Discrimination of three basic male voice types by voice range profile-derived parameters

Area of Science:

• Vocal Pedagogy
• Acoustic Phonetics
• Musicology

Background:

• Accurate classification of male singing voices is crucial for vocal pedagogy and performance.
• Previous methods for voice classification have limitations in clearly distinguishing between voice types.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if voice range profile (VRP) parameters can effectively cluster and separate male singing voices.
• To identify specific VRP features that provide the clearest voice type differentiation.

Main Methods:

• Recorded voice range profiles (VRPs) of 256 male singers (students and professionals).
• Extracted compact descriptive features from the VRP data.
• Applied cluster analysis to group singers based on VRP features.

Main Results:

• The frequency dip of the register transition zone emerged as the most effective parameter for cluster separation.
• This parameter successfully differentiated three basic male voice types.
• The findings align with previous studies on female voice classification.

Conclusions:

• Combinations of VRP parameters can achieve clear separation of male voice clusters.
• These clusters correlate with the classic three basic male voice types (e.g., tenor, baritone, bass).
• This research offers a novel approach to male voice classification.