Improved complete ensemble EMD: A suitable tool for biomedical signal processing

Experiments in hearing

Clinical examination of voice

Purpose The aim of this study was to recommend protocols for instrumental assessment of voice production in the areas of laryngeal endoscopic imaging, acoustic analyses, and aerodynamic procedures,...

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/pdf/10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0009

Recommended Protocols for Instrumental Assessment of Voice: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Expert Panel to Develop a Protocol for Instrumental Assessment of Vocal Function

On the occasion of the centenary of the discovery of the Lombard effect, we review the literature on noise-dependent regulation of vocal amplitude in humans and other animals The article addresses the scientific and the biological history of the Lombard effect: first, it sketches the evolution of the study of the Lombard effect, and second it reflects on the biological evolution of the effect itself By comparing the findings from anurans, birds and mammals, we try to trace back the phylogenetic origins of this basic vocal mechanism for acoustic communication in noise The current evidence suggests two alternative parsimonious hypotheses: either the Lombard effect is the outcome of a convergent evolution in birds and mammals or it may be a synapomorphy of all amniotes If the latter is true, then the Lombard effect would have evolved to maintain vocal communication in the presence of noise more than 300 million years ago

The evolution of the Lombard effect: 100 years of psychoacoustic research

Electroglottography is a common method for providing noninvasive measurements of glottal activity. The derivative of the electroglottographic signal, however, has not attracted much attention, although it yields reliable indicators of glottal closing instants. The purpose of this paper is to provide a guide to the usefulness of this signal. The main features that are to be found in this signal are presented on the basis of an extensive analysis of a database of items sung by 18 trained singers. Glottal opening and closing instants are related to peaks in the signal; the latter can be used to measure glottal parameters such as fundamental frequency and open quotient. In some cases, peaks are doubled or imprecise, which points to special (but by no means uncommon) glottal configurations. A correlation-based algorithm for the automatic measurement of fundamental frequency and open quotient using the derivative of electroglottographic signals is proposed. It is compared to three other electroglottographic-based methods with regard to the measurement of open quotient in inverse-filtered derived glottal flow. It is shown that agreement with the glottal-flow measurements is much better than most threshold-based measurements in the case of sustained sounds.

/pdf/on-the-use-of-the-derivative-of-electroglottographic-signals-g1g53ciyt5.pdf

On the use of the derivative of electroglottographic signals for characterization of nonpathological phonation.

Purpose To examine the influence of sound immersion techniques and speech production tasks on speech adaptation in noise. Method In Experiment 1, we compared the modification of speakers' perceptio...

/pdf/influence-of-sound-immersion-and-communicative-interaction-38zjme7yzm.pdf

Influence of sound immersion and communicative interaction on the Lombard effect.

This article presents the results of glottal open-quotient measurements in the case of singing voice production. It explores the relationship between open quotient and laryngeal mechanisms, vocal intensity, and fundamental frequency. The audio and electroglottographic signals of 18 classically trained male and female singers were recorded and analyzed with regard to vocal intensity, fundamental frequency, and open quotient. Fundamental frequency and open quotient are derived from the differentiated electroglottographic signal, using the DECOM (DEgg Correlation-based Open quotient Measurement) method. As male and female phonation may differ in respect to vocal-fold vibratory properties, a distinction is made between two different glottal configurations, which are called laryngeal mechanisms: mechanism 1 (related to chest, modal, and male head register) and mechanism 2 (related to falsetto for male and head register for female). The results show that open quotient depends on the laryngeal mechanisms. It ranges from 0.3 to 0.8 in mechanism 1 and from 0.5 to 0.95 in mechanism 2. The open quotient is strongly related to vocal intensity in mechanism 1 and to fundamental frequency in mechanism 2.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00195256/document

Glottal open quotient in singing: measurements and correlation with laryngeal mechanisms, vocal intensity, and fundamental frequency

Laryngeal vibratory mechanisms: the notion of vocal register revisited.

Starting from Garcia's definition, the historical evolution of the notion of vocal registers from then until now is considered. Even though much research has been carried out on vocal registers since then, the notion of registers is still confused in the singing voice community, and defined in many different ways. While some authors consider a vocal register as a totally laryngeal event, others define it in terms of overall voice quality similarities. This confusion is reflected in the multiplicity of labellings, and it lies in the difficulty of identifying and specifying the mechanisms distinguished by these terms. The concept of laryngeal mechanism is then introduced, on the basis of laryngeal transition phenomena detected by means of electroglottography. It helps to specify at least the laryngeal nature of a given singing voice register. On this basis, the main physiological, acoustic, and perceptual characteristics of the most common singing voice registers are surveyed.

/pdf/mirroring-the-voice-from-garcia-to-the-present-day-some-46k6627pzb.pdf

Nathalie Henrich

Papers

On the use of the derivative of electroglottographic signals for characterization of nonpathological phonation.

Influence of sound immersion and communicative interaction on the Lombard effect.

Glottal open quotient in singing: measurements and correlation with laryngeal mechanisms, vocal intensity, and fundamental frequency

Laryngeal vibratory mechanisms: the notion of vocal register revisited.

Mirroring the voice from Garcia to the present day: Some insights into singing voice registers