ARTIFICIAL PITCH CHANGING IN AUDITORY-FEEDBACK AS A POSSIBLE METHOD IN VOICE TRAINING AND THERAPY

This study tested the effects of artificial pitch change of the audito ry feedback on the fundamental frequency of normal-hearing subjects in text reading. The subjects (4 males, 24 females; 4 subjects were prof essional speech trainers, 3 subjects were trained singers; 1 male and 6 females were habitually using a non-optimal speaking pitch) read alo ud from a text first the same paragraph twice in normal circumstances and then again while hearing their own voices, in real time changed in pitch, through headphones. In most cases the reading pitch increased during auditory feedback manipulations and the changes were larger tha n the differences found between recapitulations of the same text. The speech trainers and singers did not differ from the other subjects in their reactions. Three of the 7 subjects with pitch problems did not c hange the pitch at all and 3 did change it to an inappropriate directi on. Only 1 subject with a pitch problem did benefit from the feedback manipulation. These results suggest that with certain limitations this method could be taken advantage of in voice training.