Academic literature on the topic 'Voice expressivity'

In an earlier study, we analyzed how audio signals obtained from three professional opera singers varied when they sang one octave wide eight-tone scales in ten different emotional colors. The results showed systematic variations in voice source and long-term-average spectrum (LTAS) parameters associated with major emotion “families”. For two of the singers, subglottal pressure (PSub) also was recorded, thus allowing analysis of an additional main physiological voice control parameter, glottal resistance (defined as the ratio between PSub and glottal flow), and related to glottal adduction. In the present study, we analyze voice source and LTAS parameters derived from the audio signal and their correlation with Psub and glottal resistance. The measured parameters showed a systematic relationship with the four emotion families observed in our previous study. They also varied systematically with values of the ten emotions along the valence, power, and arousal dimensions; valence showed a significant correlation with the ratio between acoustic voice source energy and subglottal pressure, while Power varied significantly with sound level and two measures related to the spectral dominance of the lowest spectrum partial. the fundamental.

This essay examines the political significance of the career of Atlanta-based Shakespearean Adrienne McNeil Herndon in the early twentieth century. It contextualizes Herndon's writing in the activist journal Voice of the Negro and elucidates the radicalism of Herndon's Shakespeare work at Atlanta University and beyond. More broadly, the essay shows how Herndon's performances and pedagogy – especially her focus on elocution work, bodily expressivity, domestic spaces, and visual culture – repeatedly challenged the white supremacist culture of the Jim Crow South, offering black Americans a way to resist racial terrorism and endure racial trauma.

This article reviews discoveries that emerged from the author's MINDtouch media research project, in which a mobile device was repurposed for visual and non-verbal communication through gestural and visual mobile expressivity. The work revealed new insights from emerging mobile media and participatory performance practices. The author contextualizes her media research on mobile video and networked performance alongside relevant discourse on presence and the embodiment of technology. From the research, an intimate, phenomenological and visual form of mobile expression has emerged. This form has reconfigured the communication device from voice and text/SMS only to a visual and synesthetic mode for deeper expression.

The goal of this study was to determine which acoustic parameters are significant in differentiating the speaking styles of a narrator and that of male and female characters as voiced by a reader of audiobooks. The study was initiated by a need to improve the expressivity and differentiation of speaking styles in fiction books read out by synthesized voices. The corpus used as research material was created from an audio novel, as read by a professional male voice artist. To determine whether it is possible to identify these speaking styles from the voice of the reader, a web-based perception test consisting of 48 sentences was conducted. The results showed that the listeners identified all three styles. For acoustic analysis, the openSMILE toolkit was used and 88 eGeMAPS-defined parameters were extracted for every sentence in the corpus. All styles were differentiated by 38 statistically significant parameters. To improve vividness, synthesizers aimed at reading fiction books could be trained to perform all three styles. Kokkuvõte. Hille Pajupuu, Rene Altrov ja Jaan Pajupuu: Teel audioraamatute sünteeskõne elavdamisele. Uurimuse eesmärk oli teada saada, milli sed olulisemad akustilised parameetrid eristavad audioraamatu lugeja hääles jutustaja kõnet ning mees- ja naistegelaste otsekõnet. Uurimuse tingis vajadus parandada sünteeshäälega loetavate juturaamatute väljendus rikkust ja kõnestiilide eristatavust. Uurimismaterjalina kasutati professionaalse meeshäälega loetud audioromaani „Tõde ja õigus I“ põhjal loodud korpust. Et teada saada, kas audioraamatu lugeja hääle põhjal on kuulaja võimeline eristama eri kõnestiile (jutustaja kõnet, mees- ja naistegelaste otsekõnet), koostati 48 lausest koosnev tajutest. Testi tulemused näitasid, et kuulajad tundsid ära kõik kolm kõnestiili. Akustiliseks analüüsiks kasutati kogu korpuse materjali. openSMILE’i tööriistaga ekstraheeriti kõnest iga lause jaoks 88 eGeMAPSis defineeritud parameetrit. Statistiliselt oluliselt eristasid kõnestiile 38 parameetrit, millest 18 oli seotud hääle kvaliteedi ja tämbriga, 11 hääle valjusega, 8 hääle kõrgusega ja 1 tempoga. Kuna tajutest ja akustiliste parameetrite analüüs näitasid, et audioraamatus eristusid nii jutustaja kõne, naistegelaste otsekõne kui ka meestegelaste otsekõne, võib pidada otstarbekaks õpetada juturaamatuid ettelugevaid süntesaatoreid esitama kõiki kolme kõnestiili. Märksõnad: audioraamatud, kõnestiil, otsekõne, karakteri kõne, GeMAPS, kõneanalüüs, ekspressiivne kõnesüntees

