Multisensory integration of musical emotion perception in singing

We investigated how visual and auditory information contributes to emotion communication during singing. Classically trained singers applied two different facial expressions (expressive/suppressed) to pieces from their song and opera repertoire. Recordings of the singers were evaluated by laypersons or experts, presented to them in three different modes: auditory, visual, and audio–visual. A manipulation check confirmed that the singers succeeded in manipulating the face while keeping the sound highly expressive. Analyses focused on whether the visual difference or the auditory concordance between the two versions determined perception of the audio–visual stimuli. When evaluating expressive intensity or emotional content a clear effect of visual dominance showed. Experts made more use of the visual cues than laypersons. Consistency measures between uni-modal and multimodal presentations did not explain the visual dominance. The evaluation of seriousness was applied as a control. The uni-modal stimuli were rated as expected, but multisensory evaluations converged without visual dominance. Our study demonstrates that long-term knowledge and task context affect multisensory integration. Even though singers’ orofacial movements are dominated by sound production, their facial expressions can communicate emotions composed into the music, and observes do not rely on audio information instead. Studies such as ours are important to understand multisensory integration in applied settings.

Nonword Repetition Performance Differentiates Children Who Stutter With and Without Concomitant Speech Sound and Developmental Language Disorders

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine how nonword repetition (NWR) performance may be impacted by the presence of concomitant speech and language disorders in young children who stutter (CWS). Method: One hundred forty-one children (88 CWS and 53 children who do not stutter [CWNS]) participated. CWS were divided into groups based on the presence of speech sound and/or language disorder or typical speech sound production and language abilities. NWR abilities were measured using stimuli composed of one- to four-syllable nonwords. Results: CWS with typical speech and language and CWNS had higher accuracy scores than CWS with concomitant speech and language disorders. We found no difference in accuracy scores between CWNS and CWS with typical speech and language abilities, nor did we find differences between CWS with speech sound disorder and CWS with both speech sound and language disorders. Accuracy decreased as nonword length increased for all groups. Conclusions: We found that the presence of a concomitant speech and language disorder was a driving factor behind poorer NWR performance in CWS. Accuracy scores differentiated CWS with concomitant disorders from CWS with typical speech and language but not CWS with typical speech and language from CWNS. Considering the speech and language abilities of CWS helped clarify poorer NWR performance and enhances generalizability to the population that exists clinically.

Acoustic and vibrational signaling in true katydid Nesoecia nigrispina: three means of sound production in the one species

The males of Mexican katydids Nesoecia nigrispina (Stal) produce calling songs and protest sounds using the same stridulatory apparatus as in most of the other Ensifera at the base of the elytra. It includes pars stridens on the upper elytron and plectrum on the lower. Calling sounds are 2−pulse series, repeated with a frequency of 2−3 per sec. Protest signals in the form of short trills from the same pulse duration males produce with tactile stimulation. The pulse repetition rate is almost three times higher than that of the calling sounds - up to 10 per sec. The frequency spectra of these signals have maxima in the band of 14−15 kHz. However, in addition to the sounds described, both males and females are capable to produce protest signals of the second type with the help of another sound apparatus, namely with the help of the wings. Insects with removed elytra are unable to produce an audible sound. Thus, the sound is produced by the friction of the wings on the elytra, but there are no specialized stridulatory structures on them. In females, in response to tactile stimulation, short clicks are recorded, which they make, apparently, by the mandibles. Vibrational signals at tremulation are emitted by individuals of both sexes during courtship and males, completing the calling signal cycle and after copulation. It is possible that vibrational signals are an additional factor in reproductive isolation in sympatric species, since the calling sound signals in representatives of the genus Nesoecia are similar and exhibit significant variability.

Managing Stages of Film Sound Production

The purpose of this article is to analyse the main stages of sound production in film. The study aims to establish the main principles of film sound design, prove the importance of a rational approach to each stage in the context of their impact on the results of the study, and determine the role of sound in film dramaturgy. The research methodology is based on theoretical methods, namely an analysis of information sources, comparison of Ukrainian and foreign approaches to filmmaking, generalisation and systematisation of practical knowledge and experience of sound production in film from the first sound film to the present day. Scientific novelty. The management structure of sound production’s modern stages and their impact on creative and technical components of film soundtracks is analysed in detail for the first time. Conclusions. The article analyses the stages of sound production in film and establishes the main principles of sound design by studying Ukrainian and foreign approaches to creating sound in the film. The author summarises the rational approach to each stage in the context of their impact on the results of the study and examines the role of sound in film dramaturgy.

Application of thermal analysis in ferrous and nonferrous foundries

This paper is devoted to the memory of Professor Ljubomir Nedeljkovic (1933-2020), Head of the Department of Iron and Steel Metallurgy University of Belgrade, Serbia. Assessment of the melt quality is one of the most important casting process parameters, which allowed sound production of intricated cast parts. At the present time, various devices have been applied at foundry floors to control melt quality. Thermal analysis is one of them, widely used for melt quality control in ferrous and non-ferrous casting plants. During solidification, metal and alloys released latent heat, which magnitude is dependent on the type of phases that form during the solidification process. Plotting temperature versus time data during solidification provides useful information related to the actual solidification process. The applied technique is called thermal analysis, whereas the cooling curve is the name of such a plot. The main aim of this paper is to give a short overview of the present thermal analysis application in various foundries and to indicate the future potential use of this technique.

What is vocology?

In its broadest definition, Vocology is the study of vocalization, much like audiology is the study of hearing. Vocology includes the exploration of the full capability of human and animal sound production, some of which is embedded in human speech. For professional practice, a secondary definition of Vocology is the science and practice of voice habilitation, concept that has been in existence for more than two decades. The emphasis is on habilitation rather than re-habilitation, so that the field does not infringe on speech-language pathology. Besides, it does include the important area of animal vocalization.