Children’s and Instructor’s Perceptions of Using VoceVista in a Voice
Exploration Session Focusing on Gentle Onset of Phonation and
Articulation of Consonants
Melissa C. Brunkan
The University of Kansas, Kansas, USA
Abstract
Previous studies have explored the use of real-time visual spectral feedback with adult and
teenage singers. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the perceptions of
children (N=54), ages 7 to 13 years, relative to the use of visual feedback provided by real-time
spectral analysis software (VoceVista) in a voice exploration session focusing on gentle onset
and articulation of consonants. Participants completed a two-part survey. Part One consisted of
demographic items. Among results, (a) 94% of participants had prior musical experience
outside of a school setting (b) 89% of participants used a computer at home and/or at school for
at least 15 minutes a day, (c) 65% of participants described their computer skills as competent or
very competent, and (d) 22% of participants had had private voice lessons, with (e) 33% having
other singing performance experiences. Part Two of the survey asked for responses to three
items: (a) What two activities in this session did you find most helpful to learning about and
improving singing? Why? (b) What two activities in this session did you find least helpful to
learning about and improving singing? Why? and (c) Overall thoughts about the use of
VoceVista in this session. Participants were also asked to rate the overall helpfulness of
VoceVista in teaching gentle onset and articulation on a 5-point Likert scale. Content analysis of
responses in Part Two of the survey indicated no negative perceptions of VoceVista overall.
Furthermore, 70% of participants thought that VoceVista was the most helpful activity in the
voice exploration session. Participant responses to scale items likewise indicated overall
favourable perceptions to using VoceVista in teaching gentle onset (M 3.99) and articulation (M
3.93). Results were discussed in terms of limitations of the study and suggestions for further
research.
Introduction
Human beings perceive the world through the three primary senses: “visually, auditorily, and
kinesthetically (Thurman & Welch, 2000).” Teachers of singing traditionally teach vocal
techniques through spoken concepts or imagery, combined with vocal modelling and
occasional movement exercises (Callaghan, 1998: Howard, et al., 2004). Because internal
operations of the human larynx, respiratory system, and vocal tract cannot be viewed directly
by the human eye, opportunity for visual feedback during voice instruction has heretofore been
limited largely to such indirect means of observation as viewing one’s self in a mirror while
singing.
Today, however, visual real-time feedback (VRTF) technology affords opportunities for
increased visual feedback in voice lessons through computer-based displays of voice spectra.
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Melissa C. Brunkan
We live in an age when almost every child in this country [the United States] has access to a
computer either at home or at school. Seventy-five percent of students in the United States in
1998 had access to computers at school and between twenty-two and ninety-one percent of
children had a home computer (Becker, 2000). By 2001, that number had grown significantly,
with ninety percent of students having access to a computer at home and/or school. There were
a variety of reasons for this growth, including an increasing number of school systems that
supplied a laptop computer to each student. Rochelle, Pea, Hoadley, Gordin, and Means (2000),
found indications that computer technology could be utilized to enhance four fundamental
characteristics of learning: (a) active engagement, (b) participation in groups, (c) frequent
interaction, and (d) feedback and connections to real-world contexts.
Several studies have examined the use of VRTF software in individual voice instruction
with teenage, college-age, and adult students as well as use in college-level choral rehearsals.
Callaway (2001) tested the usefulness of real-time spectrographic displays in private voice
lessons with female college students (N=10) over 10 weeks. Callaway found that the spectral
data was predominantly consistent with the instructor’s assessment and thought to be helpful
to the student. Students also reported that it was helpful to have a visual representation of their
sound. Welch, Howard, Himonides, and Brereton (2005) found that new technology could have
a positive impact on teachers and students because of more meaningful feedback. Half of the
participants (n=4) received voice lessons that involved the use of real-time visual feedback
technology. In a follow-up study, Howard, et al., (2004) used an advanced software system in
singing studios that provided teachers (N=2) and singers (N=8) with up to eight different
feedback displays. Through case studies, it was found that the use of technology had a positive
impact on the learning process. Studies also have been done with other real-time spectral
programs such as Acoustic and Laryngeal Biofeedback Enhancement in Real-Time (ALBERT)
with professional singers to assess fundamental frequency, jitter, and larynx closed quotient
(CQ) (Rossiter, 1995).
