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Byron, T. P., Rushworth, C. T., & Stewart, M. J. (2024). Popular Music Excerpts Are Rated As More Memorable And Salient If They Involve Vocals, Compound Hooks, and Choruses. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2024.2322897
We separated the tracks in pop song recordings algorithmically (e.g., the drums, the vocals, the guitar, etc), and then asked participants to rate how attention-grabbing and memorable particular phrases were – how much those phrases were a hook, in other words. We had some interesting findings! Firstly, participants thought that the vocals were usually the most attention-grabbing and memorable parts of the production – this was the biggest effect, which can be explained in terms of the auditory scene analysis process that goes on while we listen to complex sounds, with the vocals usually perceived as being in the foreground and other parts of the production more likely to be perceived as background. Another interesting finding was that excerpts that had been rated by musicologists as having more than one feature that was a hook (e.g., both the rhythm and the pitch content of a melodic phrase were catchy in different ways) were more likely to be rated higher by participants.
“What might the trombone teach us about the singing voice?—a tutorial review” Wolfe, J., Boutin, H.,
Hanna N. and Smith, J. (2024) J. Voice, peer reviewed article in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.02.006
Our lab at UNSW investigates the fundamental operation of both the voice and music. An early paper comparing and contrasting them, in terms of coding and function, was presented as an unconventional plenary debate (www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/debate.html) for the 2002 ICMPC, convened by Kate Stevens. Two decades later, we publish another comparison review, this time looking mainly at the acoustics.
The trombone and the voice are quantitatively different. The trombone’s resonating duct is 2.7 m long, while my vocal tract is 0.17 m long. But the pitch ranges are similar: I’ve got a trombone-pitch voice in a piccolo-sized instrument! But they’re qualitatively similar: in each case, the non-linear oscillating source is two slabs of tissue (lips and vocal folds, respectively) that vibrate spontaneously to modulate a flow of breath, from which they also extract the mechanical work that keeps them vibrating. (Their vibrations are far too rapid for muscular contractions to be responsible.) In each case there is a resonating acoustic duct downstream (instrument bore vs vocal tract) and another upstream (player’s vocal tract vs singer’s trachea).
A puzzle for researchers is that both the vocal folds and trombonist’s lips are often capable of auto-oscillation a little below resonant frequencies of their ducts, where the load is inertive (or mass-like) and also a little above, where the load is compliant (or spring-like). To understand this, the trombonist’s lips offer experimental advantages: we have been able to measure both DC and AC pressure and flow immediately upstream and downstream of the lips, and at the same time to record the motion of the lips with detailed high-speed video in three dimensions. This has allowed us to quantify aspects of the energetics of their motion. We show that a longitudinal sweeping motion of the lips whose phase leads that of a transverse vibration can extract sufficient work to power the oscillation with loads of either phase. Only less direct measurements are possible for the voice. However, thanks to data provided by colleagues conducting laser ranging on the motion of the folds, we were able to show that a similar combination of vibrational modes seems able to account semi- quantitatively for the energetics of the vibration of the vocal folds.
Amanda E. Krause, Melissa Forbes, Xanthe Lowe-Brown (2025). Does Reality Television-Style Singing Influence Singing Self-Concept? Journal of Voice, 39, 1, 280.e15-280.e24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2022.06.024
Hypothesis
Due to upward social comparison, we hypothesized that exposure to reality television singing (a technically demanding style of contemporary commercial music singing) would negatively influence singing self-concept compared to hearing amateur singers or plain, unembellished singing by professionals.
Study Design and Methods
A between-subjects, online experiment was used. A sample of 212 individuals (Mage = 33.14; 69.30% female) participated in the study. After completing a background section, participants were randomly allocated into one of the experimental conditions (hearing one of four versions of a well-known song: a control version with piano and no singing, amateur singing, professional plain singing, and professional singing in the style of reality television singing). Participants were then asked to judge the performance they heard and to respond to items concerning their singing self-concept (including singing ability).
Results and Conclusions
A series of ANCOVAs was used to examine the impact of the experimental condition on the participants’ performance judgments and singing self-concept. The amateur singing was judged as the lowest quality. While there was no significant difference by experimental condition regarding possessing good singing ability, the experimental condition did affect people’s singing aspirations and perceived ability to sing along with the performers. The pattern of results suggests that exposure to reality television-style singing may have negative impacts on people’s singing self-concept via upward social comparison. Self-concept has been identified as an important predictor of musical engagement and participation and plays a role in motivating action. These results encourage music educators, singing voice pedagogues, and community musicians seeking to promote musical and singing participation to be aware of cultural influences on an individual’s singing self-concept.