Age and voice quality in professional singers
Johan Sundberg · Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology · 1998
The effects of aging on singer's voices were studied in commercial sound recordings of 20 singers, who all had been recorded over a period ranging from their 20s to their 60s. Four recordings were selected, one from each decade. Excerpts from each recording were played to a panel of experts who rated the age of the singer. Rated age showed a significant correlation with real age. The vibrato rate and extent, and the center frequency of a spectrum envelop peak near 3 kHz were measured, and the relation of these variables to rated and real age was examined. A clear correlation between the vibrato characteristics and both real and rated age was found.