12/10/2019 The main carriers of information for humans are signals that are generated by the senses, delivered to the brain and processed there. First of all, these are acoustic speech signals of the voice. In this article, we will take a closer look at the mechanisms of speech sound, voice and vocal production, and also find out why parrots can speak almost the same as humans.
Over the course of many millions of years of evolution, the sounds made by humans have turned into articulate speech. This significantly distinguishes us from other living beings on the planet. The meaningful use of speech sounds results in words and sentences that enable the exchange of information between people through language. Today people speak 7111 different languages, while not a single animal can do this. The human cerebral cortex contains many areas that are responsible for speech function.
Speech apparatus and speech
The human speech apparatus consists of the larynx, tongue, lips, as well as the cavities of the mouth, nose and pharynx. During speaking, the air moves and vibrates due to the directed interaction of the muscles involved in this process. If we didn't have a larynx, we could only speak in a whisper. If you place your finger on the larynx while speaking, you will feel a vibration that is not felt when we speak in a whisper. This vibration is created thanks to the vocal cords or folds, as they are sometimes called. The vocal cords are located in the middle part of the larynx. When inhaled air enters, they act like an organ pipe with spring reeds.
The vocal cords are a paired organ; they are stretched across the trachea (windpipe) and at the same time close it. (Figure 1) Thus, the glottis located between them is tightly closed.
Figure 1: The degree of opening of the glottis, depending on the actions performed.
When producing vowel sounds, the position of the tongue and its shape create a state of formant resonance.
During speaking, the glottis opens under the pressure of air coming from the lungs. When the glottis opens, there is a drop in air pressure and thus the glottis closes (Bernoulli's law). Again, air pressure is created under the vocal folds. This process is repeated continuously while speaking. The vocal cords experience mechanical vibrations.
There are a huge number of resonant frequencies with a fundamental original tone and overtones. Thanks to the vocal muscles, the tension force and thickness of the vocal folds change. As a consequence, there is a change in the main resonant frequencies. When the vocal cords are tense, high-pitched sounds are produced; when relaxed, on the contrary, low sounds are formed. When playing low sounds, the vocal folds vibrate slowly, while high sounds cause rapid vibrations.
The male larynx is significantly larger, and the vocal cords are approximately twice as long as those of women. Therefore, the male voice sounds about one octave lower. Hoarseness, viral infections, and smoking can damage the vocal cords. The voice of a person with a cold is like a low croak. Adult men who smoke often speak in a low, slurred voice that sounds like a wheeze.
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What does a hearing test tell you?
An online hearing test allows you to quickly and easily determine your hearing status. In just 3 minutes you can determine its spiciness. The result of the hearing test is called an “audiogram” and is an indication for doctor’s prescriptions.
We suggest the following hearing tests: signs of hearing loss; online frequency hearing test; hearing test in noise; speech recognition; modeling signs of hearing loss.
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Voiced and unvoiced sounds
Above the vocal cords is the supraglottic tube (above the larynx). The extension tube consists of the pharyngeal cavity and the cavities of the mouth and nose. If you do not take into account the nasal cavity, the extension tube will look like a tube open on one side.
In this extension tube, the sound coloring of vowel sounds is formed from the hoarse, resonant noise that passes through the glottis. Actively changing the position of the tongue and lips changes the shape of the resonant cavity, as well as the length of the extension pipe. Thus, during speaking, the typical resonant frequencies of the tract, or formants, appear. The frequencies and amplitudes of these formants are the determining indicators when pronouncing vowel sounds. Ever watch carefully the movements of a news anchor's lips. You will learn based on the position of the mouth how lip reading works. When pronouncing [a], the mouth is slightly open, [o] and [y] are pronounced with elongated lips. Consonants are formed due to a certain position of the lips. In phonetics, a distinction is made between voiced and unvoiced sounds. (Figure 2)
Figure 2: An initial signal is generated in the vocal folds, which is transformed by resonances in the extension tube, so that it eventually becomes a language signal.
Dull sounds occur when the glottis is wide open, so that air can easily penetrate to the end of the vocal tract.
The difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds can be clearly seen by conducting two experiments: hold your hand while speaking on the larynx. If you feel vibration, the sound is ringing; if there is no vibration, then the sound is considered dull. The second experiment is to close your ears and press on the tragus on both sides and at the same time slowly say: “One, two, three, four, five...”. During acoustic isolation with a closed ear canal, you will notice the difference between dull and voiced sounds: soft noises and rattling vibrations.
Voiceless sounds - hissing (whistling) or fricative consonants and stops. During whispering, the vocal cords are used only indirectly. The air flow released during whispering is weak, and it creates small vibrations in the slightly open, calm glottis. These vibrations are acoustically perceived as quiet noise, completely devoid of sound design. In this case, there is no power and sound resonance enhancement of the vocal cords. In the extension pipe, in the same way as during sound voice production, the same resonances are formed, only they are much quieter.
Spectrogram
A spectrogram (sonogram) or visualized speech is a three-dimensional, visual representation of sounds in two-dimensional graphics. The sequence of signals is represented by a time index (abscissa and ordinate axis) and frequency (abscissa axis or longitudinal axis). Sound intensity is represented as relative darkening or color intensity scaling (third dimension) of the time and frequency images.
Reading and interpreting a spectrogram needs to be learned, since under certain circumstances an overabundance of information appears. In this way, it is possible to recognize the processes of establishment and attenuation of oscillations, interference, and even more so pathological changes in the functioning of the speech apparatus (Figure 3). The sonogram gives an idea of the sound study; the field of study is marked by the abscissa and ordinate axes. Sound reflection levels are measured using an acoustic probe, associated with a specific location in the field of study, and these areas are colored black depending on the intensity.
Figure 3: Spectrogram (sonogram) with the position of the formants of vowels i, u, a.
Talking Parrot
After this scientific excursion into the sound system of language and its analysis, I would like to tell you one more story. A good friend of mine was very proud to be a parrot owner. The African gray parrot (Grey parrot) was named Walter and was over 30 years old. Walter was a smart guy. He could repeat not only his own name and the name of my friend, but also quite quickly reproduced people’s addresses in full. In addition, he could say small sentences, such as: “I like you” or “You are a coward.” Tilting his head to the side, looking up and down with his captivating gaze, he presented his repertoire to selected visitors.
With his very loud and clear voice, he could whistle, so that his ears began to hurt. It played all sorts of sounds, such as a vacuum cleaner or a razor. Man and animal are capable of becoming close friends, and, of course, Walter managed to do this. He was very affectionate and snuggled against my friend’s cheek as they “chatted.” But at the same time he was timid and made a hell of a noise when he was excited. Walter lived in a very beautiful large enclosure with all kinds of toy rubbish, sometimes he flew out of there and swung on the chandelier.
One day on a bad spring day, Walter was sitting on a chandelier, and suddenly a strong gust of wind blew open the loosely closed terrace door. Walter, of course, panicked: he screamed and wheezed, and then flew out through the open terrace door. My friend, of course, heard the noise, but, unfortunately, came into the room too late. Walter is already gone...
Parrots can imitate speech sounds. In the wild, birds recognize each other by the characteristic sounds of their species. Many birds can not only whistle and sing beautifully, but also amazingly reliably imitate all kinds of noises.
How is this possible?
And birds have a larynx, but without vocal cords and an epiglottis. Birds produce sounds from the so-called lower larynx (syrinx), located deep in the chest, near the place where the windpipe divides before entering the lungs. Here there are oscillatory membranes, which, just like the vocal cords, can change their tension thanks to the muscles. Since the vocal organs of birds are located in two branches of the windpipe, some songbirds can sing with two voices. Listen to the nightingale singing one quiet summer evening - you will receive great acoustic pleasure! (Figures 4 and 5).
Figure 4: The avian larynx (syrinx) contains two glottis. Therefore, some songbirds can sing with two voices.
Figure 5: Walter the gray parrot could perfectly “pronounce” not only his name.
