High-frequency components of normal and dysphonic voices

The analysis of high-frequency energy levels can presently be considered as being more influenced by the characteristics of the speaker than by the phonetic material, serving as an indicator of the quality of the voice. In this study the energy levels in the frequency intervals of 6-10 and 10-16 kHz were evaluated, both in dysphonic voices and in subjects with no voice problems. The material consisted of consonant-vowel syllables formed by stop phonemes and the basic Spanish vowels, analyzing the vocal segment. The results indicate that the energy, found from the power spectrum average, in both frequency areas, is significantly bigger in the group with dysphonic voices. The analysis in the 10-16 kHz regions shows additional significant differences of energy between the vowels, progressively decreasing from front to back vowels.