Transfer Function of the Vocal Tract

Question 1

Resonance is ________________________.

Answer 1

the vibratory response to an applied force

Question 2

Narrow band spectrograms are (vertical/horizontal)

Answer 2

Horizontal

Question 3

Wide band spectrograms are (vertical/horizontal)

Answer 3

Vertical

Question 4

Why do all of the vowels sound different during speech perception?

Answer 4

Energy concentrations change for each vowel and therefore they sound different

Question 5

Resonator is set into forced vibration by ___________

Answer 5

another vibration

Question 6

The vibratory response to an applied force

Answer 6

Resonance

Question 7

Resonators (do/do not) initiate the sound energy

Answer 7

do NOT (something forces something into motion)

Question 8

(T/F) The vocal tract can act as a resonator.

Answer 8

True. Body of air resonates in response to sound that has frequencies matching the natural resonant frequencies of the volume of air.

Question 9

Resonance depends on: (4 factors)

Answer 9

1. Open or closed ends of the tube
2. Length of the tube
3. Shape of the tube
4. Size of the opening(s) of the tube

Question 10

Resonant frequencies (F) in a UNIFORM tube =

Answer 10

F = (2n-1)c/4L
where n=integer, c=speech of sound in air (34400 cm/s), and L=length of tube in cm
E.g., 1st resonance = (2(1)-1)c/4L

Question 11

(T/F) Shaping the vocal tract differently results in the same peaks of resonance.

Answer 11

False. Shaping the vocal tract differently creates various peaks of resonance.

Question 12

What is a formant?

Answer 12

peak of resonance in the vocal tract

Question 13

The typical male vocal tract is _____ cm long.

The typical female vocal tract is _____ cm long.

Answer 13

17.5 cm; 14.5 cm

Question 14

Two components of vowel acoustics:

Answer 14

1. Source

2. Filter

Question 15

Glottal source for vowels is typically ______, but noise/hiss excitation is ________.

Answer 15

Voicing; Possible

Question 16

Harmonics ______ as they _____ in frequency

Answer 16

diminish; increase

Question 17

When f0 changes, the spacing between the harmonics ________

Answer 17

changes

Question 18

the vocal tract acts as a _____ _____

Answer 18

variable resonator

Question 19

Altering cavity sizes results in __________________________.

Answer 19

different resonant frequencies, producing a different vowel

Question 20

The glottal source is ________ according to the frequency response of the vocal tract filter.

Answer 20

filtered

Question 21

If the glottal source is voiced, the harmonics of the glottal source at or near the spectral peaks of the transfer function of the vocal tract are ___________, while those distant from the spectral peaks ________ energy and become _________.

Answer 21

resonated; lose energy; attenuated

Question 22

The resonator works the same way if the source is __________ or if __________

Answer 22

aperiodic; f0 changes

Question 23

Despite source changes the resonances ____________

Answer 23

remain the same

Question 24

Resonance frequencies are mostly affected by: (2)

Answer 24

1. the length of the pipe

2. its cross-sectional area as a function of length

Question 25

(T/F) If you don’t have a tongue, you can’t change shape and will therefore be unintelligible.

Answer 25

True.