COMD 5070 Fundamental Frequency Exam
1Hz= - ANSWER-1 cycle per second
A person's ability to adjust their Fo can be reflective of what? - ANSWER-overall
laryngeal health
sometimes neuromuscular function in terms of altering the pitch of their voice
A semitone is never a _______ number of Hz. - ANSWER-Fixed number of Hz;
changing one octave is a bigger change in Hz higher up the scale; we have increased a
greater number of Hz as we go further up the frequency range
Certain patterns of physiology tend to be associated with - ANSWER-certain
fundamental frequency ranges.
Describe a sawtooth waveform? - ANSWER-What the human voice is without the
influence of the vocal tract. It contains the fundamental frequency and the harmonic
components which slope off in their amplitude, or become less intense, as you go
higher and higher in frequency.
Describe how a period of a signal and its frequency are inversly related. - ANSWER-*As
frequency of a signal increases the duration of each cycle (period) decreases.
*period is simply the duration between 1 peak and the next peak or 1 trough to the next
trough as it repeats over time.
Describe modal register. - ANSWER-*also called chest voice
*typical speaking voice
*used for mid-range singing
*wide dynamic range; very soft to very loud
Describe the analogy of semitone and stairs. - ANSWER-Stairs are all equal in height.
But if they were made in semitone fashion the first step would be very small, the next
would double its size and so on so that as you go up each successive step would get
taller and taller to the point that you would need a ladder to reach some of them.
Describe the measurement unit for fundamental frequency. - ANSWER-Fo: represents
the number of cycles that occur in one second
*in the human voice it's the number of times that the vocal folds open and close as they
vibrate during one second
frequency= - ANSWER-1/period; the frequency is defined as the inverse of the period
How do cancer patients who have lost their larynx speak? - ANSWER-they use the
esophageal sphincter which vibrates for the voice; has a functional filter so they can
shape sounds; sound source is only thing that is different
, How does glissando help with max and min range? - ANSWER-rather than just
targeting the very lowest and very highest in isolation, it can be easier to do a glissando
where you glide upward or downward from a comfortable range so that you have
continuous phonation up to highest or down to lowest pitch
How does vocal quality change? - ANSWER-At pitch extremes; the nature of vocal fold
oscillation changes between very low-pitch phonation and very high pitch phonation
How is fundamental frequency measured? - ANSWER-*Hz or cycles per second
*can be derived by a computer; software calculates how many times the vocal folds
oscillate
How long of segment do you need to get a good representation of speech? - ANSWER-
about 30 sec
Human perceptual system is more aligned with __________ than ________ scale. -
ANSWER-semitone or non linear scale than it would be with linear scale in Hz; like a
musical instrument: at the higher end of the keyboard one semitone spans a greater
frequency range in Hz; at the lower end of the key board in the low pitch range one
semitone is actually smaller in terms of Hz.
If sine wave components are not in a harmonic relationship what happens? - ANSWER-
The wave may change irregularly from cycle to cycle or at least it may change in
patterns that come and go, or wax and wane over many cycles. It would no longer be a
periodic signal.
If sine waves are in a harmonic relationship to one another they are what? - ANSWER-
Mathematical multiples of lowest frequency compenent and you have a periodic signal.
In loft register how does the cover of the vocal folds oscillate? - ANSWER-you don't get
the contribution of the thryo-arytenoid muscle so the surface of the vocal folds is
stretched very tightly and it's only the medial edge that's involved in oscillation
In loft register what is the waveform like? - ANSWER-*almost like a sine wave
*can sound a bit like a pure tone when you get to high notes in falsetto
In modal register how does the whole mass of vocal folds oscillate? - ANSWER-all the
way down to the thyroaritenoid muscle; all layers of lamina propria and the mucosal
covering on top are involved in oscillation during modal phonation.
