How to improve vocal technique: the role of the F4 in the vocal quality of the Actor

Suely Master & Martha Herr

The objective of this study is to compare the voices of actors with those of non-actors through the use of acoustic and perceptual analysis. Eleven Brazilian actors and ten non-actors (all male) participated in this study. From a text read at habitual and loud intensity, the vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ were selected for analysis of formant structure, specifically the difference between the frequencies of the third and fourth formants (F4-F3), the difference between the frequencies of the fourth and the first formants (F4-F1) and the difference between the sound pressure levels in the region of 0-1 kHz and 2-4 kHz (SPL2-SPL4). The degree of projection and loudness were perceptually evaluated by eight phonoaudiologists. The actors were perceived as having a louder and more projected voice in both intensities. There was a significant difference between the groups in the SPL 2-SPL 4 which also showed to be correlated to the perception of loudness on the two levels of intensity. For the difference F4-F3, there was not a significant difference and there was not correlation with the region of the “actor’s formant” or with the degree of projection and loudness in the two levels of intensity. So, it is probable that the strategy used for our Brazilian actors’ scenic voice is related to a more intense adduction of the vocal folds or with a hight impedance of the vocal tract due to an increased of vocal fold velocity during the closing phase of the phonatory cycle, creating harmonics stronger in the higher spectrum.

Keywords: vocal quality, acoustic analysis, projected voice.

Suely Master, suely.master@uol.com.br