Nix, Mabry, and Mathews-Muttwil (2007) studied the use of VoceVista during a rehearsal of
an undergraduate women’s chorus. Real-time display of acoustic parameters was projected
through VoceVista onto a screen during rehearsals. Participants (N=43) thought that their
rehearsal experiences were enhanced by this visual feedback.
In another study, Miller and Schutte (2002), one of the creators of VoceVista,1 used
VoceVista to study the singing of seven professional singers in the Metropolitan Opera’s Young
Artist Development Program.
The goal was to document aspects of exceptional voices for aspiring singers and their
teachers. Singers (N=7) were recorded performing various vocal exercises, such as scales,
arpeggios, and sustained tones. These exercises were examined and baseline information on
certain aspects of the singers’ voices was obtained.
However, Welch, Howard, and Rush (1989) examined the use of visual feedback with
children. Their study focused on development of pitch accuracy in the singing of primary
schoolchildren. The research found that there was a significant improvement of pitch matching
ability in the experimental groups compared to the control group. Howard and Angus (1998)
refined the software program and used it to study pitch accuracy among primary school boys
and girls as compared with adults.
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Perceptions of Voce Vista
The purpose of this study was to assess the perception of children (N=54), ages 7 through 13
years, who participated as singers in a voice exploration session wherein VRTF was used to
explore gentle onset phonation and the articulation of consonants.
The following questions guided this investigation:
(a) What will participants mention as the most helpful and least helpful activities in the
voice exploration session?
(b) What are participant perceptions overall with respect to the use of VoceVista?
(c) How will participants rate the use of VoceVista in learning gentle onset and consonant
articulation?
(d) Do these perceptions vary among participants according to age, grade in school, sex,
subject areas they like or dislike in school, previous singing experience in voice lessons
and choir, and self-described computer skill?
(e) What were instructor perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of using VoceVista in
this voice exploration session according to ex post facto analysis of a videotape of this
experience?
Method
Participants
Participants in this study were children (N=54), ages 7 through 13, who were enrolled in a
summer musical theatre workshop. Participants included 49 females (91%) and 5 males (9%), in
the following age groups: 7 years old (n=6), 8 years old (n=11), 9 years old (n=8), 10 years old
(n=12), 11 years old (n=11), 12 years old (n=4), and 13 years old (n=2). The median age of the
participants was 10 years.
Participants had a varied experience base in elementary school choir, community choir,
musical theatre performance, church or synagogue choir, solo singing experiences, private voice
lessons, and other singing experiences. Fifty-one participants (94%) had prior musical
experience outside of a school setting. Twenty-three participants (43%) had at least one year of
experience in elementary school choir. Seven participants (13%) had at least one year of
experience in middle school choir. Eight participants (14.8%) had experience in community
choir. Thirty-four participants (63%) cited experience in musical theatre performance. Twenty
participants (37%) said they had experience in a church or synagogue choir. Ten participants
(18.5%) had had at least six months of private voice lesson instruction. Other singing
experiences cited by participants included karaoke, school plays, and school talent shows. The
participants (n=10, 18.5%) with private voice lesson experience gave a mean score of 4.3 in
VoceVista’s helpfulness to learning gentle onset of phonation and a mean score of 4 regarding
VoceVista’s helpfulness in learning articulation of consonants.
