Acoustical Analysis of Trained and Untrained Singers Onsite Before and After Prolonged Voice Use

Controlled acoustic environments are important in voice research. Recording environment affects the quality of voice recordings. While sound booths and anechoic chambers are examples of controlled acoustic environments widely used in research, they are both costly and not portable. The long-term goal of this project is to compare the voice usage and efficiency of trained and untrained singers onsite immediately before and after vocal performance. The specific goal of this project is the further of development a Portable Sound Booth (PSB) and standardization of onsite voice recording procedures under controlled conditions. We hypothesized that the simple and controlled acoustic environment provided by the PSB would enable consistent reliable onsite voice recordings and the immediate differences as a consequence of voice usage were measurable.

Differences were detectable before and after voice use within trained and untrained singers. A portable sound booth (PSB) was able to offer comparable controlled acoustic environments for onsite measurements of voice and hearing.