Entire Song Research Articles

Comparisons of acoustic structures between sexes in a duetting, montane bird

Female song in birds is more widespread than previously thought, and studies across different species are critical for better understanding the entire evolutionary process of bird song. In this study, we recorded the songs of males and females in a duetting, montane bird species, the Elliot's laughingthrush Trochalopteron elliotii, across consecutive breeding seasons. We specifically focused on identifying the number and structure of different song types by males and females, and compared these acoustic structures between the sexes. Our findings revealed that both males and females sang sex‐specific solos. More specifically, females sang a single type of solo that varied significantly in the number of notes, whereas males produced three different solos composed of 2, 3, or 4 notes, respectively. Female solos exhibited significantly more notes and longer song duration compared to males. Male solos typically had a significantly higher maximum frequency for the entire song. No significant differences were observed in the duration of the first note, song rate, and other frequency characteristics between male and female solos. Furthermore, paired males and females coordinated their sex‐specific solos to form duets when challenged by conspecific territory intruders, both within and outside the breeding season. Sex‐specific solos suggested that male and female songs play different roles and may be subject to different selective pressures. Further research is necessary for elucidating the functions of male song, female song, and duets in this montane bird species.

Natural Patterns in the Dawn and Dusk Choruses of a Neotropical Songbird in Relation to an Urban Sound Environment.

Urbanization is one of the more important phenomena affecting biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Some organisms can cope with urban challenges, and changes in birds' acoustic communication have been widely studied. Although changes in the timing of the daily organization of acoustic communication have been previously reported, there is a significant gap regarding possible variations in song structure between dawn and dusk choruses. Considering that urbanization imposes different soundscapes for dawn and dusk choruses, we postulate two hypotheses: (i) there are variations in song parameters between dawn and dusk choruses, and (ii) such parameters within the city will vary in response to urban noise. We studied urban and extra-urban populations of Chiguanco Thrush in La Paz, Bolivia, measuring in dawn and dusk choruses: song length; song sound pressure level; minimum, maximum, range and dominant frequency; and the number of songs per individual. The results support our two hypotheses: there were more songs, and songs were louder and had larger band widths at dawn than at dusk in urban and extra-urban populations. Urban Chiguanco Thrushes sing less, the frequency of the entire song rises, and the amplitude increases as compared with extra-urban Chiguanco Thrushes. Understanding variations between dawn and dusk choruses could allow for a better interpretation of how some bird species cope with urban challenges.

Representasi Makna Perpisahan pada Lirik Lagu “Give Me Five” Karya JKT48: Analisis Semiotika Ferdinand de Saussure

This article contains the representation of the meaning of separation in the lyrics of the song "Give Me Five" by JKT48 (Fer-dinand de Saussure's semiotic study). The semiotic method that will be used in this research is semiotics from Saussure's thought. Saussure's theory explains that signs have interconnected elements, namely signifier and signified. This process connects the song lyrics with the real external world. The results of this research from the lyrics of the song "Give Me Five" by JKT48 have interrelated meanings containing the message that separation is not the end of everything. The meaning of separation contained in the lyrics of the song "Give Me Five" by JKT48 is very strong, because a person cannot avoid the word goodbye, besides that there is motivation to achieve another dream when the separation occurs. The data analysis technique used is analysis using Ferdinand de Saussure's semiotic theory. Saussure's theoretical model focuses more direct attention on the sign itself. In this research on the lyrics of the song "Give Me Five", the researcher makes an interpretation by dividing the entire song lyrics into several stanzas and then the stanzas will be analyzed using Saussure's semiotic theory.

Indicators of Self-Determination in Therapeutic Songwriting Lyrics Created by Adults with High LDL Cholesterol.

