Fo-perturbation and Fo/loudness dynamics in voices of normal children, with and without education in singing

Sustained phonations were compared in two groups of children (aged 7-12), one with special artistic voice education and one from a normal school, without voice complaints or problems. The hypothesis of specific (better) biomechanical vocal fold properties in the first group is confronted with the hypothesis of differences solely related to training of voice control. In both groups, Fo-aperiodicity was measured in a sustained phonation at 3 different SPL levels. As a general rule, aperiodicity clearly decreases when the voice becomes louder. Aperiodicity is highly significantly lower, at all SPL-levels, in children with trained singing voices: this implies better mechanical properties of the vocal oscillator. The Fo/SPL relation on a sustained /a:/ does not differ in trained and untrained children's voices: out of singing context, trained children do not spontaneously control the Fo/SPL dynamics differently from untrained children. The higher regularity of vocal fold pulsed is not related to the duration of training.