Voice production in death metal singers

Cornelia Eckers
a,
Diana Htz
a,
Malte Kob
b,c
, Peter Murphy
b,d
, Diana Houben
a
and Bernhard Lehnert
b
a
Zuyd University, department of speech and language pathology;
b
Chair of Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology, RWTH
Aachen University;
c
rich!Thienhaus!"nstitute, University of #usic $etmold;
d
$epartment of lectronic and
Computer ngineering, University of %imeric& '"R%(
Abstract
Siners in !death "etal# style, a deep and harsh, i$e$ kind o%
runtin, %or" o% sinin, o%ten use a uni&ue %or" o% 'oice
production called !ro(lin#$ )he underlyin "echanis"s
o% 'oice production as (ell as possible potentially har"%ul
in%luences on the siner*s 'oice ha'e not been intensi'ely
studied$ Supralottal laryneal constriction appears to play a
"a+or role in "etal sinin$ ,n this study (e present an
e-a"ination "ethod usin a &uestionnaire includin the
'oice handicap inde- as (ell as a phonetora" and
co"bined si"ultaneous electrolottoraphy and acoustic
analysis$ .urther"ore a larynoscopy (ith a riid optic, %or
sinin 'o(els, and a transnasal %le-ible larynoscopy, %or
ro(lin, (as carried out to in'estiate in particular the
production o% death "etal sinin in se'en sub+ects$ /one o%
the sub+ects co"plained about persistent 'oice proble"s and
none had sins o% secondary oranic 'oice disorders like
'ocal %old nodules or in%la""ation$ Ho(e'er, "ost sho(ed
"inor irreularities on stroboscopic e-a"ination$ .urther
%indins re'eal that at least t(o %or"s o% supralottal
laryneal constriction are used to obtain the typical death
"etal sound (hich di%%ers in use o% 'ocal %olds and
'entricular %olds as (ell as in supralottal adduction e%%ort$
)he study shall help to ans(er the &uestion (hether death
"etal sinin can be per%or"ed in a "anner such that the
risk o% 'oice da"ae can be reduced or a'oided$
Introduction
0cross sinin styles di%%erent 'oice production "echanis"s
are used$ So"e styles e"ploy o'ertone sinin (ith e$$ a
(histle1like hih o'ertone like !drone# 2345$ 6thers "ay use
undertone sinin$ )his %or" o% sinin is produced (ith
lo( %re&uencies$ 7ndertone sinin includes the application
o% the 'entricular %olds inside the laryn- 2335$ 0 si"ilar %or"
o% sinin is o%ten used in "etal styles such as !death
"etal#$
,n "etal1+aron this type o% sinin is called !ro(lin#$
8ro(lin is oriinally "entioned as lo(1pitched sounds
uttered by e$$ dos and other ani"als$ ,t has been obser'ed
in other sinin styles as (ell, such as the +azz sinin style
o% Louis 0r"stron and Cab Callo(ay 295, 2:5$
;ith the increasin nu"ber o% "etal1siners the &uestion o%
stress o% the 'oice production "echanis" and o% resultant
'oice disorders has ained "ore i"portant and "ore
rele'ance$ ,n so"e "etal1%oru"s and also in so"e articles
'oice disorders o% "etal1siners are "entioned 2<5$ Because
o% this kno(lede, "etal1siners are potential patients %or
speech therapists$
Considerin the physioloy, Sakakibara et al$ =>44:? %ound
the aryepilottic %olds 'ibratin in addition to the 'ocal
cords =at a rate o% >@3? %or t(o siners producin ro(l 'oice
2345$
Ho(e'er, there is not enouh research in death "etal sinin
respecti'ely ro(lin o% death "etal siners to i'e so"e
'oice trainins or therapy to patients in "etal1sinin$ 6ut o%
this lack o% research the %ollo(in study resulted$ ,ts purpose
is ettin so"e "ore basic kno(lede o'er the physioloical
production o% the ro(lin 'oice, the acoustic aspects o%
ro(lin and the sy"pto"s and %actors o% stress o% death
"etal sinin$
Method
Laryneal "o'e"ents in ro(lin (ere obser'ed directly
and indirectly by recordin o% endoscopic diital i"aes,
E88 =electrolottoraphy? (a'e%or"s and sound
(a'e%or"s$ )he nor"al and the ro(lin 'oice (ere tested
(ith a phonetora" to et "ore in%or"ation about the
capacity o% the ro(lin 'oice and sy"pto"s o% 'oice
disorders$ .urther"ore the stress o% 'oice and possible 'oice
disorders are e-a"ined (ithin a structured inter'ie( as (ell
as (ith the 'oice handicap inde-$ )he in'estiations took
place at the clinic of Phoniatrics and Pedaudiology at the
University Hospital Aachen.
