Experimental Observation on the Noisy Quality of Harseness

Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation was to explore the relationship between the acoustical findings obtained by the sound spectrographic analysis of hoarseness and the degree of hoarseness. Synthesis of hoarseness was attempted in order to know the factors which are concerned with quality of voice. The method of synthesis is described and the degree of hoarseness of synthetic sound was measured by rating method. On the basis of the experiment, the following conclusions were drawn. 1. To give hoarse sensation of voice, noise components must be added to the main formant ranges of vowels, among which the second and third formant ranges paly major role. 2. The factors related to the degree of hoarseness are high frequency additional noise, reduction of high frequency harmonic component, and expansion of the range of additional noise components. The status and degree of hoarseness is determined by these factors recorgnized in the soundspcctrogram.