A pilot investigation of twang quality using magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Background

Twang quality is a bright, piercing quality often produced in contemporary pop/rock/country music, musical theatre singing, and character voices. Despite its potential application to voice therapy and singing pedagogy, limited information is available regarding the exact physiologic underpinnings of twang quality. The purpose of this study was to provide quantitative information regarding three-dimensional (3D) vocal tract configurations of twang quality using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods

Two participants, with professional singing and pedagogy experience in a variety of singing styles, sustained twang and speech quality on vowel /i/ while lying supine in the MRI scanner. Vocal tract measures included larynx height and velar height in the midsagittal view as well as lateral pharyngeal width, anteroposterior pharyngeal (AP) width, and pharyngeal area in the axial view.

Results

When compared to speech /i/, participants produced twang with a smaller pharyngeal area with significant narrowing in the lateral dimension, a slightly elevated laryngeal position, and closed VP port. Of note, Participant 1 also demonstrated significant pharyngeal narrowing in the AP dimension at the oropharyngeal level.

Conclusion

The results are consistent with some aspects of previous descriptions of twang but provide further clarification regarding physiologic underpinnings of twang quality for therapeutic and pedagogic application.

Keywords:

• Voice
• voice quality
• singing
• twang
• magnetic resonance imaging

Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by the Pilot Study program of the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Brain Imaging (CCBBI) at The Ohio State University. We thank Mr. Bronson Best for assisting with inter-rater reliability measurements.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen Perta

Karen Perta is a doctoral student in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at the Ohio State University and practicing speech-language pathologist. Her research interests address topics in vocal tract anatomy and physiology as well as motor learning theory.

Youkyung Bae

Youkyung Bae is an assistant professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science and director of the Voice and Resonance Laboratory at the Ohio State University. Her research focuses on anatomic, physiologic, and acoustic investigations of the velopharyngeal mechanism.

Kerrie Obert

Kerrie Obert is a speech language pathologist from Columbus, Ohio and adjunct instructor in the Department of Otolaryngology at The Ohio State University. She has participated as a co-investigator on numerous research projects with teams in the USA and Japan.