Continuous Singing Research Articles

The Reverberation of the Sacred Gurbani’s Vibrations at the Darbar Sahib: The Issue of Its Television Broadcasting

This essay will examine the contemporary issue of the television broadcasting of the sacred Gurbani from the Darbar Sahib to set the stage for understanding the historical context of the musical sessions (chauṅkīs) of devotional singing, followed by the process of decolonizing the musical performances in modern times, including religious aesthetics and sacred time and the processional chauṅkīs in the Darbar Sahib Complex. The continuous singing of the Guru’s hymns (Gurbani kirtan) resounds inside the Darbar Sahib (“the Divine Court”), popularly known as the Golden Temple of Amritsar. This special mode of worship consists of singing and listening to the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. The heart of Sikh devotional experience lies in the performance of scriptural hymns in a congregational setting. Notably, different sessions of devotional singing go on day and night from 2.45 a.m. to 10.45 p.m. at the Golden Temple, following a celebrated tradition established more than four centuries ago by the Fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan. Even during the four-hour period of cleaning the sanctum sanctorum at midnight, the devotees recite hymns from memory, thereby making the Darbar Sahib a unique place where vibrations of sacred sound reverberate continuously for twenty-four hours a day.

Immediate Effects of Straw Phonation in Water Exercises on Parameters of Vocal Loading in Carnatic Classical Singers

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of vocal loading and the immediate effects of straw phonation in water exercises on parameters of vocal loading in Carnatic classical singers. A within-subject pretest-posttest design. Twelve healthy Carnatic classical singers participated in the vocal loading experiment for 2 days, referred to as no-treatment and treatment conditions. The vocal loading task consisted of 1 hour of continuous singing in the presence of background noise. For the treatment condition, the participants followed a 10-minute straw phonation in water exercises before the vocal loading task. Acoustic, electroglottographic, and self-rated perceptual voice measures were recorded before and after the vocal loading task on both days. Pretest and posttest comparison of various outcome measures during no-treatment day suggested a significant increase in shimmer percent, decrease in maximum phonation duration of vowel /a/, and increase in perceived phonatory effort, perceived vocal effort, and Evaluation of Ability to Sing Easily scores. Pretest and posttest comparisons during treatment day showed a significant increase in Mean F0, Highest F0, and Lowest F0, perceived phonatory effort, and perceived vocal effort scores. However, changes in Mean F0, Highest F0, and Lowest F0 measures were small in the posttest condition compared to pretest. The present results suggest that vocal loading did induce changes in Carnatic classical singers' voices. However, there is no substantial evidence that straw phonation is effective in reducing the vocal loading in Carnatic classical singers. Further studies are required to corroborate the current findings.

Dawn singing of Eastern Phoebes varies with breeding stage and brood number

The dawn chorus is a daily period of continuous singing by male songbirds that begins prior to sunrise. It is relatively less studied than daytime singing, and particularly in suboscine birds. We analyzed dawn singing of 14 Eastern Phoebes (Sayornis phoebe) in Echo Bay, Ontario over the 2011–2012 breeding seasons. We measured time of first song, length of dawn bout, time of final song, average song rate, and peak song rate and compared these characteristics among breeding stages. Results indicated that breeding stage was a significant predictor of all five dawn song features. Our results suggest that dawn singing of Eastern Phoebes is directly related to female fertility. We show that males begin singing significantly earlier when females are fertile. Males sang significantly longer during fertile and incubation stages than while feeding young. Males began singing later and sang for the shortest duration during the pre-breeding period. Song rates were higher in first broods than in second broods. We showed that suboscine dawn signaling patterns vary across breeding seasons in ways similar to oscine songbirds.

How a songbird with a continuous singing style modulates its song when territorially challenged.

In songbirds of the temperate zone, often only males sing and their songs serve to attract females and to deter territorial rivals. In many species, males vary certain aspects of their singing behavior when engaged in territorial interactions. Such variation may be an honest signal of the traits of the signaler, such as fighting strength, condition, or aggressive motivation, and may be used by receivers in decisions on whether to retreat or to escalate a fight. This has been studied intensively in species that sing discontinuously, in which songs are alternating with silent pauses. We studied contextual variation in the song of skylarks (Alauda arvensis), a songbird with a large vocal repertoire and a continuous and versatile singing style. We exposed subjects to simulated territorial intrusions by broadcasting conspecific song and recorded their vocal responses. We found that males sing differently if they are singing spontaneously with no other conspecific around than if they are territorially challenged. In this last case, males produced lower-frequency syllables. Furthermore, they increased the sound density of their song: they increased the proportion of sound within song. They seem to do so by singing different elements of their repertoire when singing reactively. Furthermore, they increased the consistency of mean peak frequency: they repeated syllable types with less variability when singing reactively. Such contextual variation suggests that skylarks might use low frequencies, sound density, and song consistency to indicate their competitive potential, and thus, those song features might be important for mutual assessment of competitive abilities.

Humpback Whale Song and Foraging Behavior on an Antarctic Feeding Ground

Reports of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song chorusing occurring outside the breeding grounds are becoming more common, but song structure and underwater behavior of individual singers on feeding grounds and migration routes remain unknown. Here, ten humpback whales in the Western Antarctic Peninsula were tagged in May 2010 with non-invasive, suction-cup attached tags to study foraging ecology and acoustic behavior. Background song was identified on all ten records, but additionally, acoustic records of two whales showed intense and continuous singing, with a level of organization and structure approaching that of typical breeding ground song. The songs, produced either by the tagged animals or close associates, shared phrase types and theme structure with one another, and some song bouts lasted close to an hour. Dive behavior of tagged animals during the time of sound production showed song occurring during periods of active diving, sometimes to depths greater than 100 m. One tag record also contained song in the presence of feeding lunges identified from the behavioral sensors, indicating that mating displays occur in areas worthy of foraging. These data show behavioral flexibility as the humpbacks manage competing needs to continue to feed and to prepare for the breeding season during late fall. This may also signify an ability to engage in breeding activities outside of the traditional, warm water breeding ground locations.