Section One of the survey also surveyed computer use, expertise, and availability. Eighty-
nine percent (n=48) of participants used a computer at home and/or at school for at least 15
minutes a day. Sixty-five percent of the participants described their computer skills as
competent or very competent. The participants rating themselves as “very competent” in terms
of computer skills gave a mean score of 4.3 on a 5-point scale to VoceVista’s helpfulness in
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Melissa C. Brunkan
teaching gentle onset of phonation and a mean score of 4.15 regarding VoceVista’s helpfulness
in teaching articulation of consonants.
Voice exploration session
All participants attended a 45-minute voice exploration session. For purposes of this study,
a voice exploration session was defined as an educational activity in which children were
invited to sing a song excerpt of their choice for a teacher in order to explore vocal possibilities.
The workshop grouped participants according to grade level for its various activities. This
configuration was maintained for the voice exploration sessions: (a) Participants entering
second and third grades (n=12) attended Session One; (b) Participants entering fourth grade
(n=14) attended Session Two; (c) Participants entering fifth grade (n=12) attended Session Three;
(d) Participants entering sixth, seventh, and eighth grades (n=17) attended Session Four. All
participants attended one grade-level voice exploration session during their time at the summer
workshop.
Equipment and room set up
Figure 1 shows the configuration of the room in which all voice exploration sessions
occurred. Equipment used included: (a) a Dell 6240 lap top computer with internal microphone
set on a (b) Wenger Classic 50 music stand for easy adjustment of height, with the stand placed
approximately 10 inches from participants; connected to (c) a smart board attached to the front
wall of the room; and (d) a Sony video camera, placed in the back of the room for ex post facto
review of the sessions.
Video
camera
12 feet
Keyboard X singer - 10 inches from
lap top
Smart board connected to laptop computer
_______________________________
Front of Room
Figure 1. Equipment and room set-up for voice exploration sessions.
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Perceptions of Voce Vista
Session procedures
Each session followed a master class format, wherein each participant sang an a cappella
one to two minute song excerpt of his or her choice before working with the instructor in the
presence of other participants who attended that session. Particular attention was paid to gentle
onset phonation and consonant articulation in the singing of each participant.
The VoceVista software throughout each session displayed through continuous visual
representations of sound spectra. During individualized work with the instructor, reference was
made to the visual display as deemed appropriate by the instructor or, sometimes at the request
of the participant. If there was indication of need to work on gentle onset or clear articulation of
consonants, singers were sometimes instructed to sing towards the laptop, watch the screen and
take notice of what they saw. As they sang, spectrographic readings were recorded and saved in
order to show the singers a “before and after” image. Observers were able to see the same real-
time spectral feedback on the smart board at the front of the room. The instructor as well as the
singers highlighted certain aspects of the display: (a) breath (black space), (b) overtones and
harmonics (stacked lines), (c) onset (lines after blank space), and (d) clearly articulated
consonants (vertical lines).
Survey instrument
A survey was prepared to address the first three research questions of this investigation. An
initial draft of the survey was piloted with three female singers, ages 11 to 13, who did not
participate in the voice exploration sessions. Their comments and suggestions were used to craft
the survey distributed to participants in this study (see Appendix A). The survey consisted of
two sections. Part One surveyed demographic items including favourite and least favourite
school subject, participation in musical activities such as school choir, community choir, voice
lessons, and musical theatre performance as well as regular computer use and perceived level of
computer knowledge. Part Two of the survey asked for a sentence or two responses to three
questions: (a) What two activities in this session did you find most helpful to learning about and
improving singing? Why? (b) What two activities in this session did you find least helpful to
learning about and improving singing? Why? and (c) Overall thoughts about the use of
VoceVista in this session. Part Two of the survey also asked participants to rate the overall
helpfulness of VoceVista in teaching gentle onset and articulation of consonants on a 5-point
Likert scale.
Procedures
Upon entering the room, participants sat down and filled out Section One of the survey
prior to the start of the voice exploration session. The sessions began with a brief description of
the purpose of the voice exploration session and a brief introduction to VoceVista. After
participating in the voice exploration session, participants as a group completed survey Section
Two. For 7 and 8 year old participants (n=9, Session One), the instructor read aloud questions
sixteen through eighteen from Part Two of the survey and recorded participants’ responses.
