Acoustical analysis of choral voice matching and placement as it relates to group blend and tone

The purpose of this study is to exam the feasibility of using acoustical voice analysis techniques as research tools in the investigation of voice matching as it relates to choral blend and tone. Spectral analysis has been applied extensively to the study of the solo singing voice, but few studies have used these technologies in the study of groups of singers in a choral setting.

Five female volunteers from the top auditioned choir at a major southwestern university were recorded singing the first phrase of "My Country 'Tis of Thee" individually. These singers (n=5) were then recorded in a variety of groupings of two, three and four singers based on Weston Noble’s voice matching techniques (Noble, 2005). Recordings from a live voice matching session of the entire women's section of this choir conducted by their regular director were also included in the master data set, thus allowing comparison of controlled voice matching and in-situ voice matching recordings.

Following procedures established by Killian & Basinger, a panel of five experts was asked to respond via a 7 point Likert scale as to their judgment of the quality of choral blend to a random sampling of 50 examples from the master data set. The experts were professional choral conductors and graduate choral music educations majors. Their responses were used to rank the samples as to quality of blend.

Subsequently, all samples were analyzed using several readily available, low-cost spectral analysis software programs. Data available from each program is compared and evaluated for its relevance. The user-friendliness, strengths, and weaknesses of each program are also addressed. Data include spectral analysis graphic displays, formant analysis, power vs. frequency plots, vowel matching comparisons, and pitch plots. Results of spectral analysis of each ranked sample are compared and potential indicators of choral blend are identified. An important outcome of this exploratory research are suggestions for further study and practical application of spectral analysis as a tool to further understanding in the field of choral blend and tone.