Parrots, for example, have a thick beak and a thick tongue, thanks to this (by changing the position of the tongue), they can, like humans, articulate a large number of sounds. This feature helped Walter. A very nice man found him and brought him to the police station. Walter reported there the name of his owner and his address. Walter expressed his joy at meeting his owner very loudly, imitating the sounds of a siren.
Summarizing
- Humans and many animals can form speech sounds.
- The development of sound speech is possible only in humans thanks to their mental abilities.
- The human speech apparatus consists of the larynx, tongue, lips, and also includes the oral cavity, nose and pharynx.
- Voiced sounds (vowels, umlauts, nasals, smooth consonants, fricative sonorants and obstruent consonants) initially arise from vibrations of the vocal cords, and then sound is formed in the supernatant (sound formants).
- Voiceless sounds (consonants, hissing and fricative consonants, as well as stops) arise without the participation of the vocal cords.
- A spectrogram (sonogram, visualized speech) is a graphical representation of signals that depend on the frequency of vibrations, the course of the process over time and intensity.
Ulla Vogdt Material taken from Hörakustik magazine, No. 1 2022.
Classification of timbres and relationship with voice pitch
First, let's briefly recall the material from previous lessons so that you can move on. Let's start with an explanation of concepts and terms. Voice pitch is the ability to speak higher or lower. The average person has a range of up to one and a half octaves, and in everyday communication most people use 3-4 notes. Expanding the range will make communications more expressive.
Voice timbre is its individual coloring, a set of additional vibrations or overtones that arise along with the main frequency. Elaboration of resonators can enrich the timbre of the voice.
The pitch and timbre of the voice are closely interrelated characteristics. The generally accepted classification of singing voices is precisely based on the direct dependence of timbre on the pitch of the voice. Such a classification, as we said earlier, is very conditional, because there are people whose voice can cover the range of bass and baritone, baritone and tenor, contralto and mezzo-soprano, and even much more.
For example, the singer Dimash has a range of 6 octaves plus 5 semitones from the “A” of the counter octave to the “D” note of the 5th octave. Thus, his voice fully accommodates the range in which baritone, tenor, alto and soprano sing, and also captures the upper part of the bass register and part of the so-called “whistle register”, which extends beyond the upper notes of the soprano.
However, most people's voices are within the range of either bass, or baritone, or tenor (for men), or within the range of contralto, or mezzo-soprano, or soprano (for women), without even reaching the extreme notes of the range. Therefore, the traditional classification of voices is completely suitable for determining the timbre of most people. So, let's figure out what each voice type means.
Men's voice timbres:
- Tenor is a high male voice that covers the range from the note “C” in the small octave to the note “C” in the 2nd octave. It is divided (from bottom to top) into dramatic, lyric-dramatic (also mezzo-characteristic), lyrical, altino. Sometimes the countertenor is placed in a separate category, which extends from the note “E” of the small octave to “E” of the 2nd octave.
- Baritone is an average male voice, covering the range from the note “A” of the large octave to the note “A” of the 1st octave. It is divided (from bottom to top) into bass-baritone, dramatic, lyric-dramatic, lyric and tenor-baritone.
- Bass is a low male voice that covers the range from the note “E” in the major octave to the note “G” in the 1st octave. It is divided by pitch into low, central, high, and by tone into baritone, characteristic, deep and comic.
In the picture below, the ranges are indicated on the piano keys in green. 3-4 notes on the right and left, highlighted in yellow - these are the extreme notes of the range that a person, in principle, can play, but not in a full voice, but, as phoniatrists would say, on open ligaments.
Voice timbres for women:
- Soprano is a high voice, covering the range from the note “C” in the 1st octave to the note “C” in the 3rd octave. It is divided (from bottom to top) into dramatic, lyric-dramatic, lyric, lyric-coloratura and coloratura soprano.
- Mezzo-soprano is a medium voice, covering the range from the note “A” in the small octave to the note “A” in the 2nd octave.
- Contralto is a low voice that covers the range from the note “F” in the small octave to the note “G” in the 2nd octave.
