Glissando

Abstract: The pitch perceived for short vocal vibrato tones was measured using a method of adjustment. The stimuli were synthetic vocal tones, produced by a formant synthesizer. The main parameter under study was the tone duration, as a function of the fractional number of vibrato cycles. This parameter was examined in relation to (1) the vibrato extent (0, 50, 100, and 200 cents); (2) the vibrato rate (4, 6, and 8 Hz); (3) the tone nominal frequency (220, 440, 880, and 1500 Hz). Durations ranging from 1/2 cycle to 2 cycles were studied. Our results showed that for short tones, the pitch perceived does correspond to a weighted time average of the F0 pattern. A separate perception took place for the high and low parts of the vibrato cycles, for large vibrato extents or slow vibrato rates. This phenomenon was related consistently with the glissando threshold. A simple numerical model of weighted time averaging with threshold was proposed. It demonstrated a good agreement with our experimental data. Finally, the exper...

Abstract: The influence of positive intensity glides is investigated on static and both rising and falling contour tones. After determining the glissando threshold by the method of discrimination, it is found that a positive or negative intensity glide associated with a static tone is perceived as a glissando in the same direction and above the threshold. A negative intensity glide, however, associated with a rising or falling glissando, hinders the perception whereas a positive glide associated with a glissando improves its perception and lowers the threshold. An effect of intensity glides on the pitch configuration is noted; a positive glide associated with a rising glissando causes a concave tone to be perceived, whereas associated with a falling one it causes a convex tone to be perceived. A model to explain this interaction is proposed based on the temporal concordance of the pitch point and the loudness point, and the implications of these results for prosodic studies are examined.

Abstract: Pitch perception for short-duration fundamental frequency (F0) glissandos was studied. In the first part, new measurements using the method of adjustment are reported. Stimuli were F0 glissandos centered at 220 Hz. The parameters under study were: F0 glissando extents (0, 0.8, 1.5, 3, 6, and 12 semitones, i.e., 0, 10.17, 18.74, 38.17, 76.63, and 155.56 Hz), F0 glissando durations (50, 100, 200, and 300 ms), F0 glissando directions (rising or falling), and the extremity of F0 glissandos matched (beginning or end). In the second part, the main results are discussed: (1) perception seems to correspond to an average of the frequencies present in the vicinity of the extremity matched; (2) the higher extremities of the glissando seem more important; (3) adjustments at the end are closer to the extremities than adjustments at the beginning. In the third part, numerical models accounting for the experimental data are proposed: a time-average model and a weighted time-average model. Optimal parameters for these models are derived. The weighted time-average model achieves a 94% accurate prediction rate for the experimental data. The numerical model is successful in predicting the pitch of short-duration F0 glissandos.