[Acoustic analysis of the voice in singing children]

The present acoustic analysis of the voice is based on the data obtained from 54 singing children (19 boys and 25 girls). They were divided into two groups of 27 subjects each, with one including premutational-age the other mutational-age children (from 8 to 12 and from 13 to 16 years respectively). <> software package was used to analyse phonetograms and spectrograms of the voice and to study the speech profile. The acoustic parameters measured included voice frequency range, strength, and Jitter, maximum phonation time, and dysphonic index (DSI) depending on the age of the singing children. Premutational acoustic voice characteristics were essentially similar in boys and girls unlike mutational ones that differed dramatically, in the first place due to their substantial change in boys. The boys' voice underwent marked narrowing of the frequency range and its shift toward lower values, the jitter increased, and DSI became negative (-1.7+/-2.6). On the contrary, the voice frequency range in girls broadened and shifted toward both high and low frequencies; the girls showed only small amounts of Jitter and high DSI (2.4+/-2.2).