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- McAllister, Anita, 1955-, et al.
(author)
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Child Voice and Noise : A Pilot Study of Noise in Day Cares and the Effects on 10 Children's Voice Quality According to Perceptual Evaluation
- 2009
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In: Journal of Voice. - : Elsevier BV. - 0892-1997 .- 1873-4588. ; 23:5, s. 587-593
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The purpose of this investigation was to study children's exposure to background noise at the ears during a normal day at the day care center and also to relate this to a perceptual evaluation of voice quality. Ten children, from three day care centers, with no history of hearing and speech problems or frequent infections were selected as subjects. A binaural recording technique was used with two microphones placed on both sides of the subject's head, at equal distance from the mouth. A portable digital audio tape (DAT) recorder (Sony TCD-D 100, Stockholm, Sweden) was attached to the subject's waist. Three recordings were made for each child during the day. Each recording was calibrated and started with three repetitions of three sentences containing only sonorants. The recording technique allowed separate analyses of the background noise level and of the sound pressure level (SPL) of each subjects' own voice. Results showed a mean background noise level for the three day care centers at 82.6 dBA Leq, ranging from 81.5 to 83.6 dBA Leq. Day care center no. 2 had the highest mean value and also the highest value at any separate recording session with a mean background noise level of 85.4 dBA Leq during the noontime recordings. Perceptual evaluation showed that the children attending this day care center also received higher values on the following voice characteristics: hoarseness, breathiness, and hyperfunction. Girls increased their loudness level during the day, whereas for boys no such change could be observed.
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| 3. |
- Sergeant, D., et al.
(author)
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Listeners’ identification of gender differences in children’s singing
- 2005
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In: Research Studies in Music Education. - 1321-103X .- 1834-5530. ; 24:1, s. 28-29
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Four listeners who were experienced with children's voices audited 320 samples of children's singing voices from the age range 4-11 years and judged the sexi of each singer using a response procedure that incorporated a confidence measure. Inter-judge correlations were high. 71.57% of identifications were positive and 44.37% were made with the maximum confidence level. Trend analyses showed a significant relationship between sex identification and age for boys, but this was not evident for girls.The response procedure allowed the creation of an index of confusability for each singer. When the most confusable and least confusable singers of each gender were identified, and their mean group ages calculated, highly significant differences between the ages of the most and least confusable boys were noted, but differences for girls were not significant.Introspections by judges as to auditory cues that they considered had contributed to their judgments reflected factors that have been suggested in the speech research literature. These included breathiness and huskiness of tone at higher frequencies, differences in consonants and perceived personality factors.The data indicate the presence of gender characteristics in children's singing voices sufficient to permit identifications at levels at least as reliable as those demonstrated for speech. Nevertheless, a small percentage of children of each sex and each age group were misattributed by all four judges.
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| 6. |
- Welch, G.F., et al.
(author)
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The role of linguistic dominance in the acquisition of song
- 1998
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In: Research Studies in Music Education. - 1321-103X .- 1834-5530. ; 10:1, s. 67-74
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that there is a developmental sequence in children's singing, with certain singing behaviours having developmental primacy over others. The research literature indicates that, when learning songs, children first focus on the linguistic features, then rhythm, and finally the pitch and melodic attributes. This theorised hierarchy was examined as part of a larger study of singing development in early childhood in which a longitudinal sample (n=184) were assessed on a variety of vocal pitch matching tasks during each year of their first three years at school, i.e. at age five, six and seven years. In each year of testing, the assessment protocol embraced a specially-designed test battery and two sample songs. The protocol was constructed so that the test battery items (pitch glides, pitch patterns and single pitches) were deconstructed features of the two test songs, thus enabling an analysis to be made of the effects of the task on vocal pitch matching performance. The results suggest that children enter school with a clear disposition towards learning the words of the songs. In general, this ability is not matched by an ability to learn and reproduce the melodic components of the test songs. It is only in the third year of schooling that vocal pitch matching in song singing improves, but this particular ability is still significantly less well developed than that for learning and reproducing the words. 'For singers are given honour and respect by all people on the earth, since the Muse has taught them their songs, and she loves the race of singers' (Homer Odyssey).
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| 9. |
- White Sjölander, Peta, 1961-
(author)
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A study of the effects of vocal intensity variation on children’s voices using long-term average spectrum (LTAS) analysis
- 1998
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In: Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1401-5439 .- 1651-2022. ; 23:3, s. 111-120
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Studies of adult voices have shown that, as vocal intensity is increased, the partials at higher frequencies gain more than those at lower frequencies. Investigations involving children's normal productions are uncommon, however, and there is, consequently, little knowledge of how children's vocal function differs from that of adults. Using LTAS analysis, this study investigates the effects of vocal intensity variation on the voices of 10-year-old schoolchildren singing in soft, mid and loud voice. A frequency-dependent gain factor was calculated which showed the increase in level to have been greater for partials at higher than at lower frequencies for these children. Also, gain within frequency bands was often different between boys and girls, although this was not demonstrated statistically.
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| 10. |
- White Sjölander, Peta, 1961-
(author)
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Long-term average spectrum (LTAS) analysis of sex- and gender-related differences in children’s voices
- 2001
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In: Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology. - : Elsevier. - 1401-5439 .- 1651-2022. ; 26:3, s. 97-101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Long-term average spectrum (LTAS) analysis offers representative information on voice timbre providing spectral information averaged over time. It is particularly useful when persistent spectral features are under investigation. The aim of this study was to compare perceived sex of children to the LTAS analysis of their audio signals. A total of 320 children, aged between 3 and 12 years, were recorded singing a song. In an earlier analysis, the recorded voices were evaluated with respect to perceived and actual sex by experienced listeners. From this group, a subgroup of 59 children (30 boys and 29 girls) was selected. The mean LTAS revealed a peak at 5 kHz for children perceived with confidence as boys, and a flat spectrum at 5 kHz for children perceived confidently as girls (whether male or female in actuality).
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