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Listener perception of girls and boys in an English Cathedral choir
... Experimental exploration of whether or not listeners can tell the difference between boys and girls singing the top line in choral music is not entirely straightforward in terms of acquiring suitable material to use in listening tests. Our previous attempt (Howard and Szymanski, 2000) made use of two professional compact disk (CD) recordings. These CD recordings were both made by Wells Cathedral Choir. ...
... However, further analysis revealed that labelling ability was highly dependent on the music samples themselves. Table 1 indicates the nature of this variation by showing the percent identified correctly for each stimulus (further details can be found in [4]). ...
... These listening test results suggest strongly that listener identification of boys and girls singing the top line in cathedral choral music is no better than chance when the same musical material is used and the performances are otherwise identical as far as practically possible. It was established in the previous experiment (Howard and Szymanski, 2000), where the musical items were not identical, that large variation in listener identification ability was apparent for different choral repertoire. Figure 2 shows the variation in listener identification by stimuli and it is not the case that all are identified correctly exactly 50% of the time. ...
Girl choristers are now widely accepted in English cathedral choirs, and they and the boy choristers generally sing the treble line in services on separate occasions. In addition, the girls and boys usually practice separately. It is believed by some that girls are unable to carry out their role appropriately in this traditionally male dominated arena, and that their sound is not in keeping with the musical traditions of the choral sung divine offices. A paper presented at ICMPC-6 demonstrated that listeners could, with statistical significance, tell the difference between boys and girls singing the top line in cathedral choral music, on average 60% of the time. It was also shown in that experiment that this ability was closely coupled to the particular piece of music used. The experiment reported in this paper investigates the same issue, but this time the listening tests make use of musical material in which the only difference is who is singing the top line. The lower three parts, the acoustic environment, the music performed, the microphone position and the musical director remained constant. The results for 89 listeners suggest that listeners cannot tell the difference between girls and boys (average identification accuracy 53%).
... The underlying premise of the Campaign for the Defence of the Traditional Cathedral Choir (pace Haunch, quoted above) is that there is a traditional and unique vocal timbre in a boy's singing voice that is both generic to boys' singing voices in general and perceivable. These assumptions have been the subject of several recent research projects Howard, Barlow and Welch, 2000;Howard and Szymanski, 2000;Kerslake, 1998;Moore and Killian, 2000; see below). The theoretical premises for these researches are as follows: ...
... A follow-up study (Howard and Szymanski, 2000), using the same test materials and protocol, examined the extent to which listener age and sex (following the Moore and Killian (2000) study) might be related to the accuracy of identification. Of the 189 listeners, 81 were female (44 adults, 37 girls aged under 16 years) and 108 male (94 adults, 14 boys aged under 16 years). ...
... In the comparative study (Moore and Killian, 2000), the stimuli were unison melodies with accompaniment. In contrast, the two last studies reported here (Howard, Barlow and Welch, 2000;Howard and Szymanski, 2000) both employed twenty musical stimuli from across the standard sacred choral music repertoire, each with either vocal and/or instrumental accompaniments. Notwithstanding any differences in research design, all these studies indicate that listeners' perceptual accuracy of singer gender varies according to the stimulus. ...
The past decade has seen the initiation and growth in the number of cathedrals who have admitted girl choristers in addition to boys. Almost without exception, these initiatives have provoked considerable interest in the local, national and (in some cases) international communities. In large part, this interest stems from a concern that the "social justice" underpinning the entry of female choristers might be in conflict with a musical tradition in cathedrals that has apparently celebrated the "uniqueness" of the male chorister voice for over 1,500 years. A number of related studies have now been conducted in order to examine such an assumption of "uniqueness" and to see if this has any perceptual basis. The available data on child and adolescent vocal anatomy and physiology indicate considerable similarity between the sexes until the onset of puberty. Perceptually, gender differences in untrained children's singing voices become more evident as children progress through childhood. However, the trained chorister perceptual data is more equivocal, suggesting that there is considerable potential for female choristers to be confused as male, depending on the choir and the choice of repertoire. In part, this is believed to be a product of the particular traditions, expectations and cultural practices of the socio-musical environment to which choristers are inducted
... Entre las investigaciones relacionadas con la música coral, existen diferentes líneas que delimitan el estado del arte de nuestra investigación. Encontramos investigaciones que se concentran en la preferencia del sonido global (Lambson 1961;Killian 1985;Tocheff 1990;Daugherty 1999Daugherty , 2003Morris et al. 2006); otras se basan en la técnica vocal empleada (Rossing et al. 1986(Rossing et al. , 1987Ekholm 2000), en la percepción del canto (Bregman 1990;Sundberg 1999), en técnicas de análisis de la voz (Basinger 2006), en el ratio entre cantantes (Ternstrom 1994), o en la respuesta estética y emocional a la música (Madsen y Geringer 1990;Howard et al. 2000;Davis 2003;Lychner 2008;Iwai y Adachi 2008). ...
