The use of an autochromatic tuner for the measurement of vocal fundamental frequency

• Published in: Journal of communication disorders Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 51
• Main Authors: Solberg, L C, Fowler, L P, Walker, V G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-02-1991
• Subjects: Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Microcomputers; Phonetics; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted - instrumentation; Sound Spectrography - instrumentation; Voice Disorders - diagnosis; Voice Quality
• ISSN: 0021-9924
• DOI: 10.1016/0021-9924(91)90033-F

Comparative measures of vocal fundamental frequency were made with three different instruments, the Visi-Pitch. FLORIDA 1, and a Korg Autochromatic Tuner. The purpose of these measures was to determine whether an autochromatic tuner, a relatively inexpensive device designed to assist musicians in fast-tuning their instruments, would provide a valid and reliable measure of vocal fundamental frequency. Subjects for this study included 15 males and 15 females. They were recorded while sustaining vowels, reading a phonetically balanced passage, and singing to their lowest and highest pitch levels. Spearman's Rho correlations indicated that measures taken with the autochromatic tuner significantly correlated with measures taken with the other instruments. Results indicate that the use of an autochromatic tuner to measure vocal fundamental frequency is an effective and inexpensive alternative to other methods for clinical purposes.