Singers unconsciously resist tuning drift, with sopranos and altos anchoring pitch flatward.
Evidence
The measured results have a similar trend to that predicted but with some variation in detail. The singers tend to drift flat more gently than the prediction in the early stages then more rapidly afterward, with individual singers generally moving together except for the bass, whose pitch swings are quite wide from chord to chord. The soprano and to some extent the alto in this quartet seem to be reluctant to allow the pitch to drift any further flat toward the end, almost maintaining it in the position it has reached, somewhat against the efforts of the tenor and to some extent the bass to shift it further in line with the prediction. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1382
Categorization
- XREF: Ties to the earlier discussion of just versus equal temperament in Section 3.4.2. — connects to: High-pitched soprano singing is unintelligible because harmonics are too sparse for formants — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 631; Tenors avoid formant tuning because their range leaves a higher f0-to-formant ratio. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1373; Tenors need not tune their tracts because their pitch-to-formant ratio stays high — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1356 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- High-pitched soprano singing is unintelligible because harmonics are too sparse for formants
#complicates(0.95) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 631 - High-pitched soprano singing sacrifices intelligibility for audibility
#complicates(0.90) - Tenors avoid formant tuning because their range leaves a higher f0-to-formant ratio.
#complicates(0.85) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1373 - Tenors need not tune their tracts because their pitch-to-formant ratio stays high
#complicates(0.85) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1356