Just noticeable differences of open quotient and asymmetry coefficient in singing voice

This study aims to explore the perceptual relevance of the variations of glottal flow parameters and to what extent a small variation can be detected. Just Noticeable Differences (JNDs) have been measured for three values of open quotient (0.4, 0.6, and 0.8) and two values of asymmetry coefficient (2/3 and 0.8), and the effect of changes of vowel, pitch, vibrato, and amplitude parameters has been tested. Two main groups of subjects have been analyzed: a group of 20 untrained subjects and a group of 10 trained subjects. The results show that the JND for open quotient is highly dependent on the target value: an increase of the JND is noticed when the open quotient target value is increased. The relative JND is constant: deltaOq/Oq = 14% for the untrained and 10% for the trained. In the same way, the JND for asymmetry coefficient is also slightly dependent on the target value--an increase of the asymmetry coefficient value leads to a decrease of the JND. The results show that there is no effect from the selected vowel or frequency (two values have been tested), but that the addition of a vibrato has a small effect on the JND of open quotient. The choice of an amplitude parameter also has a great effect on the JND of open quotient.