Managing reverberant acoustics in singing by extending the plosive closures in vowel-plosive-vowel sequences

Abstract

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.