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Melissa C. Brunkan
Ex post facto review
Following the voice exploration sessions, the instructor viewed a video recording of each
session. Teaching, singer, and observer behaviour were noted.
Results
All participants returned surveys, yielding a response rate of 100%. Results of this study are
presented in order of the research questions posed for this investigation.
Research Question One – Participants’ perceptions of most helpful and least helpful
activities
Research question one asked what activities in the voice exploration session participants
would mention as most helpful and least helpful. Survey questions 16 and 17 addressed this
matter. Among activities listed as most helpful (survey question 16), 70% of participants (n=38)
mentioned the visual display. Other comments regarding the most helpful activities in the
session included articulation and diction (n=6, 11%), posture (n=4, 7%), singing style (n=10,
18.5%), and listening to others (n=5, 9%).
Only one participant listed a least helpful activity (survey question 17), commenting that, “it
(VoceVista) was kind of hard to understand.” All other participants (n=53) wrote such
comments as “none,” “nothing,” and “it was all helpful” in response to question 17.
Research Question Two – Participant perceptions overall with respect to VoceVista
Research question two inquired about participant perceptions overall with respect to the use
of VoceVista. Survey question 18 addressed this matter by asking participants to share their
thoughts overall about the use of VoceVista by writing specific comments.
Traditional content analysis procedures were used to organize, tabulate, and analyze those
descriptions (Krippendorff, 1980). The researcher and a graduate student colleague first read all
responses (N=60), then separated them into two exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories:
(a) positive and (b) negative (see Appendix B). Thereafter, each of the responses was coded as
per the above categories. Inter-rater reliability (agreements divided by agreements +
disagreements) was .98.
Positive comments.
A significant number (N=58, 96.66%) of comments regarding the use of VoceVista were
positive. Eleven comments (18%) referred specifically to a visual benefit of seeing a graphic
representation of vocal phenomena. Such phrases as, “I liked seeing what my voice was doing,”
were common in this sub-category. The majority of positive comments (n=47, 78%), however,
were more general in nature. Comments such as “it was neat” and “it’s really helpful” were
used often. Five comments specifically used the term “helpful” regarding VoceVista. Other
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Perceptions of Voce Vista
respondents used words such as “neat,” “fun,” “great,” “cool,” “amazing,” and “awesome” to
describe their thoughts on VoceVista.
Negative comments.
Two comments (3.33%) were made by one participant, who thought it took time to acclimate
to reading the visual display. This participant commented that VoceVista was “fun at least after
you could read it” and “it took a moment to learn how to read it.”
Research Question Three – Participants rating of VoceVista
Research question three asked how participants would rate the use of VoceVista in learning
gentle onset and consonant articulation. Participants scored VoceVista’s helpfulness on a 5-
point Likert scale. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for all participants (see Table
1).
Rating 1 2 3 4 5 Overall M Overall SD
Perceptions of all participants:
VoceVista teaching onset 3 2 5 26 18 3.99 .98
VoceVista teaching articulation 3 0 13 20 18 3.93 .84
Table 1. Participant (N=54) perceptions of VoceVista’s helpfulness in teaching gentle onset of
phonation and articulation of consonants.
Research Question Four – Demographic disaggregation
Research question four asked whether participant perceptions would vary according to
demographic information provided and grade in school, sex, subject areas liked or disliked,
previous voice lesson experience, choral singing experience, and self-described computer skill.
Cross-tabulation of results indicated no significant differences among responses according to
demographic variables (see Table 2).