Subjects/Participants
Se'en death "etal siners participated in this research$ )heir
e-perience in death "etal sinin resp$ ro(lin 'aried %ro"
3A to 3< years$ Because o% the 'oice is reported to be
opti"u" bet(een the ae o% >4 and :4 years, all participants
(ere in this rane =rane B >> C 9:? 2D5$ Prior to per%or"in
the research tasks each participant sined a pri'acy policy
and a declaration o% consent$
Data collection
)he participants (ere asked to sustain the 'o(el EaE in a
continuous "anner oin %ro" "odal reister, to ro(lin
and back to "odal reister in al"ost e'ery in'estiation$ ,t
(as re&uired that each participant sustained the 'o(el %or a
"ini"u" o% 9 seconds at a co"%ortable loudness le'el$
Durin the acoustic "easure"ents and phonetora" analysis
the distance bet(een the sub+ect*s "outh and the
"icrophone (as 94 c"$ )he E88 and acoustic
"easure"ents (ere recorded si"ultaneously$ )(o electrodes
(ere positioned riht and le%t %ro" the laryn- (hile the
sub+ects (ere sinin %ro" "odal reister into ro(lin and
back into "odal reister$ )he data %ro" the acoustic and
E88 "easure"ents (ere sa'ed (ith !0udacity#, %ree
so%t(are to edit audio tracks$

1747
)he in'estiation o% the 'ocal per%or"ance (as %irst done
reular in "odal reister (ith the So%t(are !Phoneto# 2F5$
)hen the sub+ects had to produce the ro(lin style$ ,n order
to et so"e 'aluable results, they had to try sinin in the
deepest and the hihest possible tones in ro(lin, in
addition to the i'en tones in the phonetora"$
)he endoscopy (as carried out by a doctor o% the clinic o%
Phoniatrics and Pedaudioloy, 7ni'ersity Hospital 0achen
=the last author o% this paper?$ )he %irst endoscopic
in'estiation (as carried out (ith a riid optic$ Here the
sub+ects (ere asked to sustain the 'o(el EiE to et so"e
in%or"ation o% the oranic healthiness o% the laryn- and the
'ocal %olds$ )o et so"e "ore kno(lede about the
physioloical aspects o% ro(lin, there (as also done a
transnasal %le-ible larynoscopy$ ,n this (ay the sub+ects
(ere able to produce the %luent passae %ro" "odal reister
into ro(lin and back into "odal reister (ithout ure to
a$ Here they had to sustain the 'o(el EaE$
Moreo'er the sub+ects had to ans(er so"e open and closed
&uestions related to the ro(lin 'oice, the production,
co"plaints, capacity o% 'oice etc$ in the %or" o% a structured
inter'ie($ 0ll inter'ie(s (ere sa'ed (ith 0udacity$
.inally the participants had to %ill in the Goice Handicap
,nde- =GH,?$ )his (as supposed to brin so"e in%or"ation
o'er possible e-istin 'oice disorders o% the sub+ects 2H5$
Data analysis and results
Laryngoscopy
)he diital i"aes due to this in'estiation (ere interpreted
by an i"ae1by1i"ae1obser'ation o% the laryneal
structures (ith the so%t(are !GirtualDub# and %illin this in
a ratin sheet %or the &ualitati'e analysis o% the 'ibration o%
the 'ocal %olds by BIh"e and 8ross =>443? 2>5$
)he %irst endoscopic in'estiation (ith a riid optic could be
done by %i'e o% se'en sub+ects$ )hey (ere physically
healthy$ )he transnasal %le-ible larynoscopy could be done
by si- sub+ects$ Durin the larynoscopy t(o di%%erent %or"s
o% production o% ro(lin 'oice (ere identi%ied$ 6ne %or" o%
production used the 'ibratin o% the 'entricular %olds (ith an
antero1posterior constriction o% the supralaryneal tract$ ,n
another production o% ro(lin the aryepilottic %olds
'ibrated$
Analysis of the Electroglottographic Signal
E!!"
