Exploring the effect of musical context on vibrato pitch

对于歌手和弦乐演奏者来说，在用“颤音”产生音调时保持一致是很重要的。颤音是一种通常与歌唱和弦乐演奏相关的音乐效果，用于表达目的，音乐家通过反复改变音调或“基频”来达到预期的音高。这种音高的变化被称为“频率调制”，对于人声颤音来说，音高变化的程度可以达到预期音高的每一侧1/2。声音颤音的频率调制速率通常在每秒4到6个周期之间，其中一个周期由音高的上下振荡组成。有人认为，颤音有助于创造一种更模糊的音高感觉，并可用于掩盖调音中的错误。以往对颤音音调的研究主要集中在确定颤音音调的平均音高上，但迄今为止还没有对音乐背景下的颤音音调进行研究，以确定颤音音调的可接受调音范围。本研究的目的是确定在音乐环境中呈现的颤音音调的可接受的调音范围，并将此范围与在相同环境中没有颤音的音调进行比较。此外，几个预期的颤音音高将探讨，以确定是否或不为颤音音调的可接受的调整范围与预期的音高变化。这项研究将告知音乐家，作曲家，音乐学家和心理声学和听力学领域的研究人员，音乐背景和期望如何改变听众对颤音音调的感知，以及如何故意使用颤音来产生更模糊的音高感觉。这项研究也可以用来开发模拟人类音高感知的算法。

It is important for singers and string players to be in tune when producing tones with 'vibrato'.Vibrato is a musical effect typically associated with singing and string playing that is used for expressive purposes, whereby the musician varies the pitch or 'fundamental frequency' of a note repeatedly above and below the intended pitch. This variation in pitch is termed 'frequency modulation' and for vocal vibrato the extent of pitch variation can be up to 1 semitone either side of the intended pitch. The rate of frequency modulation for vocal vibrato is typically between 4 to 6 cycles per second, where one cycle consists of an oscillation in pitch above and below the intended pitch.It has been suggested that vibrato helps to create a more vague sensation of pitch, and can be used for masking errors in tuning. Previous studies on the pitch of vibrato tones have focused on determining the average pitch perceived for vibrato tones, but as of yet there have been no studies on vibrato tones presented within a musical context which determine the acceptable range of tuning for vibrato tones. The aims of this research are to determine the range of acceptable tuning for vibrato tones presented within a musical context and compare this range to that of tones without vibrato in the same context. In addition, several intended vibrato pitches will be explored to determine whether or not the range of acceptable tuning for vibrato tones varies with intended pitch. This research will inform musicians, composers, musicologists and researchers in the fields of psychoacoustics and audiology about how musical context and expectancy can alter listeners' perceptions of vibrato tones and how vibrato might be deliberately employed to generate a more vague sensation of pitch. The research could also be used to develop algorithms that mimic human pitch perception.