Spectrum factors relevant to phonetogram measurement

Phonetograms showing the sound-pressure level (SPL) in loudest and softest possible phonation are frequently used in some voice clinics as an aid for describing the status of voice function. Spectrum analysis of the vowel /a/ produced by ten females and ten males with healthy, untrained voices revealed that the fundamental was mostly the strongest spectrum partial in soft phonation while the loudest partial in loud phonation was generally an overtone. Also, the first-formant frequency was generally lower in soft than in loud phonation. Measuring SPL in dB(A) rather than in dB lowered the phonetogram contour for soft phonation, an effect increasing with decreasing fundamental frequency. SPL measurements on a group of 22 females with healthy voices showed that the vowel /a/ gave higher SPL values than other vowels in loud phonation. The effect of using dB rather the dB(A) was great but similar for all vowels in soft phonation while, in loud phonation, the effect was small, particularly for /a/. In dB, the effect of using different vowels amounts to about +/- 5 dB, approximately. Interpretation of a phonetogram in terms of voice physiology is facilitated if SPL is given in dB and if a vowel with a high first-formant frequency is used.