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Editor’s Preface
(Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia, 2023) Raju, Marju
Juhtumiuuring harrastuskoorilauljate meeleolu- ja ärevusnäitajate muutustest proovi- ja kontserdisituatsiooni võrdluses LGBTQ+ segakoori Vikerlased näitel
(Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia, 2024) Raju, Marju; Davidjants, Brigitta; Davidjants, Brigitta, koostaja
The positive impact of choral singing and music more generally on people’s mental well-being has been extensively researched and proven. Often, the focus is on the self-esteem of the singers (Moss et al. 2018), as well as on the psychological and physiological benefits and the social and community support people gain from participating in choral and community singing, especially those from marginalised groups (Bird 2017: 194). Methodology. The case study consisted of participant observation during the rehearsal and performance situations, a questionnaire, an in-depth interview with the conductor, a workshop, focus group interviews with choir members, and feedback of the results to choir members. This article covers only quantitative results from the questionnaire and from observation of the participants. Choir members. The participants were the singers and the conductor of the LGBTQ+ mixed choir Vikerlased based in Tallinn, established in 2017. The average age of respondents to the questionnaire (n=15) was 36.6, the youngest was 27 and the oldest 55. Respondents had been singing in the choir for an average of two years. The majority (13) had been involved in choral singing also in earlier life, since school. The following options were available in the questionnaire to identify their gender or sexual identity: male (M), female (N), lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), trans (T), queer (Q), asexual (A) and intersex (I). Seven respondents chose one symbol, eight respondents chose more than one, with a maximum of four symbols. The I symbol was the only one in the list not used in connection with their identity. The explanation box was used by four respondents who added new terms to the repetition of definitions already in the list: non-binary and pansexual. In order to avoid any possible implicit identification of the participants, the article does not provide more detailed information about the respondents. Selected results. Motivation for singing. Respondents were asked to rank seven different reasons for choir participation in order of importance, resulting in a common ranking of reasons: (1) pleasant company, (2) singing together, (3) expression of LGBTQ+ identity, (4) the songs and the music itself, (5) the opportunity to perform at special events (demonstrations, charity concerts, e.g. for Ukraine, Pride, etc.), (6) performances in general, and (7) the opportunity to perform at the Song Celebration. Observations. The overall dynamics of anxiety indicating behaviours were similar for the rehearsal and the performance: while the level of observable anxiety-related behaviours was moderate during the first song, it decreased during the second song, being the lowest of all in the performance as a whole. During the rehearsal, the fourth song was the “most anxious” in general, while during the performance it was the fifth song that was the “most anxious”. During both the rehearsal and the performance, the average observed anxiety level of the choir returned to around the level of the first song during the last song. Compared to the rehearsal, there were numerically more anxiety behaviours in the performance situation. Self-rating scales. Respondents (n=15) rated their anxiety and mood using a 10-point scale. For both scores, lower results indicate a more desirable situation with a lower anxiety level and raised mood. Before the rehearsal the average anxiety score of the choir was 3.9 and after the rehearsal 3.5 points. For mood, the pre-rehearsal score was 2 and the post-rehearsal score was 1.8. Statistical significance analysis (t-test) revealed that the group mean anxiety and mood scores were similarly low before the rehearsal and that there was no statistically significant change in these scores after the rehearsal. Before the performance, the average anxiety score of the choir was slightly higher than before the rehearsal (4.1) and the mood score was lower (1.4), i.e. there was a small collective increase in mood between the end of the rehearsal and the performance, but there was also an increase in overall anxiety levels. After the performance, the mean scores were 2.4 for anxiety and only 0.9 for mood. Changes in both anxiety and mood scores were also statistically significant (p=0.002, t=3.453 for anxiety, and p=0.021, t=2.481 for mood). Thus, after the performance, the average anxiety level of the choir members decreased significantly and mood increased. Discussion. The choir members considered the most important factors in participating in the choir’s work to be pleasant company and singing together. Choir members had a fairly high level of awareness of mental health issues and practised behaviours to prevent mental health problems. These issues are not taboo in the choir, which offers general support to its members in addition to musical activities. An openly LGBTQ+ choir such as Vikerlased offers a safe way to increase tolerance and to acknowledge different experiences in Estonian society at large.
