ABSTRACT
This study explores the acoustic properties of a certain “softened” voice quality adopted by some professional poetry readers for emotive expression. We show that several acoustic features may serve as cues for softened voice, including: breathy voice, low intensity, and, possibly, reduced tempo and restrained dynamics of intensity and pitch contours. In addition, we show that different speakers may achieve the effect of voice softening in different ways. Our results demonstrate the contribution of the vocal dimension to the experience of poetry. Although this is essentially a case study of the subjective perceptions of one individual, the results are consistent, and we show their potential to be generalized across listeners.
Copyright © 2017 by The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.
2017
The Pennsylvania State University
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