This thesis studied the influence of pitch, melodies and vocal registers on the formant frequencies of the English vowel /æ/ sung by a young female soprano singer. Previous studies by Sundberg and...Show moreThis thesis studied the influence of pitch, melodies and vocal registers on the formant frequencies of the English vowel /æ/ sung by a young female soprano singer. Previous studies by Sundberg and Skoog (1997), Sundberg (2008), Garnier (2010), and Deme (2014) have reported that classically trained sopranos utilise resonance strategies, also known as formant tuning, when F0 approaches or surpasses the frequencies of F1 (Sundberg and Skoog, 1997; Sundberg, 2008; Deme, 2014) and F2 (Garnier 2010). This is done in order to avoid a loss in acoustic energy. This present study observed that the soprano began F1 tuning once F0 went above 440 Hz. Although possible instances of F2 tuning were found, the soprano did not show a consistent pitch-related resonance strategy as she had for F1. It was found, however, that melodies and their placement in the vocal registers influence the manner in which the soprano tuned the frequencies of the first and second formants.Show less