Individuals with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥190 mg/dL are at high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events. Our goal was to determine if adults with this condition would express important psychological, health, and motivation themes when generating lyrics during music therapy. Thirty-one participants each created their own original song with the help of a music therapist. The lyrics were analyzed using a deductive approach guided by Self-Determination Theory (specifically the satisfaction or frustration of basic psychological needs): (1) for each entire song (macro-analysis) and (2) line-by-line (micro-analysis). Song lyrics generated during music therapy sessions by patients with a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ≥190 mg/dL revealed the presence of the three basic needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) of Self-Determination Theory. The most prevalent theme identified in the macro-analysis of songs was autonomy satisfaction, coded in 25 songs (27.17% of all macro codes), and followed by competence satisfaction in 17 songs (18.48%) and relatedness satisfaction in 15 songs (16.3%). Line-by-line micro-analysis of lyrics revealed that at least one basic need of Self-Determination Theory was present in 277 of the unique lyric lines (50%); 107 (19%) for relatedness, 101 (18%) for autonomy, and 69 (13%) for competence. Need satisfaction occurred more frequently than need frustration in both analyses. However, depending on the level of analysis (macro or micro), results differed as to which themes were most prevalent. These results indicate that therapeutic songwriting may be a unique way to identify the basic psychological needs that, when satisfied, indicate self-determination.

Pemberdayaan Bahasa Inggris SMP Swasta PKMI Efesus Aekbatu Melalui Lagu

When learning English, especially vocabulary for young learners, it's a good idea to use media that can capture children's attention. However, using media is not always possible or realistic for a teacher in the classroom because the use of media depends on the learning material to be conveyed to students. In teaching vocabulary, songs can be used as a good way to introduce new vocabulary to students, so that they can understand words or lessons easily and clearly. Songs that can contain information, such as words or numbers, either in one stanza or the entire song and are used in class or private study. Before this lesson, the vocabulary of students, especially about human body parts and also the names of animals in English is very limited. After this lesson, the vocabulary of students will increase, especially the vocabulary of human body parts and also the names of animals in English. It is proven that the additional learning obtained through community service activities carried out by the author can improve students' English skills, especially students' English vocabulary.

Where Is My Home? The Czech National Anthem: its Problems, Controversies, and Strengths

Abstract There are many countries in which the national anthem has its permanent place not open to discussions. With the Czech national anthem Where Is My Home?, however, the case is precisely the opposite. It first appeared under this title in a theatrical farce in 1834 and soon became popular across the nation. In the second half of the nineteenth century, it went through a phase of politicisation (various textual paraphrases, performances at demonstrations as an anti-Habsburg symbol, a resulting ban on singing the piece) as well as one of criticism (in which it was pointed out that the lyrics were outdated and archaic). It was at that time that proposals for the creation of a new “national anthem” were made, while the Catholic circles considered the mediaeval sacred song Saint Wenceslas, which had had a representative function in the state from time immemorial, as a potential candidate. Late in 1918, the entire song Where Is My Home? “automatically” became the first of the two parts of the Czechoslovak national anthem, but critical voices could still be heard and alternative proposals were made. The debate was revived after the fall of Communism, and even now there are efforts to “modernise” the official music version. The present paper is an attempt to discover the causes of the controversy around the anthem Where Is My Home?. This will be done by focusing on its genesis (inspirations), analysing its content and psychological dimension, considering the critics’ reservations, competition, etc. An interpretation will also be attempted as to why Where Is My Home? has withstood all the attacks and remained the national and state anthem.

EXERTING INQUIRY BASED LEARNING METHOD IN IMPROVING GIFTED STUDENTS’ MUSIC RECORDER SKILL

Previous studies show most gifted students have tendency towards music. However, it was found that most gifted students were having problem playing recorder using existing teaching methods. This has caused low achievement score in music subject. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the inquiry based learning method to enhance the recorder playing skills among gifted students. The study was conducted at a gifted institution in Malaysia. Data were collected through observation using Music Instrument Rubric and group interview in the fieldwork. Respondents were 27 gifted and talented students who did not attend any formal training in Western music and the only music background they had was gained from the school curriculum. Result reveals the inquiry learning method improves students’ achievement in recorder playing compared to previous conventional method. Observation indicates that students could play the entire song well in terms of pic accuracy, tempo consistency, tonal, musical shape and performance. Interview data shows students felt satisfied with their own style in determining the proper way to master the recorder skills. This study is expected to provide appropriate music teaching methods in the gifted and talented education system.

