Comparison of Word Intelligibility in Spoken and Sung Phrases
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Date
2008-07
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Empirical Musicology Review
Abstract
Twenty listeners were exposed to spoken and sung passages in English
produced by three trained vocalists. Passages included representative words extracted
from a large database of vocal lyrics, including both popular and classical repertoires.
Target words were set within spoken or sung carrier phrases. Sung carrier phrases were
selected from classical vocal melodies. Roughly a quarter of all words sung by an
unaccompanied soloist were misheard. Sung passages showed a seven-fold decrease in
intelligibility compared with their spoken counterparts. The perceptual mistakes
occurring with vowels replicate previous studies showing the centralization of vowels.
Significant confusions are also evident for consonants, especially voiced stops and
nasals.
Description
Keywords
intelligibility, singing, lyrics, voice
Citation
Empirical Musicology Review, v3 n3 (July 2008), 109-125