Exercise 4 – Vibrato and Pitch
Contents
Exercise 4 – Vibrato and Pitch¶
Research Question:¶
Are there significant differences in the depth of vocal vibrato between singers of different musical genres?
Controlling the depth, rate, and speed of vocal vibrato is a key expressive device used by singers of many different musical genres. With the advent of accurate pitch analysis tools such as Sonic Visualiser - as well as machine learning-based approaches to isolating vocal tracks from mastered recordings - it is now easier than ever before to accurately measure these (and other) vibrato parameters.
One previous investigation into this issue comes in a paper by Christian Herbst, Stellan Hertegard, Daniel Zangger-Borch & Per-Ake Lindestad, who conducted an acoustic analysis of Freddie Mercury’s vocal vibrato. In this exercise, we will follow their methodology and conduct a similar analysis of recordings from another influential singer, this time of either jazz or classical music.