Un debate activo en dirección coral es la posición idónea que deben adoptar las cuerdas del coro: soprano, alto, tenor y bajo (SATB). Grabamos un coro gospel con su director y sala de ensayo habituales, combinando 2 tipos de canto (vertical o contrapuntístico), 2 acompañamientos (a cappella o con instrumentos), y las 4 distribuciones más frecuentes en los coros gospel. Los propios coristas (N=33) han evaluado el sonido global coral mientras cantaban (percepción interna). Los coristas (N=24) y un grupo de músicos profesionales (N=14) evaluaron la grabación del coro del punto de escucha del director (percepción externa).
Los resultados muestran una preferencia significativa por la distribución coral clásica en todos los casos. Hay una alta concordancia en las respuestas. La presencia de instrumentos reduce la valoración. La preferencia está correlacionada con la homogeneidad (escucha externa) y con la homogeneidad y con la facilidad de oírse (escucha interna). La escucha interna provoca más diferencias de preferencia entre distribuciones. Los hombres son más sensibles a la distribución para la facilidad de cantar y de oír su voz, prefiriendo distribuciones donde las voces graves están detrás. Las mujeres no distinguen entre distribuciones para la facilidad de cantar y oírse.
... Hinsichtlich der Klangstrukturen wurden in der Literatur bei der Sprechstimme des Kindes Geschlechtsunterschiede beispielsweise bei der Grundfrequenz und den Vokalformantfrequenzen schon ab etwa dem 4. Lebensjahr beschrieben [22], die auf unterschiedliche Dimensionen des Vokaltraktes zurückgeführt werden [27]. Andererseits gelang es in großen Hörversuchen nicht, die Singstimmen von Knaben und Mädchen zu differenzieren [14]. Ein Training der Singstimme wirkt sich schon bei Kindern positiv auf die Periodizität der Stimmlippenschwingung im Sinne einer spezifischen und besseren biomechanischen Abstimmung im Stimmapparat aus [6]. ...
Der Einfluss von Singen und Stimmtraining auf die Stimmleistung bei Kindern ist bekannt. Es fehlt bisher an einer vergleichenden Studie zwischen sängerisch aktiven und nicht aktiven Kindern, die den Einfluss von Alter und Geschlecht berücksichtigt. Daher existieren auch noch keine Normwertbereiche für die Beurteilung in der klinischen Praxis.Folgende Parameter wurden bei 164 gesunden Kindern und Jugendlichen (90 Knaben, 74 Mädchen, 11–16 Jahre), von denen 78 in Kinder- und Jugendchören waren und 86 keine regelmäßige sängerische Aktivität aufwiesen, untersucht: Tonhöhen- und Dynamikumfang, jeweils mit ihren Grenzen, mittlere gespannte und ungespannte Sprechstimmlage, Stimmstärke (Kommandostimme) und Tonhaltedauer. Die statistische Analyse erfolgte mit einer dreifaktoriellen Varianzanalyse.Sängerisch aktive Kinder weisen signifikant größere Tonhöhen- und Dynamikumfänge auf (pDie sängerische Aktivität im Kindes- und Jugendalter hat positive Einflüsse auf mehrere Stimmleistungsparameter, wobei die vorliegenden Daten sowohl bei der klinischen und gesangspädagogischen Betreuung von jungen Sängern als auch von nicht singenden Kindern genutzt werden können, um Normwertbereiche abzuschätzen. Für die Messung ist insbesondere das Singstimmprofil geeignet.
... Yet another reason might be that boys' and girls' voices are fundamentally different and that boys are needed for authenticity of performance. It is perhaps unsurprising that this has generated serious interest from researchers anxious to test the claim that girls can equally well perform the boys' repertoire, maintaining the cultural tradition of pure, ethereal sound (Sergeant & Welch, 1997;Howard & Szymanski, 2000;Moore & Killian, 2000). Welch and Howard (2002) present further data along with a careful analysis of previous results, which urges caution in interpretation. ...
In this paper, the notion of ‘doing boy’ through performance is explored. The point is made that singing is a potential gender performance but the treble voice of the 8‐year‐old to 14‐year‐old boy is a biologically determined as well as socially constructed feature of young masculinity. A complication is the degree to which the boy's treble voice is traditionally associated with sacred music. Recent attempts at widening participation in singing by cathedrals are evaluated for their potential to increase male participation in the arts through more eclectic forms of repertoire and the sharing of musical expertise. The under‐representation of males is seen as a problem in the study and boys' choices not to sing during the 8–14 years because of uncertainty about the gendering of the high voice is presented as the major issue. Different sexualities can attach to vocal performance by young males, and these are explored. The changed voice of the ‘boy band’ is associated with explicit performances of heterosexuality in the tradition of hegemonic masculinity. The unchanged treble voice, through its strong association with sacred music, can represent innocence, but such innocence may be related to other forms of masculinity than the hegemonic type. This makes for continued ambivalence over whether boys' singing is a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ form of masculinity.
