Differences In Voice Quality Research Articles

Developmental progressions in the harmonic structure of infant-directed speech

Caregivers speak differently to infants than to adults early in life. Previous studies of this special register, “motherese,” have sought to identify key differences in voice quality between infant-directed and adult-directed speech. Acoustic properties most salient to infants appear to reside in exaggerations of prosodic structure, but these findings are limited by speech analysis techniques that do not fully capture the acoustic structure of the maternal voice or the way motherese changes over the course of development. In this study, multitaper analysis was used to measure developmental progressions in the complete harmonic structure of the maternal voice. Samples of adult- and infant-directed speech were extracted from home audio recordings of 20 mothers collected monthly from 0-24 months using LENA technology. Multitaper analysis was used to calculate the time-varying amplitude and phase of every harmonic component, the residual noise component, and the spectral envelope, permitting a complete statis...

Dynamic measures of voice stability in young and old adults

This paper examines age-related differences in voice quality between 15 young and 15 old speakers, using electroglottographic (EGG) recordings of three elicitation types: sustained vowels, hVd word lists, and readings of the Rainbow Passage. For each elicitation type, fundamental frequency (F0), contact quotient (Qx), and their standard deviations are analysed. Results found, for all three elicitations, that Qx was significantly lower for older speakers. F0 was higher for the older speakers, but this was only significant for the hVd word lists. Sustained vowels were used to examine the effect of target pitch and loudness on F0 and Qx. Both Qx and F0 were raised with increased target loudness. The hVd word lists were used to examine the phonetic effects of different vowels. Lip rounded vowels had higher Qx than non-lip rounded vowels. Readings of the Rainbow Passage encompassed prosodic and phonetic variations in F0 and Qx, in addition to voice quality. F0 and Qx contours of the hVd word lists and the vowel/ei/taken from the Rainbow Passage were analysed using the discrete cosine transform. The hVd frame produced coarticulation effects on the Qx contour, but no such effects were evident for the vowel /ei/. The study concluded that using multiple elicitation types is beneficial in the study of the effect of age on the voice, and that analysing contour tracks for F0 and Qx will allow further examination of how prosodic and phonetic effects interact with age-related changes in voice quality.

Investigating the Effects of Glottal Stop Productions on Voice in Children With Cleft Palate Using Multidimensional Voice Assessment Methods

The aim was to investigate the effects of glottal stop productions (GS) on voice in children with cleft palate using multidimensional voice assessment methods. This is a prospective case-control study. Children with repaired cleft palate (n = 34) who did not have any vocal fold lesions were separated into two groups based on the results of the articulation test. The glottal stop group (GSG) consisted of 17 children who had GS. The control group (CG) consisted of an equal number of age- and gender-matched children who did not have GS. The voice evaluation protocol included acoustic analysis, Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI), and perceptual analysis (Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain method). The velopharyngeal statuses of the groups were compared using the nasopharyngoscopy and the nasometer. The total pVHI score and the subscales of the pVHI were found to be significantly higher in the GSG. The F0, jitter, and shimmer were found to be numerically higher in the GSG with the difference being statistically significant in jitter (P < 0.05). Audioperceptual analysis revealed a difference in overall voice quality and roughness between the groups. Greater incidence of significant velopharyngeal insufficiency and higher nasalance scores were found in the GSG (P < 0.05). These results may indicate that the vocal quality characteristics of children with GS differ from children who do not have this type of production. It is suggested that children with cleft palate who have GS should receive a comprehensive speech and language pathology intervention including voice therapy techniques.

Voice outcome according to surgical extent of transoral laser microsurgery for T1 glottic carcinoma.

To evaluate the outcomes of transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) for T1 glottic carcinoma using longitudinal voice analysis. Retrospective analysis of medical records. We conducted a retrospective review of 57 patients (50 T1a, seven T1b) who underwent TLM for T1 glottic carcinoma, and longitudinal voice analysis was performed before surgery, during the early postoperative period (within 3 months), and during the late postoperative period (more than 6 months). Acoustic, perceptual (Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain scale), and subjective voice analysis using the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) was conducted. Voice quality deteriorated in the early postoperative period in terms of several parameters. However, no significant differences in voice quality were observed in the late postoperative period, whereas Grade (from 1.85 ± 0.83 to 1.50 ± 0.90) and Roughness (from 1.74 ± 0.73 to 1.48 ± 0.87) had improved significantly. Patients who underwent lesser-extent cordectomy (type I, II) showed improvement in VHI-Physical (from 12.93 ± 11.10 to 6.07 ± 8.69) and Grade (from 1.60 ± 0.68 to 0.98 ± 0.83), whereas improvement was not identified in those who underwent larger-extent cordectomy (type III, IV, V). Improvement in Grade (from 1.70 ± 0.80 to 1.23 ± 0.91) and Roughness (from 1.77 ± 0.73 to 1.25 ± 0.76) was identified in patients who had unilateral tumor without involvement of anterior commissure. However, those with involvement of the anterior commissure or bilateral vocal cord showed a tendency toward deterioration in voice quality. Voice quality of patients following TLM for T1 glottic carcinoma may improve significantly over time in cases with lesser-extent types of cordectomy or unilateral tumor without involvement of the anterior commissure. 4 Laryngoscope, 126:2051-2056, 2016.

