[en] Objective: Vocal accuracy of a sung performance can be evaluated by two methods:
acoustic analyses and subjective judgements. Acoustic analyses have been presented as a
more reliable solution but both methods are still used for the evaluation of singing voice
accuracy. This paper presents a first time direct comparison of these methods.
Methods: 166 untrained singers were asked to sing the popular song « Happy
Birthday ». These recordings constituted the database analyzed. Acoustic analyses were
performed to quantify the pitch interval deviation, the number of contour errors and the
number of tonality modulations for each recording. Additionally, eighteen experts in singing
voice or music rated the global pitch accuracy of these performances.
Results: A high correlation occurred between acoustic measurements and subjective
rating. The total model of acoustic analyses explained 81% of the variance of the judges’
scores. Their rating was influenced by both tonality modulation and interval deviation.
Conclusions: This study highlights the congruence between objective and subjective
measurements of vocal accuracy within this first time comparison. Our results confirm the
relevance of the pitch interval deviation criterion in vocal accuracy assessment. Furthermore,
the number of tonality modulations is also a salient criterion in perceptive rating and should
be taken into account in studies using acoustic analyses.
Disciplines :
Theoretical & cognitive psychology
Author, co-author :
Larrouy-Maestri, Pauline ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie : cognition et comportement > Logopédie des troubles de la voix
Lévêque, Yohanna; CNRS and Aix-Marseille University > Laboratoire Parole et Language
Schön, Daniele; CNRS and Aix-Marseille University > Institue de Neurosciences Cognitives de la Méditerranée
Giovanni, Antoine; CNRS and Aix-Marseille University > Laboratoire Parole et Language
Morsomme, Dominique ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de Psychologie : cognition et comportement > Logopédie des troubles de la voix
Language :
English
Title :
The evaluation of singing voice accuracy: A comparison between subjective and objective methods
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