Voice conversion, i.e. modification of a speech signal to sound as if spoken by a different speaker, finds its use in speech synthesis with a new voice without necessity of a new database. This paper introduces two new simple non-linear methods of frequency scale mapping for transformation of voice characteristics between male and female or childish. The frequency scale mapping methods were dev...

Voice quality is currently a key issue in speech synthesis research. The lack of realistic intra-speaker voice quality variation is an important source of concern for concatenation-based synthesis methods. A challenging problem is to reproduce the voice quality changes that are occuring in natural speech when the vocal e ort is varying. A new method for voice quality modi cation is presented. I...

Modeling natural sounding voice qualities – for example the pressed-modalbreathy voice quality continuum which widely occurs during normal speech production – is a crucial point in speech synthesis. A parametric voice source model using prescribed sinusoidal vocal fold vibration patterns (i.e. extended Titze model) is introduced in this paper. This voice source model was adapted for synthesis o...

Vowel prolongation is often used to evaluate disordered voice production. In light of previous findings showing that co-articulation has significant influence on laryngeal function measures, the practice of using prolonged vowels to represent a speech sample is questioned. To test whether disordered and normal voice during vowel production is generalizable to connected speech, three speaking ta...

This paper investigates the measure of voice quality for a digital speech watermarking scheme using a subjectivity method. Data rate, inaudibility, and robustness are considered more than voice quality in speech watermarking. Since any technique in speech telecommunication should have acceptable quality, the perceptual measurement of voice quality is seen as an important topic in audio and spee...

Voice is one of the orators perceivable behaviors that convey traits of charisma. Contemporary leaders, such as politicians, use their voices to shape their message and persuade audiences. The present study analyzes the physiological use of the “charismatic voice” in Italian, French, and Brazilian Portuguese political speech. We investigated the “discourse level” aspects of voice by conducting ...

PURPOSE To verify the effect of two approaches of vocal training in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology students, a direct and an indirect approach. METHODS Participants were 25 female Speech Language Pathology and Audiology students divided into two groups: direct training with vocal exercises, DTG (n=13); and indirect training with vocal orientations, ITG (n=12). The training sessions w...

BACKGROUND Little has been reported about the impact of tracheoesophageal (TE) speech on individuals in the Middle East where the procedure has been gaining in popularity. After total laryngectomy, individuals in Europe and North America have rated their quality of life as being lower than non-laryngectomized individuals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in quality of life and ...

The speech of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and dysarthria is associated with limited breath control, voice quality changes and imprecise articulation. These problems can reduce speech intelligibility, which can act as a barrier to successful interactions. Whilst the impact of the speech problems is well recognised, research on the nature of the speech impairment is relatively limited. This...