Effect of perioperative dexamethasone on subjective voice quality after thyroidectomy: a meta-analysis and systematic review

Prophylactic dexamethasone has been shown to reduce postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting in patients undergoing thyroidectomy. However, its effects on postoperative voice outcomes remain uncertain. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was conducted. Cochrane database, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were thoroughly searched. Studies that compared intravenous dexamethasone administration with no dexamethasone in patients undergoing thyroidectomy were included. Main outcome measure was the difference in postoperative voice assessment between groups. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using fixed and random effects models. Four studies with a total of 313 patients met inclusion criteria. Significant heterogeneity of study results was noted. Using random effects models, pooled data showed no difference in subjective voice quality between groups preoperatively (SMD, 0.29; 95 % CI -0.37 to 0.96; P = 0.39), 24 h after thyroidectomy (SMD, -1.02; 95 % CI -2.36 to 0.31; P = 0.13), or at 48 h (SMD, -0.05; 95 % CI -0.30 to 0.21; P = 0.72). A sensitivity analysis excluding one observational study yielded similar results. There are insufficient data for definite conclusions to be drawn regarding the effectiveness of a single perioperative administration of dexamethasone to reduce short-term voice disturbances after thyroidectomy. Further prospective trials using objective voice analysis are warranted to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone.

Phonation type contrasts and vowel quality in Marathi

Phonation-type contrasts in consonants and vowels are typically associated with a number of acoustic differences. Phonemic breathy phonation, for instance, is fairly consistently associated with lower Cepstral Peak Prominence values than modal sounds, and with higher values for spectral measures such as H1-H2 and H1-A3. The effect of breathy phonation on vowel quality, however, is less consistent: lower first formant (F1) values have been found for breathy vowels in some languages, while others do not show consistent F1 differences based on phonation type. Furthermore, at present little work has investigated the effect of breathy voiced consonants on formant values in subsequent vowels. The current study presents data from Marathi, an Indic language with phonemically breathy-voiced obstruents and sonorants. Ten native speakers (five males and five females) produced real words that included the vowels [a] and [e] after both modal and breathy consonants. The effect of consonant phonation type on F1 and F2 values in subsequent vowels is reported in order to augment our understanding of the relationship between voice quality differences and vowel quality.

Talker identification across source mechanisms: experiments with laryngeal and electrolarynx speech.

The purpose of this study was to determine listeners' ability to learn talker identity from speech produced with an electrolarynx, explore source and filter differentiation in talker identification, and describe acoustic-phonetic changes associated with electrolarynx use. Healthy adult control listeners learned to identify talkers from speech recordings produced using talkers' normal laryngeal vocal source or an electrolarynx. Listeners' abilities to identify talkers from the trained vocal source (Experiment 1) and generalize this knowledge to the untrained source (Experiment 2) were assessed. Acoustic-phonetic measurements of spectral differences between source mechanisms were performed. Additional listeners attempted to match recordings from different source mechanisms to a single talker (Experiment 3). Listeners successfully learned talker identity from electrolarynx speech but less accurately than from laryngeal speech. Listeners were unable to generalize talker identity to the untrained source mechanism. Electrolarynx use resulted in vowels with higher F1 frequencies compared with laryngeal speech. Listeners matched recordings from different sources to a single talker better than chance. Electrolarynx speech, although lacking individual differences in voice quality, nevertheless conveys sufficient indexical information related to the vocal filter and articulation for listeners to identify individual talkers. Psychologically, perception of talker identity arises from a "gestalt" of the vocal source and filter.

The role of creaky voice in Cantonese tonal perception.