The Traces of Objects – A Survey of Teaware-related Materials in the Literature of Song Dynasty

I write this essay to re-examine the history of objects and trace the historical trajectory of them as an experiencer, which provides much food for thought on Chinese's current way of life. This kind of thinking does not mean recapturing the attitude of the Song people towards ware, but means researching the evolution of tea from Tang to Song and the influence of the evolution on the present. This may be a valuable guide to exploring the philosophy of Medieval China. Firstly, in this study, the corpus of ancient books in Song Dynasty is established with the utilization of literature investigation. In this process, the basic concepts and theoretical problems in ware ancient books in Song Dynasty have been sorted out and discussed with the utilization of relevant theoretical research methods, including philology, linguistics, history, bibliography, editology, art and so on. Secondly, relevant collected information is sorted out and summarized, including document titles, compilers, content summary, categories, various versions and so on. These ancient books of ware in Song Dynasty are listed in chronological order by drawing tables. Thirdly, the definitions of the relevant literature are listed through the method of induction and comparison. After comparing similarities and differences, own opinions are put forward. By summarizing the characteristics of ware in ware literature in different periods of the Song Dynasty, the formation and development of ware design ideas in the Song Dynasty are further explored. In the final analysis, I conclude that Cai Xiang (蔡襄) played a pivotal role in the teaware development in the Northern Song dynasty (北宋) and even the entire Song dynasty (宋代). Under his influence, the teaware-making aesthetics of the Song dynasty was dominated by teaware from Jian Kiln.

Образ матері в піснях Михайла Ткача

M. Tkach is seen as a poet with a lyrical type of worldview, with a lyrical voice that remained unchanged even after political transformations. His literary heritage contains the big layer of wonderful intimate poems, some of which became songs and even folk songs. The book «Song for you» which could be called M. Tkach’s swan song (it was published in 2002, to the poet's 70th birthday) represents pretty accurate his entire song poetry in its thematic and image variety. This book includes patriotic and intimate lyrics, and love songs make the major part of the second group. But there is the one more part which claims to have a separate significant place within intimate lyrics. We mean the songs about mother. The purpose of this article is to analyse them. The characteristic features of M. Tkach’s image of mother (such as sacrality, melancholy, didactism, etc.) are highlighted in this article and it is also proved that the image of mother is the axis of rotation of so-called «mother’s world» – one of the main concepts of M. Tkach’s poetry. M. Tkach traced the origins of the idea of Ukrainian patriotism from parents’ house. But it must be noted that the image of father is rare in M. Tkach’s poetry, as well as the generalized image of parents, in contrast to the image of the parents’ doorstep, for example. All the life ways lead Tkach’s lyrical hero from home, in other words – from mother (the images of home and mother are often superimposed), or back home, into mother’s world. The «mother’s world» metaphor is poet’s true imaginative achievement. It is hard to find more appropriate image to describe the completeness of patriotic feelings of lyrical hero. On the one hand, the poet often compares Ukraine with mother, on the other – mother is the most important part of the inner life of lyrical hero. This part is in the centre, the most precious memories of lyrical hero (of his native village and his childhood) are structured around it. They are mother-centred, so the lullaby is called mother’s and the house is called mother’s and the well too. M. Tkach presents the native land as the place unique in different meanings (geographical, cultural, personal, etc.). In such a way he talks about mother, what is emphasized by using the construction «only mother» and others like that. But the main thing we must admit is the uniqueness of M. Tkach’s songs about mother as the literary and musical phenomenon.

Mating success follows duet dancing in the Java sparrow.

