Vowels, Tubes and Music November 6, 2014

Pragmatic Considerations I still owe you a lot of homework! I’m setting aside a big chunk of time between now and next Thursday to get it done. Don’t forget: the vocal tract measuring/Fourier Analysis homework is due on Thursday of next week. Nicky has also thought of a clever phrase for the next mystery spectrogram exercise; We’ll record it and post it after class today.

The Good, the Bad and the… High, front region of the vowel space: Unrounded vowels are preferred (good) (271) Rounded vowels are dispreferred (bad) (21) High, back region: Unrounded vowels are bad (4) Rounded vowels are good (254) Low, back region: Unrounded vowels are better (22) Rounded vowels are worse (5) Low, front region: Rounded vowels are really bad. (0)

Bad Vowel #1: [y] [y] has both labial and palatal constrictions Why is this bad?

Bad Vowel #2: [ ] [ ] has only a velar constriction Why is this bad?

Bad Vowel #3: [ ] [ ] has a pharyngeal and a labial constriction Why is this bad?

Really Bad Vowel #4: [ ] [ ] has both laryngeal and labial constrictions Why is this bad?

Advanced Tongue Root Some languages have an added articulatory feature for vowels, called advanced tongue root found in a lot of West African languages What are the acoustic consequences of advancing the tongue root?

Ultrasound This is a speaker of Kinande. Kinande is spoken in Congo. (from Gick, 2002)

Ultrasound: +ATR vs. -ATR advanced (+ATR)retracted (-ATR)

ATR vowels in Akan Akan is spoken in Ghana

+ATR vs. -ATR

ATR Vowel Spaces DhoLuo is spoken in Kenya and Tanzania

F3 and, revisited English has pharyngeal, palatal and labial constrictions These constrictions conspire to drastically lower F3

F3 and, revisited

Retroflex Vowels Retroflexion is a feature which may be superimposed on other vowel articulations. Retroflexion is contrastive in vowels in Badaga, a language spoken in southern India.

Retroflex Vowel Spectrograms [be]

F3 and [y] [y] has both labial and palatal constrictions What effect would these constrictions have on F3?

[i] vs. [y] [li][ly]

Overrounded Vowels Note: there is typically more rounding on [u] than [o] and on [o] than all the way down the line... It is possible to have [u]-like rounding on lower vowels “over-rounding” in Assamese Assamese is spoken in Bangladesh.

Overrounded Vowel Spectrograms

Theory #2 The second theory of vowel production is the two-tube model. Basically: A constriction in the vocal tract (approximately) divides the tract into two separate “tubes”… Each of which has its own characteristic resonant frequencies. The first resonance of one tube produces F1; The first resonance of the other tube produces F2.

Open up and say... For instance, the shape of the articulatory tract while producing the vowel resembles two tubes. Both tubes may be considered closed at one end... and open at the other. back tube front tube

Resonance at Work An open tube resonates at frequencies determined by: f n = (2n - 1) * c 4L If L f = 9.5 cm: F 1 = / 4 * 9.5 = 921 Hz

Resonance at Work An open tube resonates at frequencies determined by: f n = (2n - 1) * c 4L If L b = 8 cm: F 1 = / 4 * 8 = 1093 Hz  for : F1 = 921 Hz F2 = 1093 Hz

Check it out Take a look at the actual F1 and F2 values of.

Coupling The actual formant values are slightly different from the predictions because the tubes are acoustically coupled. = The “closed at one end, open at the other” assumption is a little too simplistic. The amount of coupling depends on the cross-sectional area of the open end of the small tube. The larger the opening, the more acoustic coupling…  the more the formant frequencies will resemble those of a uniform, open tube.

Coupling: Graphically The amount of acoustic coupling between the tubes increases as the ratio of their cross- sectional area becomes closer to 1.  Coupling shifts the formants away from each other.

