The Relationship Between Pitch Discrimination and Acoustic Voice Measures in a Cohort of Female Speakers

Emily Wing-Tung Yun; Duy Duong Nguyen; Paul Carding; Nicola J Hodges; Antonia Margarita Chacon; Catherine Madill

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.02.015

The Relationship Between Pitch Discrimination and Acoustic Voice Measures in a Cohort of Female Speakers

J Voice. 2022 Mar 19:S0892-1997(22)00054-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.02.015. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Emily Wing-Tung Yun¹, Duy Duong Nguyen¹, Paul Carding², Nicola J Hodges³, Antonia Margarita Chacon¹, Catherine Madill⁴

Affiliations

¹ Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Doctor Liang Voice Program, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
² Oxford Institute of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England.
³ School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Discipline of Speech Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Doctor Liang Voice Program, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney School of Health Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Electronic address: cate.madill@sydney.edu.au.

PMID: 35317969
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.02.015

Abstract

Background: Evidence across a range of musically trained, hearing disordered and voice disordered populations present conflicting results regarding the relationship between pitch discrimination (PD) and voice quality. PD characteristics of female speakers with and without a musical training background and no self-reported voice disorder, and the relationship between PD and voice quality in this particular population, have not been investigated.

Aims: To evaluate PD characteristics in a cohort of female participants without a self-reported voice disorder and the relationship between PD and acoustic voice measures.

Method: One hundred fourteen female participants were studied, all of whom self-reported as being non-voice disordered. All completed the Newcastle Assessment of Pitch Discrimination which involved a two-tone PD task. Their voices were recorded producing standardized vocal tasks. Voice samples were acoustically analyzed for frequency-domain measures (fundamental frequency and its standard deviation, and harmonics-to-noise ratio) and spectral-domain measures (cepstral peak prominence and the Cepstral/Spectral Index of Dysphonia). Data were analyzed for the whole cohort and for musical and non-musical training backgrounds.

Results: In the whole cohort, there were no significant correlations between PD and acoustic voice measures. PD accuracy in musically trained speakers was better than in non-trained speakers and correlated with fundamental frequency standard deviation in prolonged vowel tasks. Vocalists demonstrated superior PD accuracy and fundamental frequency standard deviation in prolonged vowels compared to instrumentalists but did not show significant correlations between PD and acoustic measures. The Newcastle Assessment of Pitch Discrimination was a reliable tool, showing moderate-good prediction value in differentiating musical background.

Conclusions: There was little evidence of a relationship between PD and acoustic measures of voice quality, regardless of musical training background and superior PD accuracy among the musically trained. These data do not support ideas concerning the co-development of perception and action among individuals identified as having voice quality measures within normal ranges. Numerous measures of voice quality, including measures sensitive to pitch, did not distinguish across musically and non-musically trained individuals, despite individual differences in pitch discrimination.

Keywords: Pitch discrimination—Auditory perception—Voice quality—Musical training.