)he results o% this in'estiation (ere &ualitati'ely analyzed
by (atchin precisely at the blo( up E881(a'e%or"s o%
each sub+ect$
)he E88 (a'e%or"s %or ro(l di%%ered "arkedly %ro"
those produced %or "odal reister$ )(o 'ibratory rei"es
(ere obser'ed durin ro(l production@ a slo( 'ariation
occurrin at a sub1"ultiple o% the 'ocal %old %unda"ental
%re&uency and the 'ocal %old %unda"ental %re&uency$
)he (a'e%or" %or one o% the participants had > 'ocal %old
oscillations to one slo( oscillation =>@3, .i$3?$ .our o% the
participants had 9 'ocal %old oscillations to one slo(
oscillation$ )he E881(a'e%or" o% a %urther participant had
: 'ocal %old oscillation to one slo( oscillation and another
participant produced an aperiodic (a'e%or" suestin
chaotic 'ibration at le'el o% the laryn-$ Because o% this, the
(a'e%or"s (ere so"e(hat di%%erent in each case$ So"e
e-a"ple se"ents are sho(n in .i$3$
#igure $% =a? E881(a'e%or" (ith a ratio o% >@3$ =b1e? Jatio
9@3 in %our di%%erent participants$
Acoustic Analysis
Analysis &ith the hoarseness diagram by Michaelis
$'''"
)he acoustic recordins o% EaE in "odalEro(linE"odal
phonation (ere analysed usin the hoarseness diara" 2K5$
;ith this, para"eters o% hoarseness and noise could be
calculated$ )here (as a "ini"u" o% three audio tracks
rabbed to et enouh 'alues to analyze$ Each audio track
(as split into three parts@ )(o parts o% "odal reister =%irst
and third part? and one part o% ro(lin ="iddle?$ 6nset and
o%%set (ere deleted %ro" each part$ 0%ter this, re%erence
'alues %or the para"eters PPL =Pitch Perturbation
LuotientE+itter?, EPL =Enery Perturbation
LuotientEshi""er?, 8/E =8lottal to /oise E-citation Jatio?,
irreularity1co"ponent
=3?
and noise1co"ponent
=>?
(ere obtained by analyzin the "odal reister parts (ith the
hoarseness diara"$ )he 'alues (ere co"pared (ith the
'alues a'eraed by analyzin the ro(lin part o% each
sub+ect (ith the hoarseness diara"$
)he para"eters obtained %ro" the ro(lin parts (ere
increased =rane@ :,>> to F,<4?, co"pared to the re%erence
'alues =rane@ 3,HF to 9,3K?$
=a?
=b?
=c?
=d?
=e?