There are few studies on the role of phonation cues in the perception of lexical tones in tonal languages where pitch is the primary dimension of contrast. This study shows that listeners are sensitive to creaky phonation in native tonal perception in Cantonese, a language in which the low falling tone, Tone 4, has anecdotally been reported to be sometimes creaky. First, in a multi-speaker corpus of lab speech, it is documented that creak occurs systematically more often on Tone 4 than other tones. Second, for stimuli drawn from this corpus, listeners identified Tone 4 with 20% higher accuracy when it was realized with creak than when it was not. Third, in a two-alternative forced choice task of identifying stimuli as Tone 4 or Tone 6 (the low level tone) isolating creak from any concomitant pitch cues, listeners had a higher proportion of Tone 4 responses for creaky stimuli. Finally, listeners had more Tone 4 responses for creaky stimuli with longer durations of nonmodal phonation. These results underscore that differences in voice quality contribute to human perception of tone alongside f0. Automatic tonal recognition and clinical applications for tone would benefit from attention to voice quality beyond f0 and pitch.

Emotions in freely varying and mono-pitched vowels, acoustic and EGG analyses

Vocal emotions are expressed either by speech or singing. The difference is that in singing the pitch is predetermined while in speech it may vary freely. It was of interest to study whether there were voice quality differences between freely varying and mono-pitched vowels expressed by professional actors. Given their profession, actors have to be able to express emotions both by speech and singing. Electroglottogram and acoustic analyses of emotional utterances embedded in expressions of freely varying vowels [a:], [i:], [u:] (96 samples) and mono-pitched protracted vowels (96 samples) were studied. Contact quotient (CQEGG) was calculated using 35%, 55%, and 80% threshold levels. Three different threshold levels were used in order to evaluate their effects on emotions. Genders were studied separately. The results suggested significant gender differences for CQEGG 80% threshold level. SPL, CQEGG, and F4 were used to convey emotions, but to a lesser degree, when F0 was predetermined. Moreover, females showed fewer significant variations than males. Both genders used more hypofunctional phonation type in mono-pitched utterances than in the expressions with freely varying pitch. The present material warrants further study of the interplay between CQEGG threshold levels and formant frequencies, and listening tests to investigate the perceptual value of the mono-pitched vowels in the communication of emotions.

Perceptual consequences of changes in epilaryngeal area and shape

Decreasing epilaryngeal area has been shown to increase glottal flow pulse skewing and harmonic amplitudes [Titze, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 123, 2733 (2008)]. It is not known, however, whether listeners perceive voice quality changes when epilaryngeal area is altered, or if perceived quality is different if the area change occurs at the ventricular folds or aryepiglottic (AE) folds. In this study, a kinematic vocal tract model was used to create five epilaryngeal cavity shapes resulting from constriction and retraction of the ventricular and AE folds. Four voice sources simulating varying degrees of vocal deviation were filtered through the five shapes for a total of 20 stimuli. Fourteen listeners completed a sort and rate task. Results were analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS). Altering the epilaryngeal cavity shape resulted in voice quality differences, and perceptual distances differed by voice source. AE fold constriction was perceived most differently from other shapes for all talkers. Ventricular fold constriction was perceived most similar to AE constriction for 3 of the 4 voice sources. Glottal flow and acoustic differences for each epilaryngeal shape will be described and related to the perceived differences in voice quality.

Development of a glottal area index that integrates glottal gap size and open quotient

Because voice signals result from vocal fold vibration, perceptually meaningful vibratory measures should quantify those aspects of vibration that correspond to differences in voice quality. In this study, glottal area waveforms were extracted from high-speed videoendoscopy of the vocal folds. Principal component analysis was applied to these waveforms to investigate the factors that vary with voice quality. Results showed that the first principal component derived from tokens without glottal gaps was significantly (p < 0.01) associated with the open quotient (OQ). The alternating-current (AC) measure had a significant effect (p < 0.01) on the first principal component among tokens exhibiting glottal gaps. A measure AC/OQ, defined as the ratio of AC to OQ, was proposed to combine both amplitude and temporal characteristics of the glottal area waveform for both complete and incomplete glottal closures. Analyses of "glide" phonations in which quality varied continuously from breathy to pressed showed that the AC/OQ measure was able to characterize the corresponding continuum of glottal area waveform variation, regardless of the presence or absence of glottal gaps.

On parameterizing glottal area waveforms from high-speed images

Because voice signals result from vocal fold vibration, perceptually-meaningful vibratory measures should quantify those aspects of vibration that correspond to differences in voice quality. In this study, glottal area waveforms were calculated from high-speed images of the vocal folds. Principal component analysis was applied to these waveforms to investigate the factors that vary with voice quality. Results showed that the first two principal components were significantly (p &amp;lt; 0.01) associated with the open quotient and the ratio of alternating-current to direct-current components. However, these conventional source measures, which are based on glottal flow, do not fully characterize observed variations in glottal area pulse shape across different glottal configurations, especially with respect to patterns of glottal closure that may be perceptually important. A source measure, the Source Dynamic Index (SDI), is proposed to characterize glottal area waveform variation for both complete and incomplete glottal closures. Analyses of “glide” phonations in which quality varied continuously from breathy to pressed showed that the SDI is able to characterize the corresponding continuum of glottal area waveform variation, regardless of the presence or absence of glottal gaps. [Work supported in part by NSF and NIH.]

