Voicelikeness of musical instruments: A literature review of acoustical, psychological and expressiveness perspectives

What makes an artificial musical instrument such as the flute, trombone or cello sound like the human voice, and which of all instruments is the most voicelike? This article reviews acoustical and psychological arguments that might explain why a musical instrument would be likened to the singing human voice. The authors could find no evidence to support the idea of any single instrument being systematically, and consistently, regarded as voicelike. The human voice is frequently referred to as an ideal to which a wellplayed musical instrument should aspire. However, investigations are few that go beyond speculation and introspection regarding what instrument or instruments sound voicelike and why. Although no single instrument emerged as being systematically and consistently voicelike, a program of empirical research is suggested to determine whether there currently exist (possibly culturally promulgated) beliefs about what instrument is considered most voicelike and why.