Influence of Execution Speed of an Ascending Glissando on Vocal Stability of Vocally Untrained and Professionally Trained Subjects
Kirsch J, Köberlein M, Döllinger M, Echternach M (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
Journal
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2026.04.019
Abstract
Introduction: During pitch glides, instabilities of the human voice production have frequently been reported. However, the influence of speed on such instabilities has not yet been clarified. Methodology: Ten untrained subjects (five female, five male) and ten professional classically trained subjects (five female, five male) were asked to sing an ascending glissando over two octaves on the vowel [i:]. The tasks should be executed over 3 seconds (slow) and 1 second (fast). Female subjects started from A3 (fundamental frequency fo ≈ 220 Hz), and males from A2 (fo ≈ 110 Hz). During phonation, synchronous recordings were captured by high-speed videoendoscopy, electroglottography (EGG), and audio signals. The Glottal Area Waveform (GAW) was extracted. Results: The median durations of the active glissando phase (10% to 90% fo) were 1.25 seconds (slow)/0.32 seconds (fast) for the untrained and 1.57 seconds (slow)/0.28 seconds (fast) for the professional subjects, which was shorter than the target durations. The untrained subjects increased their fo in the active glissando phase by factors of 1.62–3.64 (slow) and 2.10-3.33 (fast), whereas the professionals showed factors of 2.96–3.59 (slow) and 2.81–3.62 (fast). SPL increased during the active glissando phase by 5.36–27.7 dB(A) (slow) and 4.83–24.2 dB(A) (fast) for the untrained subjects and 6.54–35.3 dB(A) (slow) and 4.83–29.8 dB(A) (fast) for the professional subjects. Significant positive correlations were found between Closing Quotient (ClQ) and SPL (untrained 16/20 trials, professionals 8/20 trials) and between ClQ and fo (untrained 14/20 trials, professionals 9/20 trials). EGG-based Sample Entropy indicated only small instabilities for both tasks. The change rate of fo was statistically significantly correlated positively with Sample Entropy in 4 of 20 (untrained) and 9 of 20 (professional) trials. Open Quotient (OQ) values derived from GAW and EGG differed when OQGAW exceeded the value of approximately 0.7. Conclusions: Faster glissando speed did not greatly increase vocal instability. There were no major differences between untrained and professionally trained subjects beside the professionals’ tendency to increase SPL during the glissando more than the untrained. The professionals used probably more resonance effects shown by a relatively high SPL range in relatively small ClQ range. Only fo change rate indicated an effect on voice stability.
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APA:
Kirsch, J., Köberlein, M., Döllinger, M., & Echternach, M. (2026). Influence of Execution Speed of an Ascending Glissando on Vocal Stability of Vocally Untrained and Professionally Trained Subjects. Journal of Voice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2026.04.019
MLA:
Kirsch, Jonas, et al. "Influence of Execution Speed of an Ascending Glissando on Vocal Stability of Vocally Untrained and Professionally Trained Subjects." Journal of Voice (2026).
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