Acoustics characteristics of voice and vocal care in acting and other students

Abstract

Based on voice‐history data, a χ² test was used to investigate the difference between students of acting (n = 45) and other students (n = 45). A t‐test was used to calculate the differences in acoustic parameters between the two groups. It was expected that students of acting spent significantly more time practicing voice exercises, took more acting instructions, and generally spoke more in larger rooms and did warm up exercises (p<.001). However, it was not expected that they smoked more than non‐professionals (p = .003), and that they drank alcoholic drinks as much as other students. Male students of acting had significantly lower ƒ₀ SD means (p = .015), which means that they had a more stable pitch throughout phonation. Students of acting also showed a significantly higher Harmonics‐to‐Noise Ratio (HNR) than other students (p = .001 for males; p = .01 for females). The data showed the importance of the appropriate use of voice, which reflected relatively good voice quality despite the bad living habits of the future professional voice users.

• Voice care
• students of acting
• regular students
• acoustic characteristics