Auditory-Motor Control of Fundamental Frequency in Vocal Vibrato.
Rosemary A Lester-Smith, Jason H Kim, Allison Hilger and 2 others
PMID 33461882WHAT IT FOUND
Ten classically-trained singers lowered their sung pitch when they heard their feedback shifted upward during vibrato.
This happened for gradual and sudden upward shifts. It suggests singers monitor average pitch even while vibrato modulates it.
Key findings
01In the uncued repeated perturbation task, singers' average pitch during the hold phase was −63.57 cents, compared with −1.98 cents at baseline, indicating compensation for upward feedback shifts.
02With a target note cue, singers' average pitch during the hold phase was −98.23 cents, compared with −.63 cents at baseline, showing compensation for upward feedback shifts.
03For sudden upward perturbations, singers' pitch moved downward (−40.93 cents) versus control trials (3.32 cents), and 93% of responses were compensatory.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only ten classically-trained singers were studied, and none had a current voice disorder, so the findings do not show what happens in patients or untrained singers. For seven participants, pitch tracking was inconsistent during some trials, requiring adjusted pitch range settings. The perturbed feedback had about a 32 ms processing delay, which may have affected the phase of vibrato modulation. In the uncued repeated task, drift during the unperturbed control condition made the after-effect responses hard to interpret. The study examined average pitch only, not the rate or extent of vibrato modulation. The study did not compare vibrato and steady voice in the same singers.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these pitch shifts as evidence that a voice therapy works or that vocal tremor was tested. The study measured ten healthy classically-trained singers in a lab task and did not assess patients, treatment, or clinical outcomes.