S’écouter, se répondre, faire se coïncider, se coordonner, s’accorder, se suivre, s’adapter, être à l’unisson, se synchroniser, s’aligner... Le riche vocabulaire dédié à la mise en correspondance dans le temps des activités humaines montre l’importance que revêt leur organisation temporelle. La communication humaine, multi-modale par nature, est pleinement concernée par cette problématique puisqu’il existe un écart sémantique entre les locutions orales et leurs séquences symboliques : comment bien interpréter un message écrit sans l’intonation vocale ? quel style performatif au delà d’une partition musicale figée ? Cette thèse se propose de révéler et expliquer les complexes relations entre les domaines audio et symbolique afin de réduire cet écart grâce à l’étude fine de l’inhérente temporalité contenue dans les enregistrements vocaux. Au coeur de cet objectif, se trouve la tâche d’alignement de voix qui vise à déterminer l’occurrence temporelle de symboles supposés présents dans un signal vocal. Ces travaux s’intéressent tout particulièrement au développement d’un modèle acoustique, ADAGIO, capable d’estimer de tels liens temps-symboles. Les récents progrès en apprentissage profond amènent à implémenter ADAGIO sous la forme d’un réseau de neurones profond dans un puissant formalisme générique : la “Classification Temporelle Connectioniste” (CTC). Cependant, la grande flexibilité offerte par la CTC est mise en défaut par son absence intrinsèque de garanties de prédictions temporellement précises. Les contributions clefs de cette recherche visent à renforcer la CTC par des contraintes temporelles supplémentaires pour améliorer la qualité des alignements déduits. Pour cela, trois tâches annexes de (1) reconstruction du contenu spectral, (2) propagation de la structure audio, et (3) monotonie guidée sont introduites et induisent un impact positif sur l’alignement entre voix, textes, et notes. Dès lors, ADAGIO contribue à de nombreuses applications pratiques au travers de collaborations telles que la synthèse vocale concaténative ou l’étude des stratégies de production expressives en jeu tant pour les attitudes sociales dans la parole que pour le style de chant dans des performances musicales
To listen, to respond, to make coincide, to coordinate, to adjust, to follow, to adapt, to be in unison, to synchronize, to align... The rich vocabulary dedicated to the correspondence of human activities shows the importance of their temporal organization. Human communication, multi-modal by nature, is fully concerned by this problematic since there exists a semantic gap between oral locutions and their symbolic sequences: how to interpret a written message without the vocal intonation? what performative style beyond a fixed musical score? This thesis proposes to uncover the complex underlying relationships between the audio and symbolic domains in order to reduce this gap through the fine study of the inherent temporality contained in voice recordings. The voice alignment task lies at the core of this objective, as it aims to determine the temporal occurrence of symbols that are assumed to be present in a voice signal. This work notably focuses on the development of an acoustic model, ADAGIO, capable of estimating such time-symbol links. Recent progress in deep learning have led to implement ADAGIO as a deep neural network in a powerful generic formalism: the “Connectionist Temporal Classification” (CTC). However, the great flexibility offered by CTC is undermined by its intrinsic lack of guarantees for temporally accurate predictions. Therefore, the key contributions of this research consist in reinforcing CTC with additional temporal constraints to improve the quality of the inferred alignments. To do so, three ancillary tasks of (1) spectral content reconstruction; (2) audio structure propagation; and (3) guided monotony are introduced and induce a positive impact on the alignment between voices, texts, and notes. Then, ADAGIO contributes to many practical applications via collaborations such as concatenative speech synthesis or the study of expressive production strategies at play for both social attitudes in speech and singing style in musical performances

A canção conta com o colorido das qualidades vocais de seus intérpretes, que através de diferentes sonoridades desempenham papel na expressividade e na construção de seu sentido. Dentre estas sonoridades estão as vozes-ruído, entendidas nesta pesquisa como qualidades vocais que apresentam ruído sonoro junto ao tom vocal. O presente estudo tem como objetivo investigar os aspectos intrínsecos do som proveniente de tais vozes - características fisiológicas, acústicas, psicoacústicas e psicodinâmicas -, e propor um levantamento de categoria, investigando sua relação com a expressividade da voz cantada através de uma escuta analítica. O recorte desta pesquisa compreende o modelo de canto popular brasileiro, no repertório do samba-canção da década de 1950, nas vozes de Dalva de Oliveira, Ângela Maria, Dolores Duran e Maysa. Os resultados apontam para o papel das qualidades vocais das intérpretes na construção do sentido da canção, onde a voz-ruído e sua sonoridade antagônica ajudam a delinear um estado emotivo expresso pela letra, assim como sugerem a identificação das cantoras às vertentes estéticas do samba-canção vigentes no período estudado.
The song counts on the color of the voice qualities of its performers, who through different sonorities play a role in expressiveness and in the construction of its meaning. Among these sonorities are the noise voices, understood in this research as voice qualities that present sonorous noise next to the vocal tone. The present study aims to investigate the intrinsic aspects of the sound coming from such voices - physiological, acoustic, psychoacoustic and psychodynamic characteristics - and to propose a category survey, investigating its relation with the expressiveness of the singing voice through an analytic listening. This research includes the popular Brazilian singing model, in the repertoire of the samba-canção of the 1950s, in the voices of Dalva de Oliveira, Ângela Maria, Dolores Duran and Maysa. The results point to the role of the voice qualities of the performers in the construction of the meaning of the song, where the noise voice and its antagonistic sonority help to delineate an emotional state expressed by the lyrics, as well as suggest the identification of the singers to the aesthetic aspects of the samba-canção during the study period.

