Johan Sundberg 1 , Laura Enflo 1 , Friedemann Pabst 2

1 KTH, Speech Music Hearing, Stockholm

2 Krankenhaus Dresden-Friedrichstadt, , Dresden

Phonation threshold pressures (PTP) have been commonly used for obtaining a quantitative measure of vocal fold motility. However, as these measures are quite low, it is typically difficult to obtain accurate data. As the amplitude of an electroglottograph (EGG) signal decreases substantially at the loss of vocal fold contact, it is mostly easy to determine the collision threshold pressure (CTP) from an EGG signal. In an earlier investigation (Enflo & Sundberg, forthcoming) we measured CTP and compared it with PTP. Results showed that CTP was on average about 4 cm H₂O higher than PTP.

The PTP has been found to increase during vocal fatigue. In the present study we compare PTP and CTP before and after vocal fatigue induced in singer and non-singer voices by a vocal loading procedure previously used by Pabst. The subjects repeated the vowel sequence /a,e,i,o,u/ at an SPL of at least 80 dB @ 0.3 m for 20 min. During the measurements the subjects produced a diminuendo repeating the syllable /pa/. Oral pressure during the /p/ occlusion was used as a measure of subglottal pressure. The accuracy of the measurement of both thresholds will be compared and discussed.

Christina SHEWELL 1,2

1 University College London, The Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, London

2 Southmead Hospital, Speech and Language Therapy, Bristol

Sataloff (1997) writes that although professional voice users ‘span a broad range of vocal sophistication and voice needs, they share a dependence upon vocal endurance and quality for their livelihoods’.

There have been extensive studies into particular working groups whose voices are essential for their working lives, but the literature about professional voice users has tended to use a primary binary division into public speakers and performers. There are however important differences within that broad division in terms of the voice skills required and the aims and most suitable methods of voice training; protection and extension vocal skills will be needed to different degrees with different groups of workers (Shewell 2009). Such work is vital to protect the voice of the speaker for ‘even the act of daily phonation causes a mild superficial layer vocal fold tissue injury, a repetitive stress injury’ (Casper 2007). It is also important for the effective communication of the message to listeners (Rogerson 2005).

This presentation introduces a classification of professional voice users into six main groups, organised according to the nature of the demands on their voices. These are:  Supporters, Callers, Transmitters, Informers, Leaders and Sellers, Performers. The name of each group refers to a prime motivation for their voice use. The motivations are not exclusive but are a guide to each group’s core vocal demands. There are naturally crossovers; some workers change motivation roles throughout a day, others as they move through their careers. Such a classification refines and specifies the nature of voice work needed so that it can be maximally effective.

 Typical voice use for each group is described, and related voice work aims are defined, with examples from specific professions. Related ideas from research literature and voice pedagogy are used  appropriately to illustrate the relevance of this new classification in both voice coaching and voice therapy.

 

Casper J. (2007) From the sacred urine of cows to the laying on of hands and beyond – the G.Paul Moore Lecture. Journal of Voice. 21, 2-11.

Rogerson J. and Dodd B. (2005). Is There an Effect of Dysphonic Teachers' Voices on Children's Processing of Spoken Language? Journal of Voice 19, 47-60.

Shewell C. (2009). Voice Work: Art and Science in Changing Voices. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Sataloff R.T. (2005) Professional Voice: The Science and Art of Clinical Care, third edition. San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing Inc.

Diane Hazlett 1 , Orla Duffy 2 , Anne Moorhead 1

1 University of Ulster, School of Communication, Newtownabbey

2 University of Ulster, School of Health Sciences, Newtownabbey

leo meulenbroek 1

1 Hogeschool van Arnhem/Nijmegen, education, Arnhem