Temporal patterning of within-song type and between-song type variation in song repertoires

In many songbird species, males sing a reper- toire of distinct song types. Song sparrows typically are described as having repertoires of about a dozen song types, but these song types are themselves quite variable and some songs are produced that appear intermediate between two types. In this study we quantify the similar- ity between successive songs produced by song sparrows in order to determine if differences between song types are emphasized or deemphasized in bouts of continuous singing. In spite of the high degree of variation within song types and similarity between song types observed in this species, we show that transitions from one song type to the next are distinct as compared to transitions within sequences of the same type (Figs. 4 and 5). Variation does not "accumulate" across sequences of the same song type, and the average variation observed within a continuous sequence of the same song type is significantly less than is predicted from the total variation recorded for that type across many different bouts (Fig. 6). These results sup- port the view that song sparrows include two levels of variation in their singing: differences between song types as is commonly observed in species with song repertoires, and an independent level of variation observed for songs of the same type.

Divergence in mate finding behavior between two subspecies of the meadow grasshopperChorthippus parallelus (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Two parapatric subspecies of the grasshopper Chorthippus parallelusform a hybrid zone in the Pyrenees. Partial assortative mating between subspecies must result from differences in elements of the sequence of behaviors that leads to mating. It was already known that the subspecies differ in the structure of the acoustic mating signal produced by males and in the amount of song produced under laboratory conditions. Here we investigate whether any differences exist in male mating strategies in the field, concentrating on the prediction that male C. p. erythropussing less and compensate for this by active searching (males divide their time between singing and moving in search of females). Results of field observations show that the two subspecies do in fact allocate their time differently. C. p. erythropusmales spend almost twice as much time moving around the habitat as C. p. parallelusmales. Furthermore, C. p. parallelusmales divide their time into long bouts of continuous singing alternating with periods of movement. C. p. erythropusmales, on the other hand, sing in short bursts interspersed with movement. The possible reasons for this divergence in male mating behavior and its consequences are discussed.

Evidence against the continuity-versatility relationship in bird song

A relationship between the continuity and versatility with which birds sing appears to be accepted in the literature. Several authors have predicted such a trend on the basis that relatively continuous singing would lead to the listener's habituation, unless successive songs were different. In this paper a series of tests involving both within-and between-species comparisons of New World warblers (Parulinae) were performed, but these tests produced no consistent evidence for the predicted relationship. Furthermore, re-analyses of other work showed that some previous claims of support are unreliable. Thus these new data, and the re-examination of previous work, suggest that a relationship between continuity and versatility should be considered neither general nor predictable.

Male behavior and polygamy in Cisticola juncidis

1. The breeding behavior particularly of the male Cisticola juncidis was studied in 1967 at Chikuma River basin, Nagano prefecture.2. The observation data were obtained by '2-hour observation' between 8-10 a. m.3. The chief behaviors of the male are singing and nest-building.4. The male sings two kinds of song, the air and perch songs, and both the frequency and length of the songs are greater in the air song.5. The male sings through the breeding season from early April to middle September, and the frequency and the length of the songs per hour were 12.9 times and 12 minutes 37 seconds in average respectively.6. The male constructs the outer wall of the nest and the female works for inside lining. One male constructed 20 nests during a breeding season, of which 8 were used by different females.7. The nesting behavior was recorded on 66 days (84.6%) of the 78 days observation between April 25 and September 11. Average 6.6 days were required for construction of one nest.8. The male abandoned the nests which were not used by females and may take their material for construction of a new nest.9. The above two sustained behaviors of the male, the continuous singing and nesting, have definitive roles in functioning its polygomous breeding system, for accepting the females successfully.

The Defenders of Baroque Opera-Harbingers of Modern Criticism

TH HE DEFENDERS OF BAROQUE OPERA -HARBINGERS OF MODERN CRITICISM1 V BY M. G. FLAHERTY V Opera was a product of Renaissance desires to revive the art forms of classical antiquity. Originally intended as a restoration of Greek tragedy, it became something entirely different when Baroque longings for an artistic synthesis made it into a theatrical genre which employed several arts within a dramatic framework. Opera gained such wide acclaim that it developed into one of Europe's leading cultural institutions by the end of the seventeenth century. At the same time, however, its reception became one of the most controversial issues of the period. While theologically oriented adversaries objected to opera's power over the fancy of man and condemned its excessive emphasis on the senses, rationalistic literary men denounced its neglect of the dramatic rules and mocked what they considered its artistic inanities. These critics failed to see that opera was a modern theatrical form which tried to do justice to many divergent arts. Consequently they misinterpreted it as an unreal and foolish diversion seductive enough to deceive even the well-educated. In so doing, they helped to fashion the caricature of opera which is to this day given currency by people who believe that art must be comparable to real life. Their attacks against opera's melodramatic plots, continuous singing, and lack of theatrical probability-particularly in death scenes-did not succeed in abolishing it from the stage. They succeeded only in stimulating opera's numerous supporters to rise in its defense and to point out the erroneous assumptions of such objections. The most concentrated battle to abolish musical theater in Ger-