribution function reached 50%, the corresponding absolute frequency in Hz was defined as Frequency of Half Energy (FHE). This new parameter quantifies the timbre of a singing voice as a concrete measure, independent of fundamental frequency, vowel color and volume. The database allows assigning FHE means ± SD as characteristic or comparative values for sopranos (3092 ± 284 Hz), tenors (2705 ± 221 Hz), baritones (2454 ± 206 Hz) and basses (2384 ± 164 Hz). In addition to vibrato, specific timbre parameters provide another valuable feature in vocal pedagogy for classification of voice type and fach according to the lyric or dramatic character of the voice.