1748
Especially the para"eter EPL (as strikinly increased
=a'erae@ >H$>K?, co"pared (ith re%erence 'alues =a'erae@
9$<9? as seen in the %ollo(in table@
EPL 2M5 PPL 2M5
ro(lin re%erence re%erence re%erence
S 3 ()*$+ N K,K< 39,<9N 3>,<K $)*$, N >,HK 3,3H N 3,HF
S > --*.' N F,99 >,H9 N 4,H3 $-*() N :,:H 4,3: N 4,49
S 9 (/*.. N33,:: 9,<K N 3,F< $-*+/ N F,4> 4,3K N 4,3K
S : $/*,+ N39,D3 3,:< N 4,9H )*(, N :,H4 4,34 N 4,4D
S D ,*). N :,3: >,3F N 4,:3 0*-+ N 4,KK 4,4< N 4,4:
S K ('*(. N D,>F 3,>H N 4,>H /*(' N 3,KD 4,4: N 4,44
S H ($*-' N <,:< 3,<H N 4,H9 '*.+ N >,KH 4,4H N 4,49
1able $% 0'eraed re%erence 'alues (ith standard de'iation and
'alues o% ro(lin (ith standard de'iation %or EPL and PPL o%
each sub+ect =S?$
Analysis &ith Praat
)he a'eraed three audio parts ="odal reister C ro(lin C
"odal reister? (ere taken to obtain so"e 'alues about
un'oiced %ra"es and har"onics1to1noise1ratio =H/J?$
)he results o% the analysis o% the ro(lin parts o% each
sub+ect (ith the so%t(are Praat (ere di%%erently$ ,n so"e
audio tracks the ro(lin part had 4M to 3HM un'oiced
%ra"es and in other ones the un'oiced %ra"es 'aried %ro"
KFM to HHM$ )(o e-a"ples are sho(n in the %ollo(in
%iure@
#igure -% 6n top@ Goice sinal (ith 4M un'oiced %ra"es in the
ro(lin part$ 0t the botto"@ Goice sinal (ith HHM un'oiced
%ra"es in the ro(lin part$ Blue 'ertical lines B 'oiced %ra"es$
Si- o% the se'en participants displayed H/J distinctly belo(
the standard 'alue o% >4dB$ )he lo(er the H/J, the "ore
the hoarseness (as pronounced$
Phonetogram
)he "easure"ents are analyzed in co"parison (ith standard
'alues by /a(ka and ;irth =>44F? 2F5$ )he phonetora"
(as done (ith se'en participants in "odal reister and
ro(lin$ ,n "odal reister there (ere 'arious results$ 6nly
t(o participants achie'ed nor"al 'alues in dyna"ic rane$
6ne sho(ed a liht restriction in %orte$ .our participants
e-hibited de%icits in piano, e-e"plarily sho(n in %iure 9,
and t(o participants in %orte and piano$
)he results o% the ro(lin1phonetora" (ere di%%erent %ro"
the standard 'alues o% "odal reister$ E'ery participant (as
as loud as, or louder than, his "odal reister1phonetora"$
.urther"ore, in ro(lin e'ery participant reached deeper
than, or as deep as, their per%or"ances in "odal reister$ But
they all did not reach the standard 'alues o% lo(est 'olu"e,
hihest tone, dyna"ic rane and pitch rane, as sho(n in
%iure 9 as an e-a"ple$
#igure (% Le%t@ Phonetora" o% "odal reister =black solid
line? by one sub+ect (ith re%erence "ale standard reister =rey
dashed line?$ Jiht@ Phonetora" o% ro(lin 'oice =black
solid line?$
Voice 2andicap Inde3 V2I"
)he &uestionnaire o% the GH, (as i'en to each sub+ect to
%ill in their ans(ers$ )hey (ere co"pared (ith standard
'alues 2H5$ )here (as only one sub+ect on the lo(er bound o%
a liht 'oice disorder$ 0nybody else did not ha'e a 'oice
disorder by analyzin the GH,$
Inter4ie&
0l"ost each sub+ect stated to %eel "ore pressure in the
laryn- andEor chest$ .urther on they said that they need "ore
air to produce the ro(lin$ 6ther(ise the descriptions (ere
'arious$ )he capacity o% 'oice a"ounts to ca$ > hours$ More
stress o% 'oice in ro(lin lead to 'arious strenth o%
hoarseness or scratch o% throat$ )he reeneration o% the 'oice
nor"ally e'entuates o'er niht$
Co"plaints o% 'oice (ere scarcely described by the sub+ects$
6nly a%ter o'erloadin in ro(lin they stated the described
proble"s$
Discussions and conclusions
)here are t(o "a+or %or"s o% producin ro(lin@ one usin
the 'entricular %olds and another usin the aryepilottic
