A study of repeated measures of softest and loudest phonations

One common way to describe one's voice in an objective way is to measure th e sound levels of the softest (pianissimo) and loudest possible (fortissimo ) phonations at given pitches (voice range profile measurement). However, t he reliability of the measurement has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of the present study was to describe the repeatability and reproducibi lity of the sound level measurement in statistical terms, focusing on five target frequencies within the estimated speaking pitch range. Ten healthy f emale university students volunteered as test subjects. The voice range pro files within the speaking pitch range were defined 10 times in succession a nd in five sample sessions between 45-minute-long oral readings. Our study followed the ideas of the Gage repeatability and reproducibility design. Th e results showed that the method used was reliable in fortissimo phonations at four of the measured frequencies. Better reliability can be achieved by measuring three successive phonations at each pitch prior to the next targ et tone.