Mutual interactions between sexes have multiple signalling functions. Duet singing in songbirds is related to mutual mate guarding, joint resource defence, and signalling commitment. Coordinated visual displays of mating pairs are thought to perform similar functions, but are less well understood. The current study evaluated mutual interactions in an Estrildid species to explore the relative importance of duet dancing and male singing in mating success of pairs in a first encounter. When Java sparrows (Lonchura oryzivora) court prospective mates, only males sing. However, both males and females perform courtship dances, often in a duet-like manner. These dances are typically terminated by female copulation solicitation displays (CSDs). In the current study, we observed higher mating success when courtship dances were mutually exchanged, and when males sang. However, the sex initiating the courtship did not affect mating success. Most females produced CSDs after duet dancing but before hearing the entire song, indicating that duet dancing played a crucial role in mating. This finding highlights an unexplored aspect of duetting behaviour in the process of mutual mate choice. These results conflict with the majority of past songbird research, which has interpreted songs as primary behavioural sexual signals.

Maximum frequency of songs reflects body size among male dusky warblers Phylloscopus fuscatus (Passeriformes: Phylloscopidae)

Song plays a vital role in communication in songbirds, primarily for territorial defense and mate attraction. Larger animals, having larger vocal organs, produce low sound frequencies more efficiently. Accordingly, the frequency of vocalizations is often negatively correlated with body size across species, and also among individuals of many species, including several non-songbirds. However, little is known about whether song frequency reveals information about body size among males. We tested for the predicted positive relationship between body size and song traits in male dusky warblers (Phylloscopus fuscatus). In many animal species, some vocalizations are difficult to produce and can therefore indicate quality of signalers. Male dusky warblers produce songs with trilled sequences that are limited in their timing and frequency structure by physiological constraints on vocal performance. We investigated whether there was a relationship between body size and trilled vocalizations in the dusky warbler. We recorded songs of free-living male dusky warblers at dawn, and captured birds with mist nets for morphometric measurements (tarsus length, as an indicator of body size). We conducted correlation analyses between tarsus length and a composite measure of songs. In dusky warblers, body size was not significantly related to the average frequency of their overall songs, low frequency, bandwidth frequency, average note number of songs, or average song duration. In contrast, the maximum frequency of song was found to correlate positively with tarsus length. For trilled vocalizations, we found most trill traits were not significantly related to body size, and only the maximum frequency of trills was positively related to body size. Additionally, the maximal value of frequency bandwidth decreased with increasing trill rates. Overall, these results suggest that in male dusky warblers, the maximum frequency of the entire song is a reliable indicator of body size.

The Use of Music to Promote Purposeful Movement in Children with Visual Impairments

