Acoustic Characteristics of Tenors and Sopranos in Chinese National Singing and Bel Canto.

Abstract

Background: With the advancement of vocal arts, Chinese National Singing and Western Classical Singing (Bel Canto) encounter challenges in cross-cultural adaptation. Investigating formant tuning strategies and the singer's formant is crucial for scientifically characterizing the vocal production techniques in Chinese singing styles.

Method: Eight singers-Chinese National Singing tenors, Chinese National Singing sopranos, Bel Canto tenors, and Bel Canto sopranos-were recruited. The fundamental frequency (F0), intensity, formants, and long-term average spectrum (LTAS) were analyzed using a series of designed tasks to examine the phonation and articulation characteristics of these two singing genres in the context of cross-cultural adaptation.

Results: A positive correlation between F0 and intensity was generally observed, though variations existed across vowels and singers. Both linear and non-linear relationships were found between F0 and formants. The first formant (F1) was proportional to F0, with greater variability for female singers in the vowel /a/. LTAS analysis revealed that the tenors exhibited the singer's formant in sung vowels and songs, whereas the sopranos did not exhibit this feature when singing vowels but did so in specific songs. Moreover, the primary and secondary spectral peaks in Bel Canto were less influenced by songs compared to Chinese National Singing.

Conclusions: (i) Intensity can provide an objective basis for differentiating subjective differences between singing genres, and individual differences are evident in how singers handle the relationship between F0 and intensity. (ii) Vowel modification and vowel migration in sopranos reflect consistency and variability across linguistic and cultural contexts. (iii) The presence and characteristics of the singer's formant are influenced by sexes, singing genres, and songs. Differences in the degree of spectral influence between the two singing genres suggest that Bel Canto emphasizes yi qiang xing zi (ie, phonation drives articulation), while Chinese National Singing emphasizes yi zi xing qiang (ie, articulation drives phonation).