Measure M SD
Participants citing science or math as their favourite school subject (n=9)
VoceVista teaching onset 4.1 1.62
VoceVista teaching diction 3.67 1.52
Participants citing writing or art area as their favourite school subject (n=36)
VoceVista teaching onset 3.37 1.07
VoceVista teaching diction 3.26 .872
Participants with previous private voice instruction (n=10)
VoceVista teaching onset 4.3 1.19
VoceVista teaching diction 4 1.18
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Melissa C. Brunkan
Participants with previous choral singing experience (n=27)
VoceVista teaching onset 4.2 .68
VoceVista teaching diction 4.13 .81
Participants citing themselves as very competent computer users (n=10)
VoceVista teaching onset 4.3 1.15
VoceVista teaching diction 4.15 1.36
7 to 10 year old participants, entering grades 2 to 5 (n=38)
VoceVista teaching onset 4 1.12
VoceVista teaching diction 3.88 1.14
11 to 13 year old participants, entering grades 6 to 8 (n=17)
VoceVista teaching onset 4.13 1.17
VoceVista teaching diction 3.87 1.22
Table 2. Participant perceptions of VoceVista’s helpfulness in teaching gentle onset of phonation and
articulation of consonants according to demographic and experiential information.
Research Question Five – Instructor perspective on using VoceVista
Research question five inquired about instructor perceptions of the strengths and
weaknesses of using VoceVista. After viewing videotapes of all sessions, several items of
interest were noted. All singer names are pseudonyms in order to ensure participant
anonymity.
Scooping.
When focusing on the skill of gentle onset of phonation, some students proved to have a
difficult time singing the pitch in a gentle, yet accurate fashion. Furthermore, many of these
singers “scooped” into certain pitches (see Figure 2). VoceVista proved to be an excellent tool
for visual confirmation and explanation of scooping. Many of the singers were able to prevent
further scooping while watching the spectrographic display of their singing. One young girl
stated during her exploration session that this had not made sense to her before, but now that
she could see what her voice was doing, it made sense.
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Perceptions of Voce Vista
Figure 2. Spectrographic display of Isabel, a 12 year old female singing “Somewhere over the Rainbow”
showing scooping (arrows).
Glottal onset.
In addition to its visualization of scooping, VoceVista provided a graphic representation of
hard, glottal onsets clearly discernable to participants. For example, a 12 year old female singing
“Tomorrow” from Annie (see Figure 3) noticed without prompting (see Figure 3) glottal onsets
depicted on the visual display, such as on the word “out” in the first phrase, in addition to
scooping up to notes when beginning words.
Figure 3. Arrow showing glottal onset of Hannah, a 12 year old female singing “Tomorrow.”
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Melissa C. Brunkan
Breathiness.
Yet another interesting observation was that students could easily identify breathiness in the
tone, because it appeared on the spectrographic display as “fogginess.” A 10 year-old boy
singing “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music (see Figure 4) noticed this “fogginess,” particularly
in the upper area of his display. He viewed it as negative, because he had not noticed this
phenomenon on any other displays previous to his. However, this observation lead to a
conversation about use of breath, stages of male voice change, and potential differences in
spectrographic displays for voices undergoing change.
Figure 4. Arrows indicate foggy-looking areas of breathy tone production in the singing of
“Edelweiss”
by Luke, a 10 year old boy.
A subsequent singer, an 11 year old girl, noted both the “fogginess” depicted by VoceVista
and that her segments of phonation appeared, compared to other singers in her session, much
shorter (see Figure 5). She then mentioned she was working with a speech pathologist because
of recently diagnosed vocal nodules.
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Perceptions of Voce Vista
Figure 5. Outer arrows indicate examples of two of the many breaks in the sound. The middle arrow
indicates an audible breath in Amelia, an 11 year old female singing “This is Me.”
Figure 6: Arrows showing consonant articulation at beginning and end of words of Jacqueline, a 10 year
old
female singing “Tomorrow.”
Articulation of consonants.
