Perceptual, auditory and acoustic vocal analysis of speech and singing in choir conductors.

BACKGROUND: the voice of choir conductors.

AIM: to evaluate the vocal quality of choir conductors based on the production of a sustained vowel during singing and when speaking in order to observe auditory and acoustic differences.

METHOD: participants of this study were 100 choir conductors, with an equal distribution between genders. Participants were asked to produce the sustained vowel "é" using a singing and speaking voice. Speech samples were analyzed based on auditory-perceptive and acoustic parameters. The auditory-perceptive analysis was carried out by two speech-language pathologist, specialists in this field of knowledge. The acoustic analysis was carried out with the support of the computer software Doctor Speech (Tiger Electronics, SRD, USA, version 4.0), using the Real Analysis module.

RESULTS: the auditory-perceptive analysis of the vocal quality indicated that most conductors have adapted voices, presenting more alterations in their speaking voice. The acoustic analysis indicated different values between genders and between the different production modalities. The fundamental frequency was higher in the singing voice, as well as the values for the first formant; the second formant presented lower values in the singing voice, with statistically significant results only for women.

CONCLUSION: the voice of choir conductors is adapted, presenting fewer deviations in the singing voice when compared to the speaking voice. Productions differ based the voice modality, singing or speaking.