Relationship Between Oropharyngeal Geometry and Acoustic Parameters in Singers: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

To verify possible correlations between formant and cepstral parameters and oropharyngeal geometry in singers, stratified by sex. Voice records and oropharyngeal measures of 31 singers - 13 females and 18 males, mean age of 28 (±5.0) years - were retrieved from a database and analyzed. The oropharyngeal geometry measures were collected with acoustic pharyngometry, and the voice records consisted of sustained vowel /Ԑ/ phonation, which were exported to Praat software and edited to obtain the formant and cepstral parameters, stratified by sex. The Pearson linear correlation test was applied to relate voice parameters to oropharyngeal geometry, at the 5% significance level; the linear regression test was used to justify the variable related to the second formant. Differences between the sexes were identified only in the oral cavity length (greater in males) and pharyngeal cavity length (greater in females). There was a linear correlation between the third formant and the cepstrum in the female group. In the male group, there was a linear correlation between the cepstrum and the third and fourth formants. A positive linear correlation with up to 95% confidence was also identified between the pharyngeal cavity volume and the second formant in the female group, making it possible to estimate a regression model for the second formant (R2=0.70). There are correlations between the oropharyngeal geometry and formant and cepstral parameters in relation to sex. The pharyngeal cavity volume showed the greatest correlation between females and the second formant.