Browsing by Author "Besch, Christopher Michael"

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    Understanding and Applying the Spectrograph in Vocal Pedagogy
    (2021-04-30) Besch, Christopher Michael; Barnett, Gregory; King, James S; Stallmann, Kurt
    Many vocal pedagogy textbooks and curriculums lack a tangible application of the course content. This is often remedied with audio exampes or lesson practicums, but both options include a wide degree of variability that limits the students’ and teachers’ ability to apply the concepts they’ve learned. In this paper, we will explore how the use of the spectrograph and tone generator fill the gap between the understanding of the mechanics of singing and its application by teaching us to listen to and understand timbre more concretely. This paper uses the software VoceVista whose spectrograph and tone generator give us the ability to mimic and manipulate a digital version of the human voice free of the limitations of a real-world environment. Combined with a detailed understanding of vocal tract physiology, acoustics, and psychoacoustics, the use of this tool encourages the exploration of more efficient and effective pedagogies. Chapter 1 explores how the tone generator can be utilized to manipulate the four basic properties of sound – frequency, amplitude, duration, and timbre – to create a synthesized version of the human voice, which helps us understand how the singing voice works and what changes may produce different timbres. Chapter 2 details how our perception of sound varies from what is shown on the spectrograph and how the human ear itself serves as a tuned filter to perceive vowel colors through the properties of psychoacoustics – auditory roughness, perceived loudness, absolute spectral tone color, and the missing fundamental. Approaching the voice in this way allows us to begin to listen to the timbre with more specificity and describe it with more accuracy. Chapter 3 combines these ideas to demonstrate how passive vowel migration and active vowel modification are employed in vocal techniques such as high frequency reinforcement, upper treble transitions, second vocal tract resonance tuning, and belting. This approach to vocal pedagogy brings together the study of acoustics, psychoacoustics, and singing technique to eliminate some of the guess work of teaching and improve access to effective pedagogical information.
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    Understanding and Applying the Spectrograph in Vocal Pedagogy
    (2021-04-30) Besch, Christopher Michael; Barnett, Gregory; King, James S; Stallmann, Kurt
    Many vocal pedagogy textbooks and curriculums lack a tangible application of the course content. This is often remedied with audio exampes or lesson practicums, but both options include a wide degree of variability that limits the students’ and teachers’ ability to apply the concepts they’ve learned. In this paper, we will explore how the use of the spectrograph and tone generator fill the gap between the understanding of the mechanics of singing and its application by teaching us to listen to and understand timbre more concretely. This paper uses the software VoceVista whose spectrograph and tone generator give us the ability to mimic and manipulate a digital version of the human voice free of the limitations of a real-world environment. Combined with a detailed understanding of vocal tract physiology, acoustics, and psychoacoustics, the use of this tool encourages the exploration of more efficient and effective pedagogies. Chapter 1 explores how the tone generator can be utilized to manipulate the four basic properties of sound – frequency, amplitude, duration, and timbre – to create a synthesized version of the human voice, which helps us understand how the singing voice works and what changes may produce different timbres. Chapter 2 details how our perception of sound varies from what is shown on the spectrograph and how the human ear itself serves as a tuned filter to perceive vowel colors through the properties of psychoacoustics – auditory roughness, perceived loudness, absolute spectral tone color, and the missing fundamental. Approaching the voice in this way allows us to begin to listen to the timbre with more specificity and describe it with more accuracy. Chapter 3 combines these ideas to demonstrate how passive vowel migration and active vowel modification are employed in vocal techniques such as high frequency reinforcement, upper treble transitions, second vocal tract resonance tuning, and belting. This approach to vocal pedagogy brings together the study of acoustics, psychoacoustics, and singing technique to eliminate some of the guess work of teaching and improve access to effective pedagogical information.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Understanding and Applying the Spectrograph in Vocal Pedagogy
    (2021-04-30) Besch, Christopher Michael; Barnett, Gregory; King, James S; Stallmann, Kurt
    Many vocal pedagogy textbooks and curriculums lack a tangible application of the course content. This is often remedied with audio exampes or lesson practicums, but both options include a wide degree of variability that limits the students’ and teachers’ ability to apply the concepts they’ve learned. In this paper, we will explore how the use of the spectrograph and tone generator fill the gap between the understanding of the mechanics of singing and its application by teaching us to listen to and understand timbre more concretely. This paper uses the software VoceVista whose spectrograph and tone generator give us the ability to mimic and manipulate a digital version of the human voice free of the limitations of a real-world environment. Combined with a detailed understanding of vocal tract physiology, acoustics, and psychoacoustics, the use of this tool encourages the exploration of more efficient and effective pedagogies. Chapter 1 explores how the tone generator can be utilized to manipulate the four basic properties of sound – frequency, amplitude, duration, and timbre – to create a synthesized version of the human voice, which helps us understand how the singing voice works and what changes may produce different timbres. Chapter 2 details how our perception of sound varies from what is shown on the spectrograph and how the human ear itself serves as a tuned filter to perceive vowel colors through the properties of psychoacoustics – auditory roughness, perceived loudness, absolute spectral tone color, and the missing fundamental. Approaching the voice in this way allows us to begin to listen to the timbre with more specificity and describe it with more accuracy. Chapter 3 combines these ideas to demonstrate how passive vowel migration and active vowel modification are employed in vocal techniques such as high frequency reinforcement, upper treble transitions, second vocal tract resonance tuning, and belting. This approach to vocal pedagogy brings together the study of acoustics, psychoacoustics, and singing technique to eliminate some of the guess work of teaching and improve access to effective pedagogical information.