Music plays a major role in education and development of all children. Although use of music in education process may seem obvious to most professionals, there are only a few studies that discuss effect of music on purposeful movement of students with visual impairments (DePountis, Cady, & Hallak, 2013; Desrochers, Oshlag, & Kennelly, 2014; Sapp, 2011). A large percentage of teachers of students with visual impairments and other professionals use music and movement to some degree when working with students. The author of this article has extensive past experiences working as a music therapist collaborating with occupational and physical therapists in a rehabilitative therapy setting while using music to promote movement for people with disabilities including those with visual impairments. The same strategies are proving beneficial in a music classroom setting to increase students' participation through movement activities. The purpose of this Practice Perspective is to provide evidence and examples of music activities that can promote purposeful movement for students with visual impairments. Music and movement Supporting evidence from field of neuroscience and music therapy suggests that people can learn or relearn movement through activities that require moving to external auditory stimuli like music. Rhythmic entrainment is ability of a person to automatically synchronize his or her physical movements to metrical structure (meter or the beat) of music (Trost et al., 2014). Neurological processing of meter is a consistent, repetitive, and predictable duration of time that involves temporally-precise two-way interactions between motor planning regions and auditory regions of brain (Patel & Iversen, 2014, p. 11). Manipulation of music's metrical structure proved beneficial for increasing duration of students' movement as well as decreasing need for verbal prompts from teacher. Activities such as marching and simple dance sequences allowed students to synchronize movement to beat. With live music, tempo could be increased or decreased or stopped and started according to beat in a game-like context. The use of props proved beneficial for some students with more severe disabilities. Students who were willing to grasp a parachute or scarves could move to beat in a more passive manner while teacher actively moved prop. Movement through instrument playing Playing musical instruments is an effective way to promote purposeful movement and reaching in upper extremities of students with visual impairments. Research suggests that Therapeutic Instrumental Music Playing (TIMP) can promote functional movement when individuals are encouraged to play musical instruments in nontraditional ways (Thaut, 2005). The key component for increasing movement and making it functional is location or placement of instrument based on a person's individualized need. This approach proved beneficial for students with more severe disabilities, including those with deafblindness. After introducing an instrument with hand-under-hand assistance, preferred instruments were placed in close proximity to students, which allowed them to participate in a manner that reinforced concepts of left or right, crossing midline, reaching over their head, and increasing range of motion. In addition, students with vision performed on percussion instruments in which they were required to visually track drum beat. The teacher would alternate placing paddle drums on students' right or left side and high or low. This activity promoted range of motion and crossing midline, as well as increasing duration of movement that usually lasted for entire song with minimal verbal cues from teacher. Music technology and movement Incorporating music technology like Thermin (see Figure 1) and Soundbeam (Figure 2) was a fun and motivating way to promote purposeful movement of students. …

Perfume as an interpretive key to the Song of Songs

Abstract The Song of Songs is a biblical text filled with the names of perfumes and, in terms of form, it is infused with ambiguity, vagueness and loose connections. The article suggests that perfume is an essential element in the biblical text. The image of perfume is not a mere diversion that is subordinate to a coherent plot, but is rather a means to undermine the plot and set the open and effervescent tone of the entire song. In the same spirit, the article does not attempt to offer a unified interpretation, but instead adapts to the expansive character of the ‘perfumed’ biblical text, inviting multiple readings. The present reading searches for the various appearances of the perfume motif in order to locate the mother figure. This marginal and almost hidden figure in the Song of Songs is related to the aspect of scent and is mysteriously juxtaposed with the figure of the lovers. The article claims that by sliding down the fragrant, yet obscure, path connecting the love between lovers to the love of a mother for her children, we discover that the mother proves to be the source of the bond between the lovers and a critical figure in the development of love.

Learning to Play a Musical Instrument in Adulthood – Challenges and Computer-mediated Solutions

This article draws some directions in the field of music learning in adulthood, taking into account the constraints an adult has: a different style of assimilating new knowledge, less time to invest in hobbies, a lower availability to spend time on activities which don’t bring them visible profit. In order to meet the need of an adult to play a musical instrument, computer-mediated solutions are an easy and cost-effective method. Therefore, the authors present an application “Touch & Listen” which imitates 3 musical instruments- piano, steel drum and harp, by offering the users graphical interfaces similar to the real ones and sounds similar to the ones produced when playing those instruments. Also, the users have the possibility to record their compositions and replay them or retrieve similar fragments on web. The application was developed using Java technologies in university laboratories, thus proving the role of universities in enhancing and encouraging continuous education, as a form of fulfilling adults’ needs of self-development. The application can be used also as a composition instrument or as a search instrument: if the users can reproduce a small fragment from a song, they can easily find the entire song. A set of tests were made and positive results related to the efficiency of our tool for learning to play an instrument were registered.

