CSD 306K Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Vocal Tract, Vocal Folds, Formant

• School: UT-Austin
• Department: Communication Sciences and Disorders
• Course: CSD 306K
• Professor: Natalie Czimskey

Document Summary

Harmonics: complex periodic sounds are composed of a series of simple periodic sounds call harmonics, each harmonic has it"s own frequency and amplitude. Fundamental frequency: the lowest of these harmonics. F0- also known as the fundamental frequency, f0 is a property of the source and is perceived by the ear as pitch. The f0 of the adult human voice ranges from 100-300 hz: represents the rate of vocal fold vibration, what we perceive as pitch. If the f0 is 120 hz, subsequent harmonics are 240, 360, 480, 600, 720, hz, etc. Format frequencies: resonances of the vocal tract are called formants. By changing the shape of the vocal tract, you also change the frequency of the formant. These formants can be seen as dark bands in the spectrogram. Each vowel has its own characteristic filter functions. High vowels have a low f1, while low vowels have a high f1.