Children's voices are not divided by gender. The low voice is called alto, the high voice is called soprano, both for boys and girls. For boys, a high voice has a second name: treble.
The higher the voice, the louder the timbre. The lower the voice, the deeper, velvety and sexy the timbre is perceived. An interesting observation was made by scientists, in particular, Cecilia Pemberton from the University of South Australia. She and her colleagues compared audio recordings of women's voices made in 1945 with audio recorded in the early 90s [BBC, 2018].
For the purity of the experiment, the voices of non-smoking female students aged 18-25 were compared in order to exclude the influence of various factors such as smoking, nervous work, a large number of births, age, and hormonal changes in the body on the voice. It turned out that over almost half a century, the average fundamental frequency of the female voice has decreased by 23 Hz. If in 1945 the average young woman spoke at a frequency of 229 Hz (approximately “A sharp” of the small octave), then already in the early 1990s young women broadcast at an average frequency of 206 Hz (approximately “G sharp” of the small octave). Thus, the female voice has dropped by almost a note over half a century [BBC, 2018].
Interestingly, when a study in the early 90s decided to exclude young women taking hormonal contraceptives, which are known to slightly change the body's hormonal levels and affect their voice, the overall results of the study did not change at all.
Scientists tend to consider this a consequence of success in the fight for gender equality. Wanting to take advantage of the opportunities that opened up in life, women quickly adopted and mastered the skills of a leader, allowing them to achieve success in their careers, science, business, and politics. And due to the fact that a lower voice is traditionally considered more suitable for leadership, women have learned to manipulate this ability of their body.
In addition, the male environment in the workforce and top management, the need to prove their competence and professional worth lead to the fact that women who find themselves in such circumstances subconsciously begin to speak in a lower range than before.
This wave hypothesis is confirmed by another study done by Joy Chen from the University of Illinois. Participants in the experiment, divided into groups of 4 to 8 people, had to arrange in order of importance the items needed by an astronaut who had an accident on the Moon [Air Force, 2018]. This was the collective part of the task.
Next, the participants were interviewed one-on-one and asked to rate the leadership and influence of the rest of the group based on their personal impressions. The conversations were recorded and, later studying the audio recordings, the scientists saw (heard) that the majority of the participants changed the pitch of their own voices in the very first minutes of the conversation. Those participants whose voice was lower were rated by the rest as more influential and authoritative. This pattern was observed for both men and women.
The importance of voice tone for career success is confirmed by other studies. For example, Texas-based analytics company Quantified Impressions studied the speeches of 120 top managers by using special software to segment voice characteristics and surveying more than a thousand people. Among the respondents were 10 experts and a thousand ordinary listeners.
23% of the respondents’ assessments, in one way or another, related to the timbre and other characteristics of the speaker’s voice, and only 11%, assessing the speech as a whole, tried to somehow evaluate the content of the speech [S. Shellenberger, 2013]. The rest of the survey participants rated emotionality, personal charm and competence as such, regardless of the text of the speech.
Most researchers agree that when listening to weak, tired, or squeaky voices, people perceive the speaker as passive, stressed-out, or incompetent. Speakers with normal tone, pace, and expressiveness appear more successful, intelligent, and competent.
Does this mean that a person’s natural voice predetermines his success or failure in life? Of course not! A person can always improve his natural abilities and develop the ability to speak beautifully both in the lower range of his voice and in the upper one. How to do it? Now we'll figure it out!
Take a hearing test online
What does a hearing test tell you?
An online hearing test allows you to quickly and easily determine your hearing status. In just 3 minutes you can determine its spiciness. The result of the hearing test is called an “audiogram” and is an indication for doctor’s prescriptions.
We suggest the following hearing tests: signs of hearing loss; online frequency hearing test; hearing test in noise; speech recognition; modeling signs of hearing loss.
Take a hearing test
Masterminds are loved, but not trusted
The inspirational woman (audio track) seemed optimistic to most, and many also noted her sensitivity and peacefulness. Describing her portrait, respondents highlighted such features as activity, smiling, young age, and a rather thin physique. Paradoxically, such a seemingly pleasant woman aroused mistrust (18.3%) and skepticism (18.3%) among listeners.