Managing reverberant acoustics in singing by extending the plosive closures in vowel-plosive-vowel sequences
(University of California, 2025) Vurma, Allan; Meister, Einar; Meister, Lya; Ross, Jaan; Raju, Marju; Kala, Veeda; Dede, Tuuri
Poor intelligibility of sung text often occurs in reverberant rooms due to masking by the reverberation tail of the singer’s voice. This study investigates whether elongating the plosive closure phase can improve the recognition of voiceless plosives in vowel–plosive–vowel sequences sung in reverberant rooms. We hypothesize that a longer plosive closure allows the reverberation tail from the preceding vowel to decay before the plosive burst, thus reducing masking and enhancing plosive recognition. In Experiment I, 34 listeners heard stimuli (sung single-pitch vowel–plosive–vowel sequences) via headphones, with artificial reverberation and/or Brown Noise added to simulate different acoustics. Experiment II involved 33 listeners in a concert hall, where stimuli were played from a loudspeaker on the stage, and Brown Noise was played from a separate sound system. The plosive closure phase in the stimuli was edited using PRAAT software to durations 60 ms, 150 ms, or 260 ms. Recognition of plosives improved by up to 25 percentage points with longer closure phases, depending on the acoustic condition, burst intensity, and vowel pitch. Older listeners, and listeners seated in the back rows of the concert hall, showed poorer recognition. Extending the plosive closure phase generally did not improve plosive recognition in non-reverberant acoustics.
Meie südames leidub koht Adornole
(Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia, 2023) Raju, Marju; Raju, Marju, koostaja
Saateks koostajalt
(Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia, 2023) Raju, Marju
The role of voiced consonant duration in sung vowel-consonant and consonant-vowel recognition
(Acoustical Society of America, 2025) Vurma, Allan; Meister, Einar; Meister, Lya; Ross, Jaan; Raju, Marju; Kala, Veeda; Dede, Tuuri
Sung text intelligibility is often a problem, especially in reverberant acoustics, at high pitch, and in the presence of a loud accompaniment. This study aims to discover whether elongating the duration of voiced consonants /m/, /n/, /l/, and /v/ in sung vowel-consonant (VC) and consonant-vowel (CV) sequences improves their recognition. Perception tests were conducted with 42 participants, and the data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed models. Results showed that consonant durations of 20–35 ms are sufficient for a near-perfect recognition when singing at close-to speaking pitch in non-reverberant acoustics and without accompaniment. However, in reverberant acoustics for VC sequences, longer consonant durations allow the reverberation from the preceding vowel to fade more fully during the consonant, reducing masking by the room reverberation and thereby improving recognition. Also, elongating consonant duration up to about 200 ms (or even longer) improved consonant recognition in the case of stimuli with added Brown Noise, imitating orchestral accompaniment, whereas only negligible impact on the order of succession (CV versus VC) was observed. Recognition tended to be poorer at higher pitch and with longer reverberation
Vokaalpartii teksti selge kostmise saavutamine ooperiteatri kontekstis
(Eesti Muusika- ja Teatriakadeemia, 2025) Kala, Veeda; Raju, Marju; Pappel, Kristel, toimetaja; Pesti, Madli, toimetaja
The sung text in opera is difficult for listeners to understand, even when sung in a language they know. Various explanations have been found for this, for example in the case of very high notes. However, opera texts remain incomprehensible in other cases as well. The goal of this research was to collect firsthand insights from singers regarding textual clarity, an aspect often overlooked in previous systematic studies. The study conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with professional opera singers from Europe and North America, conducted in Estonian (n = 11) and English (n = 19). As the problem concerns all voice types, all the singers who agreed to participate in the study and gave interviews were included in the work. Among the singers were three basses, three baritones, six tenors, one countertenor, six mezzo-sopranos, and eleven sopranos. This article focuses specifically on their reflections regarding the role of other professionals in supporting textual clarity. Although no direct questions were asked about these roles, the topic emerged spontaneously in several interviews. The findings suggest that improving text intelligibility in opera requires collaborative effort among singers, teachers, directors, conductors, production organizers, and even audiences.