Voice Classification by Phonetography. An Exploratory Study.

Hugo Lycke

In the world of opera and musical theatre classification of the singer’s / actor’s voice is of utmost importance. However, up to now voices are commonly classified by acoustic perception.. This subjective method is usually based on the appreciation of timbre and/or voice range. Intensity is another important parameter of voice , that is difficult to estimate by the ear. Therefore, this parameter is often neglected. To what extent intensity, as accurately measured by phonetography, could provide an essential aid in voice classification was studied in a group of 333 subjects (214 females and 119 males), with different backgrounds (from trained singers to voice patients). The age of the females ranged from 8 to 65 years.(mean : 23,8 ), the age of the male subjects ranged from 10 to 76 years. (mean : 27,8). A step-by-step procedure of phonetographic analysis of 8 specific items led to the elaboration of an age-related and gender-specific pattern card of the human voice. This offers a referential database which enables a basic method of voice classification. This basic voice classification provides useful information for voice education and voice therapy.

Drs. Hugo LYCKE
Affiliatie : KULeuven (België)
Adres : Edelarendries 74, 9820 Merelbeke (België)
e-mail adres : hugolycke@hotmail.com
Tel. : 00/32/ 9 3625674