The Science of Singing Sample Project

Assignment overview

Compare the singing of two singers we have met in class by analyzing similarities and differences in their singing strategies. This assignment will help prepare you for the course’s final project, which is to report on a singer of your choice and compare that singer to one studied in class.

The focus of this assignment is on the practicalities of analysis and identifying important contrasts.

The paper should be about 500–600 words, plus at least a couple charts/plots as described below.

Learning objectives

1. Measure vowel formants in Praat.
2. Plot and analyze vowel formant measurements.
3. Compare different singing strategies from a selection of contemporary world music.

Steps to success

1. Pick two singers we have had as live guests in class. Download the recordings of those class sessions from the course site.
2. Briefly summarize what you know about this history and culture of each singer’s style. Do a bit of research online to try to confirm the details.
3. Use class discussion as well as your notes from when our guests visited to summarize each singer's breathing, phonation, and articulation.
4. Open the recordings of our guests in Praat, create a spectrum for each vowel in the word list, and write down the F1 and F2 values you get for each vowel's spectrum.
5. Plot the F1 and F2 measurements like we did in class.
6. Compare the plots of each singer, and think about what else you might want to know about these singers that the vowel chart doesn't answer for you.
7. Put all that together, then review what you've written using the grading rubric as a guide to make sure you've done all the required work.

Grading rubric

Rubric for this assignment. Possible scores range from 5–20 points.

	Excellent	Good	Needs improvement
Introduction	Describes the two vocal music styles, including their history/culture and articulation. (5 points)	Somewhat describes the two vocal music styles, including their history/culture and articulation. (3–4 points)	Vaguely describes the two vocal music styles, including their history/culture and articulation. (1–2 points)
Method	Describes the people being studied, the data collected, and the data collection process. (5 points)	Partially describes the people being studied, the data collected, and the data collection process. (3–4 points)	Vaguely describes the people being studied, the data collected, and the data collection process. (1–2 points)
Analysis	Includes a vowel chart comparing the singers' sung vowel formants, a sample spectrum of a vowel of each singer with arrows pointing to F1 and F2, and a detailed description of how the measurements were made. (5 points)	The vowel charts, spectra, and description are present but somewhat unclear, or one of them is missing. (3–4 points)	Charts, spectra, and description of the measurement-making process are vague or absent. (1–2 points)
Discussion	Compares and contrasts the vowel patterns of the two vocal art forms, and describes at least one question that arises from the analysis. (5 points)	Somewhat compares and contrasts the vowel patterns of the two vocal art forms, and states a question that arises from the analysis. (3–4 points)	Provides a vague comparison of the vowel patterns and/or no question that arises. (1–2 points)

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