Rig 9 RADAR Rap: effective safety messaging with today's workforce

This extended abstract demonstrates a novel method of effectively getting leadership messages across to the generation and demographic of today’s workforce. In April 2012, Weatherford CSG drilling rig in Australia had a series of workplace incidents, which led to a serious injury. In May 2012, Weatherford’s Eight GEMS program including the new recognise-approach-discuss-agree-report (RADAR) reporting system began rolling out across Weatherford globally. In June 2012, the Weatherford management team visited Rig 9 as part of their ongoing commitment to safety and meeting the crews. While on site, they overheard the crew rapping RADAR to their surprise; the crew had incorporated the RADAR definitions into an entire song on their own initiative, mainly to help the younger members of the crew to get familiar with RADAR. The result was a music production team visiting Rig 9 to film and produce the rap video. This was done with consent from the operating company in shut-down conditions. This type of message and delivery of the message has been found to resonate well with today’s young(er) workforce. This has been found to be an effective (and fun) way of getting the safety message across to the people who really count. This also demonstrates the importance of making sure that the delivery of safety messages are owned-by the people who the messages are targeted at.

Song characterization in the spectacled warbler (Sylvia conspicillata): a circum-Mediterranean species with a complex song structure

The spectacled warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) is a small passerine with a patchy distribution throughout the circum-Mediterranean region, including the North Atlantic archipelagos of Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Here we characterize the species song structure on the island of Fuerteventura, quantifying repertoire size, inter- and intra-individual spectrographic variation, to determine whether acoustic variation occurred within an island population. Male song display was organized in song bouts of a variable number of song phrases, which in turn were made up of 4–69 syllables. We classified syllable types to derive a measure of repertoire size (number of different syllables) per song bout, and then used rarefaction methods to calculate the estimated repertoire size for our population of males. Three categories of song bout length were considered in analyses: short song bouts of 10 phrases, average bouts of 19 phrases and long bouts of ≥ 29 phrases. The observed and estimated repertoire size per male (between 43 and 126 syllables per male) increased with song bout duration, although the relationship was not significant for the estimated values. To test whether songs could be individually specific, we measured 11 spectrotemporal parameters of the song. A discriminant analysis using these variables performed poorly in classifying songs to the individuals that uttered them, but we found less variation in the individual than in the population for three out of the 11 variables. These individually specific variables, involving the first or the most common syllable of the song, the trill, were the duration of the first syllable of the phrase, the duration and the dominant frequency of the trill syllable. Our study emphasizes the complexity of spectacled warbler songs, in which males continuously add novel syllables over the entire song bout. This complexity appears to be determined by individual innovation capabilities rather than by the behaviour of copying neighbour repertoires, since songs of close birds were not more similar than songs from far-away territories.

Forming auditory objects in a reverberant cocktail party setting

Event Abstract Back to Event Forming auditory objects in a reverberant cocktail party setting Sandra H. Blumenrath1* and Robert J. Dooling1 1 University of Maryland, College Park, United States In multi-signaler environments, listeners are faced with the challenge to selectively attend to and follow sound sequences of one sender while disregarding those of others. As a solution to the so-called “Cocktail Party” problem, the auditory system has to group sound components from one source into a single object based on specific unifying physical features, while at the same time separating them from components from other sources with different unifying features. Some of the grouping cues are common onset and offset times, common amplitude modulations, as well as similar frequency ranges and spatial origins. Although the integration and segregation of auditory objects is aided by such cues, successful object formation may be compromised in natural environments where vocal signals are reverberated. In a cacophony of reverberated stimuli, tails of echoes and the interaction between direct and reflected sound waves can, for instance, obliterate sharp onset and offset times and alter both the temporal and spectral patterns of sounds. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of reverberation on behavioral measures of auditory object formation under conditions with increasing numbers of simultaneous signalers. We designed a psychophysical experiment with budgerigars, canaries, and zebra finches, in which subjects were tested with natural vocalizations from all three species. Tests involved a GO/NOGO procedure, in which the birds had to keep responding throughout one of two previously learned, 4-s long song sequences (GO vs. NOGO song) either in the absence (control) or presence of other superimposed songs from one, two, or four different individuals. The GO and NO GO song differed only towards the end, which forced the birds to attend to the entire song sequence. In the case of a NOGO song the birds would stop responding towards the end. A complete object was formed if correct responses (GO or NOGO) were given to either of these two sequence. Results showed clear independent effects of reverberation time, number of simultaneously singing individuals, and vocalization type. Most importantly, the birds’ ability to selectively attend to a specific sequence of sounds was particularly compromised when very high reverberation times coincided with many birds singing in the background, indicating a synergistic effect between the two factors. In contrast, neither of these factors alone decreased the birds’ sensitivity to or below threshold. Budgerigars generally outperformed both canaries and zebra finches and also showed a clear advantage when tested with conspecific song. These results revealed that in a cocktail party environment with multiple signalers, sound reverberation plays a critical role in affecting the percept of distinct auditory objects and renders identification of individual sound sources more difficult. The degree to which auditory stream segregation is compromised, however, depends on the amount of reverberation as well as the number of signaling individuals. Keywords: auditory object formation, auditory scene analysis, bird vocalizations, Birds, environmental acoustics, Psychoacoustics, reverberation Conference: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation (see alternatives below as well) Topic: Sensory: Audition Citation: Blumenrath SH and Dooling RJ (2012). Forming auditory objects in a reverberant cocktail party setting. Conference Abstract: Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00061 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 08 May 2012; Published Online: 07 Jul 2012. * Correspondence: Dr. Sandra H Blumenrath, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD, 20742, United States, shb@umd.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Sandra H Blumenrath Robert J Dooling Google Sandra H Blumenrath Robert J Dooling Google Scholar Sandra H Blumenrath Robert J Dooling PubMed Sandra H Blumenrath Robert J Dooling Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Neural Mechanisms for the Coordination of Duet Singing in Wrens