%olds$ )he possibility that durin the 'ibration o% the
aryepilottic %olds, the 'entricular %olds 'ibrated as (ell
could not be ruled out$ )his could not be seen durin the

1749
larynoscopic in'estiations$ Contrari(ise to this study,
Sakakibara et al$ =>44:? e-cluded a 'ibration o% the
'entricular %olds (hile ro(lin 2345$
;ith the aid o% the E88 there could be concluded that in
e'ery production o% ro(lin the 'ocal %olds are 'ibratin,
too 235$ Jelated to the 'entricular %olds or aryepilottic %olds
they 'ibrate >@3, 9@3 or :@3$ ,n contrast to this, Sakakibara et
al$ =>44:? %ound the 'ocal %olds 'ibratin e-clusi'ely in a
ratio o% >@3 to the aryepilottic %olds durin ro(lin 2345$
)he acoustic "easure"ents, analyzed (ith the hoarseness
diara", resulted in hih 'alues %or Oitter and Shi""er$ )his
resulted in a hih irreularity co"ponent$ )he deeper 'alues
o% 8/E resulted in a hiher 'alue o% the noise co"ponent$
)hese 'alues di%%er %ro" 'alues o% the "odal reister and are
co"parable to 'alues "easured by Michaelis =3<<<? 2K5 in
sub+ects (ith a co"pensatory 'entricular %olds phonation or
co"pensatory aryepilottic phonation$
)he analysis (ith Praat sho(ed di%%erent results %or
un'oiced %ra"es durin ro(lin$ So"e audio tracks o% the
sub+ects had "any un'oiced %ra"es and others +ust a %e($ So
it di%%ers %ro" 4M to HHM$
)he E881(a'e%or"s o% one participant, (ho reached 4M
un'oiced %ra"es, sho(ed a relation o% t(o 'ocal %old
oscillations to one oscillation o% another supralaryneal
structure$ Moreo'er this participant =SD? had, in contrast to
the other ones, lo( 'alues concernin the para"eters o% the
hoarseness diara"$ Because o% the analysis o% his
larynoscopic diital i"aes, it could be i"ained, that the
phonation o% the 'ocal %olds, toether (ith the 'entricular
%olds and (ithout the aryepilottic parts, in the "entioned
ratio leads to results close to standard 'alues$
0 si"ultaneous in'estiation o% larynoscopy, E88 and
acoustic "easure"ents (as not placed in this study but "ay
result in better and "ore co"parable 'alues to e$$ pro'e the
assu"ption described abo'e$
6% the phonetora"s arises a decrease o% the %unda"ental
%re&uency in ro(lin and restricted 'alues %or lo(est
'olu"e, hihest tone, dyna"ic rane and pitch rane$ Seen
in retrospect, the phonetora" did not see" to be the best
instru"ent to capture the capacity o% the ro(lin 'oice$
Se'eral tones could not be recorded by the phonetora"$
)he Goice Handicap ,nde- did not sho( so"e distincti'e
'oice disorders$ E'en (ith the inter'ie( this could not be
concluded$ But there (ere "entioned clear %actors o% stress
in producin ro(lin %or a loner period o% ti"e$ More than
ca$ > hours o% ro(l production lead to 'arious occurences
o% hoarseness or scratch o% throat$ )he GH, (as a%ter(ards
not the best "ethod to in'estiate 'oice disorders$ 0
screenin or loopedic in'estiation "iht ha'e been "ore
in%or"ati'e$
)his study produces "ore kno(lede about the
physioloical and acoustic aspects o% the ro(lin 'oice$
So"e "ore research (ith "ultichannel E881"easure"ents,
ideally si"ultaneously to acoustic and endoscopic
in'estiations and in a larer sa"ple size, could e-tend the
%indins o% this study$
Ac5no&ledgements
)he authors (ould like to thank each sub+ect %or his
participation and the %irst t(o authors (ould like to thank
their %a"ilies and %riends %or their support$
Dr$ Peter Murphy (as %unded durin this period throuh a
D00D research rant =6ctober, >44F?, %ollo(ed by an E7
Eras"us teachinEsta%% "obility rant =/o'e"ber1Dece"ber,
>44F?$
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