Perception of non-vibrato sung tones

Abstract

Singers are often asked to sing with a non-vibrato production. However, the term non-vibrato is problematic, as all human singing involves fundamental frequency variation. Whether a singer achieves a quality of tone that is perceived as non-vibrato may depend upon the experience of the listener. The specific aim of this study was to determine at what point a tone is perceived as non-vibrato by a population (N = 131) of singers, voice teachers, choir directors, and speech pathologists. Utilizing voice samples that exhibit a variety of vibrato rates and extents, the investigators sought to determine: (1) if there is a threshold for the perception of non-vibrato tone with regards to vibrato extent; (2) if given similar vibrato extent, does vibrato rate effect perceptual judgments of non-vibrato tone; (3) if there are differences in the perceptual threshold of non-vibrato tone across different professions of listeners. Participants responded to an online survey featuring randomized samples of sopranos singing...