This type of male voice (audio track) was also perceived by the majority as optimistic (52.2%) and inspiring (22.4%). He is closer to forty years old, a charismatic and emotional man, he looks nice and is attractive. But despite this attractive portrait, the inspirer evoked complex emotions among respondents: along with positive trust (32.8%) and calmness (19.4%), this voice aroused skepticism (24.2%) and irritation (37.9) among listeners. %). By the way, Sergei Bezrukov was considered an ideal example of a male inspiration.
Read more on the topic “Useful information about hearing”
Why you don't need a hearing aid
The Academy of Hearing has been working with people suffering from hearing loss for over ten years. During this time, we have collected a whole collection of rumors, myths and misconceptions that surround this disease and the means of its correction - a hearing aid. We collected the most popular ones and asked our experts to comment on them in an easy, understandable and ironic way of “bad advice.”
Tinnitus: causes, treatment methods, consequences
Tinnitus is a widespread phenomenon and one of the most common diagnoses in the practice of treating ENT diseases. In 1999, in Germany, on behalf of the German League of Physicians, a large study was conducted in the field of auditory acoustics, during which it was found that tinnitus entails psychosomatic disorders such as sleep disturbances, depression and increased audiological stress.
How often should you change your hearing aids?
Do you remember what feelings and emotions you experienced when you first put on your hearing aid? How much brighter and more fulfilling has your life become, filled with clear sounds and voices? If several years have passed since then, are you sure that your hearing is still as good? Often, people who use hearing aids begin to notice over time that they begin to hear “somehow differently.”
Hearing aid or hearing amplifier: making the right choice!
Typically, a person loses their hearing gradually. First, the quietest, most inexpressive sounds and subtlest nuances “disappear.” Because of this, it is difficult for a person to ascertain a change in his ability to hear. Quite often, people try to ignore minor hearing loss until the truly important sounds for everyday life, such as the cry of a child or the sound of a car approaching, begin to disappear from the range of audible sounds.
“The Gray Mouse”, or How Philosophers are Characterized
The female voice of the “philosopher” category (audio track) presented itself as anxious (30%) and dependent (26.7%) and caused mistrust and anxiety. In the descriptive part, she was given a portrait of an insecure subordinate: she is a modest employee, sight-reading and dependent on the people around her, a thin girl dressed like a “gray mouse.”
The male philosopher (audio track) provoked other associations: he presented himself as sensitive and calm. Among the respondents, it evoked in almost equal proportions a feeling of calm (26.9%), mistrust (20.9%) and indifference (17.9%). To most of those listening, he appeared in the role of an actor, writer or subordinate. Respondents described him as an adult, confident man, but with a sly smile and a sly look.
Overtones
These are sounds above sounds. A trained throat produces two sounds simultaneously - tone and overtone. Overtones are high-frequency and ranged according to the laws of the “golden ratio”. What it is? When we look at a person’s face and find it attractive, this means that it is “tailored” by nature in proportion to the proportion of its parts. In the same way, overtones harmonize the timbre of the voice using intervals.
The voice seems to climb up an overtone ladder - from one step to another. There are pauses between them. “The first overtone is an octave away from the tone. The second one is smaller. This is a fifth." And in the same way - in “steps” of overtones - the ordinary human ear gradually adjusts, which initially may not distinguish overtones.
Vocal exercises for the correct formation and presentation of sound, expanding the range
Each person has his own initial vocal abilities, his own strengths and weaknesses. A vocal teacher knows how to develop a voice for a particular person to sing. The teacher will suggest the correct vocal exercises based on the initial level, physiology and learning goals. It is not recommended to select and perform such exercises yourself: doing the exercises incorrectly is harmful and leads to voice failure and injury to the ligaments.
