Semioccluded Vocal Tract Exercises Improve Self-Perceived Voice Quality in Healthy Actors

Area of Science:

• Vocal pedagogy and performance science.
• Speech-language pathology and audiology.

Background:

• Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) are recognized for enhancing vocal production in various populations.
• Actors rely heavily on vocal stamina and quality for performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a brief (10-minute) SOVTE warm-up protocol on professional actors' voices.
• To assess both objective acoustic/perceptual measures and subjective self-assessments.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-seven professional actors without voice complaints participated.
• Vocal recordings were made before and after a 10-minute SOVTE warm-up.
• Acoustic analysis, perceptual ratings by blinded raters, and self-assessments were conducted.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences were found in objective acoustic or perceptual voice quality measures.
• Actors reported significant improvements in vocal comfort, sonorousness, clarity, and power post-SOVTE.

Conclusions:

• The SOVTE protocol led to self-perceived vocal benefits for actors, particularly in comfort and quality.
• Objective data did not corroborate subjective improvements, suggesting further research.
• This protocol may be a valuable addition to actors' routine vocal warm-up practices.