06 - Phonation II

Question 1

Opening and closing of the vocal folds during phonation results in the generation of ____ (simple/complex) periodic sound with a certain _____ frequency

Answer 1

Generation of COMPLEX periodic sound with a certain FUNDAMENTAL frequency

Question 2

Fundamental frequency can be measured directly from the speech _________

Answer 2

Waveform

Question 3

What would an amplitude versus time display for /a/ show?

Answer 3

A complex periodic waveform

Question 4

How do we measure the period of the /a/ waveform? (ie. where would we measure?)

Answer 4

Peak-to-peak measurement (duration of a single cycle)

Question 5

Period is _______ (proportional/inversely related) to frequency

Answer 5

Inversely related

Question 6

If we determined the period was 10 ms, what would be the frequency?

Answer 6

(1 cycle/10 ms) x (1000ms/second) = 100 Hz

Question 7

Since hand calculations are very time consuming, especially when measuring F0 across several seconds of speech, what program(s) could we use instead?

Answer 7

Visipitch or other voice analysis programs

Question 8

How do voice analysis programs measure pitch periods? Are they 100% accurate?

Answer 8

Algorithms may use peak detection or zero crossing methods, autocorrelation, or pattern matching procedures

No program or algorithm is 100% accurate (esp. with abnormal voices)

Question 9

How can visualization of the pitch periods calculated by programs be useful?

Answer 9

To evaluate the accuracy of the automatic pitch tracking

Question 10

How might we use selected hand calculations of the pitch in association with computer algorithms?

Answer 10

Can use hand calculations to verify the computer’s automatic results

Question 11

What is Visipitch, and what is it useful for?

Answer 11

Visipitch is a commonly used pitch measurement system.

It is useful for continuous real-time display of pitch and intensity, and for rapid measures and auditory feedback training

Question 12

What are 3 Fundamental Frequency (F0) Measures?

Answer 12

Average F0
Frequency variability
Maximum Phonational Frequency Range (MPFR)

Question 13

What is another name for “Average Fundamental Frequency” and how do we find calculate it?

Answer 13

Also referred to as Speaking F0

F0 is averaged over the duration of a speech task or sample of connected speech

Question 14

What two factors must we consider when assessing and interpreting F0?

Answer 14

Age and Gender
Infants: 350-500 Hz
Children: 270-300 Hz
Young Women: 220 Hz
Older Women: 180 Hz
Older Men: 140 Hz
Young Men: 120 Hz

Question 15

What is the average F0 for Young Men? Are older men higher or lower? Older women?

Answer 15

120 Hz
Older men are higher
Young women are higher than older women, who are still higher than men

Question 16

Name 3 things that may contribute to prosody (patterns of stress and intonation) and F0 variability?

Answer 16

Emotion
Stress or accent on syllables
Grammatical forms

Question 17

How might F0 variability indicate a voice problem?

Answer 17

Too much or too little F0 variability may sound abnormal and indicate a voice problem

Question 18

What does F0SD stand for?

Answer 18

F0 (Fundamental frequency) Standard Deviation

Question 19

What does F0SD a measure of?

Answer 19

F0 variability

Question 20

What is F0SD for normal conversation?

Answer 20

20-35 Hz

Question 21

The difference between the highest and lowest F0 in a sample of connected speech is called______?

Answer 21

F0 Range

Question 22

Which gender generally has a greater F0 Range?

Answer 22

Females:
Young male = 65 Hz
Young female = 95 Hz

Increases with old age
Infants have the greatest range (1200 Hz)

Question 23

What does “monopitch” refer to?

Answer 23

Significantly reduced F0 range (associated with certain voice disorders)

Question 24

During prolonged vowels /a/, the F0 and SDF0 should be very _____ (high/low)

Answer 24

Low: 3-6 Hz

Higher values indicate problems with pitch control

Question 25

What doe MPFR refer to?

Answer 25

Maximum Phonational Frequency Range

Question 26

MPFR is obtained while producing _______ or gliding tones

Answer 26

Stepping

Question 27

The MPFR ranges from the ____ to the ______ tone that a person can sustain

Answer 27

Lowest to Highest

Question 28

What is the average MPFR of adult males?

