Singer's formant in Hindustani classical singers

Abstract

Context: Since the last two decades, the research has been concentrated on professional voice; there is a curiosity among researchers to find out whether singers (S) are really special in their voice use than nonsingers (NS). Although there have been studies regarding singer's formant in Indian classical singers, underlying physiological adjustments made by singers and its relation with acoustical features need to be studied. Thus, the aims of the present study were to explore the possibility of singer's formant in Hindustani classical singers, to study the physiological adjustments made by the singers, and also to find out the effect of number years of experience on acoustical as well as auditory-visual perceptual parameters. Subjects and Methods: Twenty Hindustani classical singers and ten nonsingers within the age range of 18–50 years were considered for the study. The singers were again grouped into three Subgroups (S1, S2, S3) based on their years of music experience. Acoustical as well as auditory-visual perceptual evaluation was carried out for singers and nonsingers. Results and Discussion: The study revealed that S3 (>10 years of experience) Group had the highest amplitude at 2–4 kHz as well as higher singing power ratio values as compared to S1 and S2. Nasoendoscopic evaluation was done for all the participants by a well-experienced ENT professional. S3 Group had the widest pharyngeal opening. Hence, the results of the present study point out the possibility of occurrence of singer's formant in Hindustani classical singers. Conclusions: The result of the acoustical analysis indicates that there is an effect of years of music experience on the acoustical as well as perceptual parameters. The study highlights the possibility of developing training material for singers to improve their pharyngeal widening.