This doesn't mean you can't exercise on your own. Do breathing exercises and articulation exercises - and the more often, the better. Remember that the main thing is systematicity. Exercises every day for 20 minutes will bring benefits, and not once a week, but 2 hours. Mastering diaphragmatic breathing and training your abdominal muscles will allow vocal growth to come faster.
Breathing exercises
Breathing is the basis of singing. In everyday life, chest breathing (a type of breathing in which the shoulders and chest rise) is more common, especially among women. Chest breathing is not suitable for singing. Vocalists use diaphragmatic breathing when singing, which uses the abdominal muscles while keeping the shoulders and chest motionless. This is called "belly breathing." Thanks to diaphragmatic breathing, the singer regulates the force of exhalation, creates support for singing, and distributes the air. Despite the fact that children breathe from the stomach from birth, with age breathing changes to the chest. The muscles that are involved in diaphragmatic breathing remain underdeveloped - they are developed with the help of breathing exercises.
Working on breathing is an essential part of a vocalist’s development. By practicing methodically, day after day, the singer accelerates vocal growth and gains more freedom in singing. Without proper breathing, you cannot hit a high note, you cannot sing with pitch, you cannot distribute the air throughout a phrase. It is impossible to develop a voice for singing without breathing.
You are going the right way
The female agitator (audio track) was rated by the subjects as aggressive, anxious and dominant. Which, as a result, caused them irritation (45%), anxiety (23.3%) and mistrust (15%). She was described as an adult woman with a commanding personality, a large build and dressed in a formal suit. The vast majority cited Ksenia Sobchak as an example.
The male voice (audio track) also became dominant and uninviting. And it caused emotions of distrust, irritation and skepticism. This is a middle-aged man, strong, powerful, conservative. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is the most common example of male agitators.
What can you do in a week?
If you have the task of preparing a song for a holiday, then in a week you can improve the following points:
- Choose the right song. Perhaps the composition you chose is too complex or simply not suitable for you. The teacher will help you choose a piece that will show your voice to its advantage.
- Start breathing correctly. It will be difficult to achieve automaticity in a week, but you will still feel positive changes when singing.
- Work on the purity of performance by learning the melody. The teacher selects the melody of the voice on the piano - this makes it easier for people with an underdeveloped ear for music to hit the notes and learn the melody of the song more easily.
- Get rid of ear-piercing moments. For example, there may be places where you sound too nasal or start shouting, don’t have time to catch your breath, and sing with a thin, trembling sound. Emergency help from a vocal teacher will help clean up these places, and overall your performance will look better.
Timbre in the service of politics
In 2012, correspondents for the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society, in collaboration with PR technologists and neuropsychologists, conducted surveys of Americans who answered the question: “What timbre of voice makes them most trustworthy in a politician?”
The authors of the publication recorded 17 women and 10 men who uttered one phrase - “I urge you to vote for me in November.” The recordings were digitally corrected. They created pairs - one voice was raised, the other was lowered. “Voters” chose deep low timbres. Moreover, both male and female.
Scientists have long come to the conclusion that the secret of a person’s success/failure is in the timbre of his voice. Sociologist of communication at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London - Professor Sophia Scott - Fr. But the timbre also reveals what a person might want to hide.
The importance of voice in business
Understanding what associations a voice evokes has significant practical application in a business context - when recruiting personnel or preparing for public speaking, choosing an employee for presentations. In general, it is important to understand that the voice is the same tool for creating an image as clothes and accessories. And if the correct use of both is beneficial, then inattention and mistakes can lead to unpleasant consequences - at best, an elephant in a tutu will cause cognitive dissonance.
Of course, there are examples when the voice became a lucky ticket for a successful career. For example, the story of Elena Stroganova, who returned to Paris in the 60s and worked in the Jansen jewelry store. There she was once seen by Yves Saint Laurent. The shy master asked the young woman: “Do you have a cold or do you always have that voice?” She replied that it was her “normal” voice. A few days later, Saint Laurent, who didn’t even know her name, offered the baroness a job overseeing his boutiques around the world. Two years later, at 28, she became director of the Yves Saint Laurent haute couture salon. She held this post until the closure of the famous house - more than three decades.
