Passaggio in the professional tenor voice--evaluation of perturbation measures

Vocal stability throughout the passaggio region in professional singers is an unclarified area of research.

The acoustic and electroglottographic signals of ascending and descending frequency transitions from 220 to 440 Hz (and vice versa) on the vowels /a, e, i, o, u, æ/ were analyzed in eight professional tenors. The frequency transitions were accompanied by shifts in register conditions, from modal to unmodulated naïve falsetto and modal to voix mixte (and vice versa).

For ascending tasks, it was found that frequency perturbation values (jitter and relative average perturbation) were higher for the frequency transition and upper frequency produced in naïve falsetto or voix mixte compared with lower frequency produced in modal register. No such higher values were found for descending tasks. Shimmer was increased during frequency transitions between modal and naïve falsetto. The electroglottographic contact quotient showed a positive correlation with the sound pressure level for the modal register and voix mixte but not for the naïve falsetto.

In our study, ascending tasks, including register transitions, are different from descending tasks with regard to frequency perturbation in professional tenors.