Effects of immediate feedback on learning auditory perceptual voice quality evaluation

The study investigated the effect of immediate feedback in training listeners to perceive subtle differences in voice quality, a perceptual skill that is important for speech-language pathologists. Sixty naive listeners were randomly assigned to a feedback group (Group F), a no feedback group (Group NF), and a no training group acting as a control group (Group C). The task was to evaluate the severity of a perceptual voice quality (breathiness) by using a reference-matching paradigm. All participants took part in three rating sessions (pre-training, 2 days after training and 1 week after training). Group F and Group NF participated in a training session immediately after the first rating session, where Group F practiced with immediate feedback given and Group NF practice with no immediate feedback given. The results showed that Group F and Group NF had significant improvement after training, but Group F did not retain the improvement in the third rating session. The use of a reference-matching training paradigm without giving frequent immediate feedback is suggested for auditory-perceptual voice evaluation training. The most effective frequency of immediate feedback is yet to be determined.

Transoral Laser Microsurgery Elevates Fundamental Frequency in Early Glottic Cancer

To evaluate the long-term voice characteristics and quality of life of early glottic cancer patients after definitive treatment. Case series with chart review in a tertiary care medical center in Taiwan. Forty-two consecutive patients who received radiation therapy (RT) or transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) for early glottic cancer over 12 months were evaluated for voice laboratory data and quality-of-life measurements. Twenty-four patients received RT, and 18 underwent TLM. There was no difference between the two groups on acoustic and aerodynamic voice measures except for modal fundamental frequency in males. In the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck survey, the TLM group had better communication than the RT group, but there were no differences in voice quality and strength. There was also no significant difference in the Voice Handicap Index 10 evaluation. Male patients who received TLM have higher modal fundamental frequency than male patients who received RT and norms. Voice-related life quality is similar in patients regardless of RT or TLM treatment for early glottic cancer, but those who receive TLM have better communication abilities than those who receive RT.

Voice quality as a correlate of stop coda voicing in developing speech

Previous work reported that two children from the Imbrie Corpus (2005) tend to produce noise at the end of the nuclear vowel in words with [-voice] stop codas (duck, cup), but not in words with [+voice] codas (tub, bug) [JASA 123, 3320]. This noise resembles the preaspiration reported for adult speech in some languages. In this paper the earlier work is extended to the remaining eight children in this corpus of speech from 2- to 3-year old children learning American English. Furthermore, for nine subjects we compare their behavior to that of their primary female caregiver. Many of the children produce unvoiced coda stops that are coded as being strongly preaspirated. Their caregivers also produce vowel-final noise preceding [-voice] stops, but these tend to be coded as being weakly preaspirated. For both child and adult subjects preaspiration is more likely to occur for /k/ than for /p/. A few subjects produce irregular voicing rather than noise before [-voice] coda stops. More detailed acoustic measures such as durations and relative intensities will be presented. In addition, the acoustics are used to infer the physiology behind these voice quality differences between children and adults. [Work support from NIH R01DC00075, R01HD057606.]

Voice quality after organ‐preservation therapy with definitive radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer

The purpose of this study was to analyze voice quality among patients treated by definitive radiotherapy for laryngeal cancer. Ten patients with laryngeal cancer who had completed radiotherapy were involved in this pilot study. A standardized protocol was administered assessing: (1) sustained vowel production following maximal inspiration, (2) sustained vowel production for a 7-second duration repeated 5 times, and (3) spontaneous speech for 10 seconds. The acoustic parameters among patients with early-stage cancer were not statistically different from healthy age-corresponding controls, except for shimmer (0.20 vs 0.16 dB, ρ = 0.01) and maximum phonation duration (24.37 vs 30.10 seconds, ρ = 0.04). For patients with locally advanced cancer, differences with controls were observed with shimmer (2.29 vs 0.16 dB, ρ = 0.01), jitter (7.49% vs 1.04%, ρ = 0.01), harmonics-to-noise ratio (2.67 vs 9.22, ρ = 0.01), and maximum phonation duration (14.12 vs 30.10 seconds, ρ = 0.01). Despite the subtle differences in voice quality that existed, radiotherapy as a curative treatment for laryngeal cancer allows maintenance of a functional voice.