Switching Sides Note that F1 is not necessarily associated with the front tube; nor is F2 necessarily determined by the back tube... Instead: The longer tube determines F1 resonance The shorter tube determines F2 resonance

Switching Sides

A Conundrum The lowest resonant frequency of an open tube of length 17.5 cm is 500 Hz. (schwa) In the tube model, how can we get resonant frequencies lower than 500 Hz? One option: Lengthen the tube through lip rounding. But...why is the F1 of [i]  300 Hz? Another option: Helmholtz resonance

Helmholtz Resonance Hermann von Helmholtz ( ) A tube with a narrow constriction at one end forms a different kind of resonant system. The air in the narrow constriction itself exhibits a Helmholtz resonance. = it vibrates back and forth “like a piston” This frequency tends to be quite low.

Some Specifics The vocal tract configuration for the vowel [i] resembles a Helmholtz resonator. Helmholtz frequency:

An [i] breakdown Helmholtz frequency: Volume(ab) = 60 cm 3 Length(bc) = 1 cm Area(bc) =.15 cm 2

An [i] Nomogram Helmholtz resonance Let’s check it out...

Slightly Deeper Thoughts Helmholtz frequency: What would happen to the Helmholtz resonance if we moved the constriction slightly further back... to, oh, say, the velar region? Volume(ab) Length(bc) Area(bc)

Ooh! The articulatory configuration for [u] actually produces two different Helmholtz resonators. = very low first and second formant F1F2

Size Matters, Again Helmholtz frequency: What would happen if we opened up the constriction? (i.e., increased its cross-sectional area) This explains the connection between F1 and vowel “height”...

Theoretical Trade-Offs Perturbation Theory and the Tube Model don’t always make the same predictions... And each explains some vowel facts better than others. Perturbation Theory works better for vowels with more than one constriction ([u] and ) The tube model works better for one constriction. The tube model also works better for a relatively constricted vocal tract...where the tubes have less acoustic coupling. There’s an interesting fact about music that the tube model can explain well…

Some Notes on Music In western music, each note is at a specific frequency Notes have letter names: A, B, C, D, E, F, G Some notes in between are called “flats” and “sharps” Hz440 Hz

Some Notes on Music The lowest note on a piano is “A0”, which has a fundamental frequency of 27.5 Hz. The frequencies of the rest of the notes are multiples of 27.5 Hz. F n = 27.5 * 2 (n/12) where n = number of note above A0 There are 87 notes above A0 in all

Octaves and Multiples Notes are organized into octaves There are twelve notes to each octave  12 note-steps above A0 is another “A” (A1) Its frequency is exactly twice that of A0 = 55 Hz A1 is one octave above A0 Any note which is one octave above another is twice that note’s frequency. C8 = 4186 Hz (highest note on the piano) C7 = 2093 Hz C6 = Hz etc.

Frame of Reference The central note on a piano is called “middle C” (C4) Frequency = Hz The A above middle C (A4) is at 440 Hz. The notes in most western music generally fall within an octave or two of middle C. Recall the average fundamental frequencies of: men ~ 125 Hz women ~ 220 Hz children ~ 300 Hz

Harmony Notes are said to “harmonize” with each other if the greatest common denominator of their frequencies is relatively high. Example: note A4 = 440 Hz Harmonizes well with (in order): A5 = 880 Hz (GCD = 440) E5 ~ 660 Hz(GCD = 220)(a “fifth”) C#5 ~ 550 Hz(GCD = 110)(a “third”).... A#4 ~ 466 Hz(GCD = 2)(a “minor second”) A major chord: A4 - C#5 - E5

Extremes Not all music stays within a couple of octaves of middle C. Check this out: Source: “Der Rache Hölle kocht in meinem Herze”, from Die Zauberflöte, by Mozart. Sung by: Sumi Jo This particular piece of music contains an F6 note The frequency of F6 is 1397 Hz. (Most sopranos can’t sing this high.)