Modal locking between vocal fold and vocal tract oscillations: Simulations in time domain [article]

Atte Aalto, Tiina Murtola, Jarmo Malinen, Daniel Aalto, Martti Vainio
2017 arXiv   pre-print
During voiced speech, the human vocal folds interact with the vocal tract acoustics. The resulting glottal source-resonator coupling has been observed using mathematical and physical models as well as in in vivo phonation. We propose a computational time-domain model of the full speech apparatus that, in particular, contains a feedback mechanism from the vocal tract acoustics to the vocal fold oscillations. It is based on numerical solution of ordinary and partial differential equations defined
more » ... on vocal tract geometries that have been obtained by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The model is used to simulate rising and falling pitch glides of [a, i] in the fundamental frequency (f_o) interval [150 Hz, 320 Hz]. The interval contains the first vocal tract resonance f_R1 and the first formant F1 of [i] as well as the fractions of the first resonance f_R1/4 and fR1/3 of [a]. The simulations reveal a locking pattern of the fo-trajectory at f_R1 of [i] in falling and rising glides. The resonance fractions of [a] produce perturbations in the pressure signal at the lips but no locking. All these observations from the model behaviour are consistent and robust within a wide range of feasible model parameter values and under exclusion of secondary model components.
arXiv:1506.01395v2 fatcat:eeguajpusbgwzji2tg663papcy