Participants made several observations of the spectrographic readouts of their singers,
including visual representation of consonant articulation. A 10 year old girl singing
“Tomorrow” from Annie noticed that she could see voiced and unvoiced consonants
predominantly represented as vertical lines or separation (see Figure 6). This observation led to
exploration and discussion of voiced and unvoiced consonant sounds. The participant found
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Melissa C. Brunkan
that she could see the consonants clearly in the spectrogram when she and others sang with
steady and energized breath flow.
Discussion
Primary findings of this investigation indicate that respondents, many of whom had
previous musical experience and computer skills, to a significant degree thought that VoceVista
was helpful, and had an overall positive opinion of its employment in a voice exploration
session. These findings are limited to the participants and methodology of this study. However,
this snapshot of children’s perceptions of using a visual display of spectra as part of an
educational singing experience offers insights worthy of further investigation and practitioner
reflection.
First, VoceVista is an accessible software program for these children, in that they readily
appear to understand its benefit for learning about such things as gentle onset, consonant
articulation, and breathiness. According to one participant, he would “sing all day!” if he had
such a program at home. While previous investigations suggest the usefulness of visual
displays of spectra in teaching teenagers and adults, the present study suggests children may
benefit as well.
Many of the participants in this study, of course, describe themselves a computer literate.
Yet, as some research suggests, that may be increasingly the case among children at large. For
the most part, participants did not dwell on the use of technology per se, but rather showed
curiosity about what looking at such a display could teach them.
Secondly, human beings learn in several different ways. For visual learners, having only
aural feedback from a teacher may lead to some ambiguity, if not confusion. A combination of
visual and aural feedback, on the other hand, appears to have been particularly appropriate for
the children participating in this study. More research of the combination of visual and aural
feedback in teaching children to sing, as contrasted with either type of feedback alone, is
needed.
Perhaps surprisingly, some research to date (for example, Barnes-Burroughs, et al., 2008)
indicates responding voice teachers are hesitant overall to use visual displays of spectra in their
teaching. Among their concerns are difficulties with technology and replacement of an
experienced human ear with computer-based acoustic analyses. Yet, as Nair (1999) states, VRTF
is a “bridge technique” that is most helpful with micro events, such as the matters of onset and
consonant articulation addressed in the voice exploration sessions serving as the focus of this
investigation. In this sense, it would seem that displays like VoceVista could assist teacher’s
having more time to address the important macro-events of singing technique and artistry.
Future research might well investigate the use of teacher time in contexts with and without
VRTF.
Finally, some limitations of this study suggest avenues of further research. The 54 children
in this study were asked simply for their perceptions. Moreover, because of the one-hour time
limit per voice exploration session, completion of surveys could not be individually monitored
and the time spent with each singer was circumscribed. Future studies could well assess more
empirically whether instruction that incorporates VTRF over a longer period of time with
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Perceptions of Voce Vista
children yields measurable improvement in such variables as onset and articulation rather than
simply the perception of such.
Voice education is a complex task. The children in this study were excited overall about the
use of VoceVista. Such technology, of course, is a tool. What purposes it will serve and whether
or not teachers will perceive its potential in working with children’s voices are matters worthy
of continued reflection and research.
Endnote
1. The evolution of VRTF began decades ago. In 1987, at the Groningen Voice Research Lab in
the Netherlands, Harm Schutte and Donald Miller collaborated to integrate signals from a
microphone and an electroglottograph into computer software that would analyze and
display them on a computer screen. This program became known as VoceVista (“visible
voice”) and made its public debut in 1996 at the national conference of the National
Association of Teachers of Singers (NATS) in St. Louis (www.vocevista.com). Meanwhile,
Richard Horne, an electrical engineer and programmer who created a freeware spectrogram
program named “Gram,” joined Miller in a cooperative effort to upgrade VoceVista.
VoceVista was introduced at a time when personal computers became powerful enough to
perform real-time spectral analysis. Since then it has been further developed and is now in
use in voice labs and facilities for training singers, particularly in the US, Germany, and the
Netherlands.
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