Answer 28

80-700 Hz (about a 600 Hz range) Adult females: 135-1000 Hz (~850 Hz range) Trained singers will have a wider range Voice disorders associated with much narrower range

Question 29

What is speech amplitude largely determined by?

Answer 29

The amplitude of sound that is created by phonation | *Speech and voice amplitude are roughly equivalent

Question 30

What is speech/vocal amplitude measured in?

Answer 30

Decibels

Question 31

Vocal amplitude must be referenced and calibrated using an accurate sound level meter placed ________

Answer 31

At a specified distance from the talker's mouth (6-12 inches)

Question 32

What two things is the average vocal amplitude level largely dependent on?

Answer 32

``` Speech activity Speaking context (eg. soft conversation, classroom, etc) ```

Question 33

How is average vocal amplitude measured?

Answer 33

By taking the average value over the duration of a speech sample

Question 34

What is the normal average conversation level in dB SPL?

Answer 34

68-70 dB SPL at 12 inches

Question 35

Do age and gender have a large or small effect on average amplitude level?

Answer 35

Small effect - children generally lower than adults - women slightly less than men - old=young

Question 36

What are two ways we can determine the average amplitude level?

Answer 36

Measure amplitude by hand from the peaks in the speech waveform Use computer programs (e.g. Visipitch) which give real-time continuous amplitude contours

Question 37

_______ (reduced/increased) vocal amplitude can be an important indication of a voice disorder

Answer 37

Reduced

Question 38

What are 3 measures of Vocal Amplitude or Intensity?

Answer 38

Average Amplitude Level Amplitude Variability Dynamic Range

Question 39

Why might speech amplitude vary?

Answer 39

Emotions Stress or accent on syllables Grammatical forms

Question 40

What are 2 measures of Speech Amplitude Variability?

Answer 40

SD of A (Standard Deviation of Amplitude) | Range of Amplitude

Question 41

What is the normal SD of A value?

Answer 41

10 dB SPL

Question 42

Voice disorders may show ____ (reduced/increased) range and SD of A

Answer 42

Reduced (monoloudness)

Question 43

What does dynamic range refer to?

Answer 43

The softest phonation to maximum loudness of phonation (~50-115 dB SPL, which is a 65 dB range)

Question 44

We might be concerned if the Dynamic Range is less than ____ dB in the mid range of F0

Answer 44

Less than 30 dB in the mid range of F0

Question 45

What is the Voice Range Profile or Phonetogram? What should it show?

Answer 45

Dynamic amplitude plotted across F0 range Should be wide in the mid range, but narrows at endpoints -slight dip in range at point where we switch to falsetto (M:390 Hz, F: 440Hz)

Question 46

What are cycle-to-cycle variations in F0 and Amplitude referred to as?

Answer 46

Frequency perturbation | Amplitude perturbation

Question 47

What do frequency and amplitude perturbations estimate?

Answer 47

The average variation in each adjacent cycle of vocal fold vibration

Question 48

What is the average cycle-to-cycle variation in the time (period) of vibration called?

Answer 48

Jitter

Question 49

What does "shimmer" refer to?

Answer 49

The average cycle-to-cycle variation in the amplitude of vibration

Question 50

What are normal jitter values?

Answer 50

<1% of F0 | or <0.1 ms (expressed as absolute time)

Question 51

What are normal shimmer values?

Answer 51

0.5 dB

Question 52

"Signal to Noise Ratio" is also referred to as____?

Answer 52

Harmonics to Noise Ratio

Question 53

What is the "Signal-to-Noise Ratio"?

Answer 53

The amplitude of the speech signal at the specific frequency of F0 divided by the amplitude of other non-F0 frequencies (excluding the harmonics)

Question 54

When calculating the signal to noise ratio, the non-F0 frequencies are considered to be _____ (noise/signal)

Answer 54

Noise (i.e. like the frequencies produced during a whispered /a/ instead of a voiced /a/)

Question 55

A normal voice will have a relatively _____(small/large) amplitude of noise frequencies relative to the F0 signal frequency

Answer 55

Small

Question 56

Higher signal/noise (S/N) is associated with a _____ (poor/normal) voice

Answer 56

Normal

Question 57

Lower signal/noise (S/N) is associated with a _____(poor/normal) voice

Answer 57

Poor

Question 58

What are normal S/N values?

Answer 58

15-20 dB Below 15 dB may indicate a voice problem