Knowledge Bank

Trained singers are often required to produce a note that matches the pitch of another sound, such as a musical instrument. Previous studies have uncovered a number of stimulus aspects that influence the ability to match pitch, including the spectral complexity of the sound and its duration. However, one unanswered question is whether, when matching pitch, trained singers also attempt to match other aspects of the stimulus, or whether they can selectively attend to pitch. The present study investigated whether the duration of the eliciting stimulus affected the duration of a trained singer’s pitch matching response. The samples for the study were obtained from a previous matching study by Ives (2002). Eight male trained singers were presented with pure tone and synthesized voice stimuli at 8 fundamental frequencies, and 4 durations. The responses were ten analyzed using Kay Elemetrics Computerized Speech Lab for both fundamental frequency and duration. Results indicated a slight trend toward increasing response duration as stimulus duration increase, but this trend was not statistically significant. This finding suggests that trained singers can indeed focus on producing a matching fundamental frequency without matching the stimulus duration, and implies that the two stimulus aspects are processed independently.