Comparing Contemporary Commercial and Classical Styles: Emotion Expression in Singing

Area of Science:

• Acoustic phonetics
• Vocal pedagogy
• Music performance science

Background:

• Understanding the acoustic differences in vocal emotion expression between singing styles is crucial for effective pedagogical approaches.
• Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) and classical singing represent distinct vocal paradigms with potentially unique emotional expression correlates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate and compare the acoustic features associated with the expression of emotions in CCM and classical singing.
• To identify acoustic parameters that can inform and enhance vocal training for emotional interpretation in singers.

Main Methods:

• Experimental comparative study involving eleven professional female singers trained in CCM, classical, or both styles.
• Singers produced the vowel [ɑ:] at three pitches, expressing five emotions (anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, neutral).
• Acoustic analysis included fundamental frequency (fo), formant frequencies (F1-F5), sound pressure level (SPL), spectral structure (alpha ratio), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), perturbation (jitter, shimmer), and vibrato characteristics.

Main Results:

• Sound pressure level (SPL), alpha ratio, F1, and HNR were significant correlates of emotion expression in both CCM and classical singing.
• CCM showed additional significant correlates including sustain time, jitter, shimmer, F2, and F4.
• In CCM, alpha ratio, F1, F2, shimmer, amplitude vibrato rate, and sustain time exhibited emotion-related variation independent of fo and SPL; in classical singing, these were related to fo and SPL.

Conclusions:

• Acoustic correlates of vocal emotion expression differ between CCM and classical singing styles.
• SPL was the sole common independent acoustic parameter for emotion expression across both genres.
• CCM offers greater flexibility for expression-related voice quality modifications compared to the classical style's emphasis on stable voice source quality.