Multidisciplinary Approach in the Treatment of T1 Glottic Cancer

To compare oncological outcome and voice quality among a uniform and well-defined subset of patients with T1 glottic carcinoma. Patients, affected by laryngeal glottic carcinoma, treated by laser CO2 surgery or radiotherapy, have been analyzed. Overall survival and disease-free survival were calculated. In order to verify differences in functional outcomes and voice quality, all patients were interviewed during their last follow-up visit during 2009 using the VHI (Voice Handicap Index) questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the MedCalc software. A total of 143 patients were analyzed: 73 underwent surgery and 70 underwent radiotherapy. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival; dividing patients into stages T1a and T1b also made no difference. In order to evaluate the differences in outcomes for surgery and radiotherapy, patients were interviewed using the VHI questionnaire. Better scores for each category in the VHI were found for patients receiving radiotherapy compared to surgery (physical: p = 0.0023; functional: p < 0.0001; environmental: p < 0.001). The median VHI score for radiotherapy patients was 4, while for surgical patients it was 18 (p < 0.0001). This study confirms the well-known knowledge that results from radiotherapy and surgery in early glottic cancer treatment are equivalent. Furthermore, the role of patient preference in the treatment modality choice and the value of a multidisciplinary approach for a detailed and multi-oriented discussion with the patient are outlined.

Comparison of intravenous general anaesthesia vs endotracheal intubation in the surgical management of juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis

Conclusions: Both intravenous general anaesthesia (IVGA) and general anaesthesia with endotracheal intubation (GA with ET) are applicable for the procedure of juvenile onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (JO-RRP). GA with ET was found to be better for JO-RRP patients with dyspnoea, as it provided better stabilization of the vital signs with fewer postoperative complications. Objectives: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of two different anaesthetic techniques in the removal of JO-RRP. Methods: A total of 52 JO-RRP patients with mild dyspnoea were included in the study. Each case underwent two procedures, one by IVGA and the other by GA with ET. A total of 104 procedures were performed. The effectiveness and safety of the two anaesthetic techniques were pairwise compared. Results: There were no significant differences in anaesthetic recovery time, operative time or postoperative voice quality between the two anaesthetic groups. However, significant differences in heart rate, oxygen saturation and carbon dioxide saturation were observed. Some patients who underwent IVGA developed apnoea (28.8%) and laryngeal spasm (19.2%). These complications were not observed in the GA with ET group.

Effects of native language on perception of the relative amplitudes of the first and second harmonics.

As an incidental result of previous studies of the perception of spectral slope, we found that Mandarin speakers were nearly twice as sensitive to changes in the amplitude of the first harmonic relative to the second (H1-H2) as are English speakers. Although two Mandarin tones are typically produced with characteristic changes in voice quality, Mandarin does not contrast phonation types directly. Thus, the observed difference between listener groups could be due to increased attention to overall source characteristics in speakers of tone languages (because F0=H1), or specifically to experience with voice quality differences apart from F0. To clarify this matter, we measured just-noticeable differences in H1-H2 for speakers of Gujarati, a non-tonal language that contrasts breathy and modal vowels in H1-H2, and for speakers of a language like Yoruba that contrasts tones but not phonation types. If increased sensitivity to H1-H2 differences is due to attention to H1, then just-noticeable differences for both groups should be smaller than those for English speakers. However, if perceptual experience specifically with the H1-H2 contrast is required, then Gujarati speakers, but not Yoruba speakers, should show increased sensitivity relative to English speakers. [Research supported by NIH and NSF.]

Sopranos' secondo passagio: a resonance adjustment and/or a laryngeal transition to the whistle voice

How are glottal source and vocal tract involved in the sopranos' passagio around E5? This pilot study investigates a legit soprano singing C5 to C6 with a lyrical technique and C5 to D7 in a light voice. On (de)crescendi and glissandi over the passagio, we observed clear bifurcations from light to lyrical mode, with discontinuous changes in f0, larynx vertical position, amplitude and shape of the electroglottographic signal. No such discontinuities occurred from C5 to D7 within the light mode. We established phonetograms of both modes and characterised differences in voice quality (Spectrum, Harmonicity, Open quotient). For [oe] in both modes, this singer tunes the first vocal tract resonance (R1) to f0 over the passagio. For a free vowel, a single and strong resonance is observed in the light mode, which may correspond to the merging of R1 and R2 and which is tuned to 2 f0 below C6, then to f0 until F6. Above F#6, two resonances are observed again and R2 is tuned to f0. All these observations sug...