Plain-tailed wrens (Pheugopedius euophrys) cooperate to produce a duet song in which males and females rapidly alternate singing syllables. We examined how sensory information from each wren is used to coordinate singing between individuals for the production of this cooperative behavior. Previous findings in nonduetting songbird species suggest that premotor circuits should encode each bird's own contribution to the duet. In contrast, we find that both male and female wrens encode the combined cooperative output of the pair of birds. Further, behavior and neurophysiology show that both sexes coordinate the timing of their singing based on feedback from the partner and suggest that females may lead the duet.

The Cadential IV in Rock

In this paper I examine large-scale cadences in rock—those that end a section or an entire song—and the role of IV in such cadences. My main focus is onsectional cadences—those that occur at the end of a chorus. Plagal (IV-I) sectional cadences are common in rock, as I will show (using statistical evidence). I examine an especially common subtype of the plagal cadence, theplagal stop cadence. I also consider several other uses of IV that are in some way cadential. Thegrand plagal cadenceis a highly emphasized cadence, often accompanied by a fermata, that occurs only once near the end of a song. Thedeceptive IVis an occurrence of IV in place of an expected cadential I. Cadential IV chords may also be tonicized, in ways that contribute to their cadential impact. These various functions of IV—the sectional plagal cadence, the grand plagal cadence, the deceptive IV, and the tonicized IV—can sometimes be combined in complex ways, such that a single chord can serve several functions at once.

Classification of the Classical Male Singing Voice Using Long-Term Average Spectrum

Singing-voice classification is often considered the cornerstone of a classical singer's identity. Traditionally, classification has been a highly subjective, nonstandardized process. As a result, misclassification of the singing voice is thought to be common, especially in young singers. Long-term average spectrum (LTAS) average is an objective measurement that could be used to classify a singer's voice. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of LTAS with singing-voice classification. Descriptive between-subject study. Nine professional classical male singers performed the "Star Spangled Banner" in a comfortable key of their choice. LTAS was calculated for the first two phrases, the remainder of the song, and the entire song. The overall LTAS averages of each sample as well as the physiological and singing ranges were compared with self-reported singing-voice classification. Voice classification and overall LTAS average were moderately correlated, but the strength of the correlation varied with each sample. The strongest correlation was with the entire song. Voice classification and singing range were strongly correlated. LTAS remains a promising tool to aid in singing-voice classification. However, how to best use LTAS in classification remains unclear because of the influence of sample length and phonetic and pitch content on LTAS.