... Hinsichtlich der Klangstrukturen wurden in der Literatur bei der Sprechstimme des Kindes Geschlechtsunterschiede beispielsweise bei der Grundfrequenz und den Vokalformantfrequenzen schon ab etwa dem 4. Lebensjahr beschrieben [22], die auf unterschiedliche Dimensionen des Vokaltraktes zurückgeführt werden [27]. Andererseits gelang es in großen Hörversuchen nicht, die Singstimmen von Knaben und Mädchen zu differenzieren [14]. Ein Training der Singstimme wirkt sich schon bei Kindern positiv auf die Periodizität der Stimmlippenschwingung im Sinne einer spezifischen und besseren biomechanischen Abstimmung im Stimmapparat aus [6]. ...
The influence of physical development and singing activity on vocal efficiency in children and adolescents is well known from clinical experience. There is, however, no comparative study between singing and non-singing children which also considers the influence of age and gender. Therefore, standard values for evaluation in clinical practice are missing.
We examined the following parameters in 164 healthy children and adolescents (90 boys, 74 girls; 11–16 years), 86 without singing activity (group A) and 78 members of children’s and youth choirs (group B): frequency and dynamic range of voice and its borders with a voice range profile, mean fundamental frequency (normal and loud phonation), maximum voice intensity, and maximum duration of intonation. The statistical analysis was performed using three-way ANOVA.
We found significantly higher ranges of frequency and intensity in singing children and adolescents (p<0.0001). The borders of the dynamic range and the upper border of the frequency range were significantly higher in group B (p<0.0001). The boys in group B used a higher mean fundamental frequency during loud phonation. There were no significant differences between groups in maximum voice intensity (p=0.051) but a tendency towards higher values in singing children. As an unexpected result, we found significantly higher values in maximum duration of intonation in group A (p<0.0001) independent of age and gender, which seems to be related to the methods used.
Regular training of the singing voice results in positive effects on several voice parameters in children as well as adolescents. Our results can be used for estimating standard values in professional clinical and educational care of young singing voices and non-singing children. For this purpose, voice range profile is particularly suitable.
Hormonale stemstoornissen kunnen optreden door primaire afwijkingen van endocriene organen, of als gevolg van secundaire hormonale veranderingen, waarbij ook iatrogene veranderingen van de hormoonbalans moeten worden gemeld. Het effect kan meteen of op de langere duur optreden en is individueel verschillend. Hormonale stemstoornissen hebben hun grootste impact op de beroepsstem, met name de zangstem. De invloed van de geslachtshormonen op larynx en stem is de frequentste en meest pregnante van alle hormonale invloeden. De foniatrie kan bij al deze ziektebeelden niet alleen een diagnostische hulp zijn. Veel endocrinologische stemstoornissen maken een foniatrisch-logopedische behandeling zonder meer noodzakelijk. Daarbij kan gedacht worden aan stemstoornissen na afgifte van hormonen of spraakontwikkelingsproblemen bij hypothyreoïdie op kinderleeftijd. Het is daarom van belang dat de kno-arts en de foniater over een endocrinologische basiskennis beschikken. Daarnaast is het ook van belang dat de endocrinoloog de mogelijkheden van de foniatrie kent en bovendien benut. De diagnostiek van endocriene stemstoornissen is uiterst boeiend, waarbij de foniater niet alleen als diagnostische hulp optreedt voor de endocrinoloog, maar zeker ook een rol kan spelen bij de behandeling.
Hormonale stemstoornissen kunnen optreden door primaire afwijkingen van endocriene organen, of als gevolg van secundaire hormonale veranderingen, waarbij ook iatrogene veranderingen van de hormoonbalans moeten worden gemeld.
Our quantitative knowledge of human voice production has made rapid advances during the latter part of the 20 th century, in respect of singing as well as speech production. These advances have accelerated in more recent times due to the widespread availability of office or home PC machines, which provide the level of computational facilities that were once only found in specialist speech science laboratories. Highly complex real-time audio processing is now possible on a standard multi-media PC machine, and the use of analysis tools as well as real-time visual displays is becoming increasingly widespread. This paper presents an overview of the author's personal contribution to both the underlying quantitative human singing knowledge base as well as the use of real-time visual feedback for the development of singing pitching and other skills, particularly in regard to the singing voices of children. The paper is therefore set in an historical context, and it provides a review of the research results that have supplied the knowledge that underpins the application of real-time visual feedback in singing training. The various analysis and display systems are discussed along with the results that have been obtained through their use. The initial design stages of a PC-based real-time feedback system that is under development are presented.
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