In music, one octave has _________ semitones. - ANSWER-12 semitones; going up
one octave doubles the frequency
Measuring frequency with modern technolgy can be done with software, but is has to be
able to do what? - ANSWER-find out where one period begins and another ends;
1Hz= - ANSWER-1 cycle per second
A person's ability to adjust their Fo can be reflective of what? - ANSWER-overall
laryngeal health
sometimes neuromuscular function in terms of altering the pitch of their voice
A semitone is never a _______ number of Hz. - ANSWER-Fixed number of Hz;
changing one octave is a bigger change in Hz higher up the scale; we have increased a
greater number of Hz as we go further up the frequency range
Certain patterns of physiology tend to be associated with - ANSWER-certain
fundamental frequency ranges.
Describe a sawtooth waveform? - ANSWER-What the human voice is without the
influence of the vocal tract. It contains the fundamental frequency and the harmonic
components which slope off in their amplitude, or become less intense, as you go
higher and higher in frequency.
Describe how a period of a signal and its frequency are inversly related. - ANSWER-*As
frequency of a signal increases the duration of each cycle (period) decreases.
*period is simply the duration between 1 peak and the next peak or 1 trough to the next
trough as it repeats over time.
Describe modal register. - ANSWER-*also called chest voice
*typical speaking voice
*used for mid-range singing
*wide dynamic range; very soft to very loud
Describe the analogy of semitone and stairs. - ANSWER-Stairs are all equal in height.
But if they were made in semitone fashion the first step would be very small, the next
would double its size and so on so that as you go up each successive step would get
taller and taller to the point that you would need a ladder to reach some of them.
Describe the measurement unit for fundamental frequency. - ANSWER-Fo: represents
the number of cycles that occur in one second
*in the human voice it's the number of times that the vocal folds open and close as they
vibrate during one second
frequency= - ANSWER-1/period; the frequency is defined as the inverse of the period
How do cancer patients who have lost their larynx speak? - ANSWER-they use the
esophageal sphincter which vibrates for the voice; has a functional filter so they can
shape sounds; sound source is only thing that is different
, How does glissando help with max and min range? - ANSWER-rather than just
targeting the very lowest and very highest in isolation, it can be easier to do a glissando
where you glide upward or downward from a comfortable range so that you have
continuous phonation up to highest or down to lowest pitch
How does vocal quality change? - ANSWER-At pitch extremes; the nature of vocal fold
oscillation changes between very low-pitch phonation and very high pitch phonation
How is fundamental frequency measured? - ANSWER-*Hz or cycles per second
*can be derived by a computer; software calculates how many times the vocal folds
oscillate
How long of segment do you need to get a good representation of speech? - ANSWER-
about 30 sec
Human perceptual system is more aligned with __________ than ________ scale. -
ANSWER-semitone or non linear scale than it would be with linear scale in Hz; like a
musical instrument: at the higher end of the keyboard one semitone spans a greater
frequency range in Hz; at the lower end of the key board in the low pitch range one
semitone is actually smaller in terms of Hz.
If sine wave components are not in a harmonic relationship what happens? - ANSWER-
The wave may change irregularly from cycle to cycle or at least it may change in
patterns that come and go, or wax and wane over many cycles. It would no longer be a
periodic signal.
If sine waves are in a harmonic relationship to one another they are what? - ANSWER-
Mathematical multiples of lowest frequency compenent and you have a periodic signal.
In loft register how does the cover of the vocal folds oscillate? - ANSWER-you don't get
the contribution of the thryo-arytenoid muscle so the surface of the vocal folds is
stretched very tightly and it's only the medial edge that's involved in oscillation
In loft register what is the waveform like? - ANSWER-*almost like a sine wave
*can sound a bit like a pure tone when you get to high notes in falsetto
In modal register how does the whole mass of vocal folds oscillate? - ANSWER-all the
way down to the thyroaritenoid muscle; all layers of lamina propria and the mucosal
covering on top are involved in oscillation during modal phonation.
In music, one octave has _________ semitones. - ANSWER-12 semitones; going up
one octave doubles the frequency
Measuring frequency with modern technolgy can be done with software, but is has to be
able to do what? - ANSWER-find out where one period begins and another ends;
