Measured parameters of vocal performance in young actors and singers

基于文献对年轻人嗓音的研究极其有限，而且通常是定性的，重点放在声音的知觉测量上，如音调和音域。很少有量化数据来支持关于导致这些音质的机制的假设，更重要的是，目前还没有关于年轻声音的发展模型。成人歌手的歌唱表现有相当好的记录，有几个关于成人歌手的详细研究和全面的理论模型。然而，由于对年轻歌手的嗓音缺乏扎实的量化研究，导致声乐界对年轻人的声音如何发展、训练的效果以及男孩和女孩的声音差异缺乏了解。如果没有一个全面的年轻人歌声模型，这种缺乏理解的情况很可能会持续下去，如果将成人模型应用于年轻人的发声训练，可能会给年轻人学习歌唱带来问题。年轻人的发声系统在组织结构、声道尺寸、肺活量和声门配置方面与成年人的嗓音有明显的不同。发声系统在青春期也会快速变化。因此，适用于成人嗓音的理解模型不能适用于儿童或青少年，以成人方式对待青少年嗓音可能具有潜在的破坏性。本研究的目的是分析当代商业音乐(CCM)嗓音风格中儿童歌手和演员的声乐表现，以开发一个声乐模型，以期以舞台方式和青春期嗓音发展的方式对儿童和青少年的嗓音产生影响。CCM的训练和发声风格与经典的技术有很大的不同，对这个研究不足的领域的理解是开发一个全面模型的一个极其重要的部分。这将有助于向音乐界传播对年轻歌手声音的更多了解，这将有助于通过对声乐系统的良好理解来发展技术。这项研究是继首席调查员之前的工作之后进行的，在此工作中，分析了受过“古典”风格训练的儿童歌手的声音，并开发了年轻古典歌手表演的一般声乐模型。然后，研究CCM学生的结果将与该模型相结合，形成一个可测量的年轻歌手和演员在古典风格和CCM风格下的声学参数发展的一般模型。这项研究采用了定量数据分析。数据将从英国戏剧艺术学校8-18岁年轻声音的统计样本录音中收集。学生将使用一种通用的方法进行录音，使用声学(麦克风)和喉部摄影录音相结合的方法。该方法包括在歌唱课期间对年轻歌手进行现场录音，使用一些先前研究中定义的标准声学评估方案。这项研究将作为一项试点项目，检验统计上可行的个体声音数量，并根据已知标准分析它们的结果，如训练时间和根据平均发音F0得出的声音发育阶段。人们认为，该项目提供了一个机会，可以更好地了解不同演唱风格的训练对声乐生产的影响，使儿童和青少年声乐发展的详细理论模型得以发展，这将为歌唱技术的发展和教学奠定基础。除了歌唱制作的模型，这些数据还将加强目前对口语的研究。研究的成果将包括向研究和声乐表演界传播。

Research based literature on the young voice is extremely limited and generally qualitative in nature, focusing on perceptual 'measures' of the voice such as tone and range. There is very little quantitative data to back up assumptions made about the mechanisms which cause these tonal qualities, and more importantly there is currently no developmental model of the young voice.Vocal performance of adult singers is reasonably well documented, with several detailed studies on adult singers and comprehensive theoretical models. However, the lack of solid quantifiable research on the voice of young singers has led to a lack of understanding in the vocal community about how young voices develop, the effect of training and the difference between voices in boys and girls. Without a comprehensive model of the singing voice of young people, this lack of understanding is likely to continue, and could cause problems for young people learning singing if adult models are applied to vocal training of young people.The young vocal system is structurally significantly different to the adult voice with differences in tissue structure, vocal tract dimensions, lung capacity and glottal configuration. The vocal system also changes at a rapid rate over the period of adolescence. Models of understanding applicable to adult voices cannot therefore be applied to children or adolescents, and it could be potentially damaging to treat young voices in an adult fashion.The aim of this study is to analyse vocal performance of child singers and actors training in contemporary commercial music (CCM) voice styles, in order to develop a vocal model of the effect on child and adolescent voices of vocal training in a stage manner and of pubertal vocal development. CCM styles of training and voice production differ considerably from 'classical' technique, and an understanding of this under-researched area is an extremely important part of developing a comprehensive model. This will allow dissemination of an enhanced understanding of the voices of young singers into the music community, which will help in the development of technique informed by a good understanding of the vocal system.This study follows previous work by the principal investigator in which voices of child singers trained in a 'classical' style were analysed, and which developed a general vocal model of the performance of young classical singers. The results of studying CCM students will then be combined with this model to formulate a general model of development of measurable vocal parameters of young singers and actors in both 'classical' and CCM styles. The study uses quantitative data analysis. Data will be collected from the recording of a statistically viable sample of young voices aged 8-18 years from theatre arts schools in the UK. Students will be recorded using a common methodology, using a combination of acoustic (microphone) and laryngographic recordings.The methodology involves recording young singers on location during singing lessons, using a standard vocal assessment protocol as defined in a number of previous studies. The study will be used as a pilot project, examining a statistically viable number of individual voices and analysing their results in terms of know criteria such as length of training and stage of vocal development derived from mean spoken F0. It is felt that the project offers the opportunity to build a far greater understanding of the effect on vocal production of training in different singing styles, allowing the development of a detailed theoretical model of vocal development in children and adolescentswhich will underpin development and teaching of singing technique. In addition to a model of singing production, the data will also enhance current research on the spoken voice. The outputs of the research will include dissemination to both the research and the vocal performance communities.