Aquesta tesi s'ha dut a terme dins del Grup en de Tecnologies Mèdia (GTM) de l'Escola d'Enginyeria i Arquitectura la Salle. El grup te una llarga trajectòria dins del cap de la síntesi de veu i fins i tot disposa d'un sistema propi de síntesi per concatenació d'unitats (US-TTS) que permet sintetitzar diferents estils expressius usant múltiples corpus. De forma que per a realitzar una síntesi agressiva, el sistema usa el corpus de l'estil agressiu, i per a realitzar una síntesi sensual, usa el corpus de l'estil corresponent. Aquesta tesi pretén proposar modificacions del esquema del US-TTS que permetin millorar la flexibilitat del sistema per sintetitzar múltiples expressivitats usant només un únic corpus d'estil neutre. L'enfoc seguit en aquesta tesi es basa en l'ús de tècniques de processament digital del senyal (DSP) per aplicar modificacions de senyal a la veu sintetitzada per tal que aquesta expressi l'estil de parla desitjat. Per tal de dur a terme aquestes modificacions de senyal s'han usat els models harmònic més soroll per la seva flexibilitat a l'hora de realitzar modificacions de senyal. La qualitat de la veu (VoQ) juga un paper important en els diferents estils expressius. És per això que es va estudiar la síntesi de diferents emocions mitjançant la modificació de paràmetres de VoQ de baix nivell. D'aquest estudi es van identificar un conjunt de limitacions que van donar lloc als objectius d'aquesta tesi, entre ells el trobar un paràmetre amb gran impacte sobre els estils expressius. Per aquest fet l'esforç vocal (VE) es va escollir per el seu paper important en la parla expressiva. Primer es va estudiar la possibilitat de transferir l'VE entre dues realitzacions amb diferent VE de la mateixa paraula basant-se en la tècnica de predicció lineal adaptativa del filtre de pre-èmfasi (APLP). La proposta va permetre transferir l'VE correctament però presentava limitacions per a poder generar nivells intermitjos d'VE. Amb la finalitat de millorar la flexibilitat i control de l'VE expressat a la veu sintetitzada, es va proposar un nou model d'VE basat en polinomis lineals. Aquesta proposta va permetre transferir l'VE entre dues paraules qualsevols i sintetitzar nous nivells d'VE diferents dels disponibles al corpus. Aquesta flexibilitat esta alineada amb l'objectiu general d'aquesta tesi, permetre als sistemes US-TTS sintetitzar diferents estils expressius a partir d'un únic corpus d'estil neutre. La proposta realitzada també inclou un paràmetre que permet controlar fàcilment el nivell d'VE sintetitzat. Això obre moltes possibilitats per controlar fàcilment el procés de síntesi tal i com es va fer al projecte CreaVeu usant interfícies gràfiques simples i intuïtives, també realitzat dins del grup GTM. Aquesta memòria conclou presentant el treball realitzat en aquesta tesi i amb una proposta de modificació de l'esquema d'un sistema US-TTS per incloure els blocs de DSP desenvolupats en aquesta tesi que permetin al sistema sintetitzar múltiple nivells d'VE a partir d'un corpus d'estil neutre. Això obre moltes possibilitats per generar interfícies d'usuari que permetin controlar fàcilment el procés de síntesi, tal i com es va fer al projecte CreaVeu, també realitzat dins del grup GTM. Aquesta memòria conclou presentant el treball realitzat en aquesta tesi i amb una proposta de modificació de l'esquema del sistema US-TTS per incloure els blocs de DSP desenvolupats en aquesta tesi que permetin al sistema sintetitzar múltiple nivells d'VE a partir d'un corpus d'estil neutre.
Esta tesis se llevó a cabo en el Grup en Tecnologies Mèdia de la Escuela de Ingeniería y Arquitectura la Salle. El grupo lleva una larga trayectoria dentro del campo de la síntesis de voz y cuenta con su propio sistema de síntesis por concatenación de unidades (US-TTS). El sistema permite sintetizar múltiples estilos expresivos mediante el uso de corpus específicos para cada estilo expresivo. De este modo, para realizar una síntesis agresiva, el sistema usa el corpus de este estilo, y para un estilo sensual, usa otro corpus específico para ese estilo. La presente tesis aborda el problema con un enfoque distinto proponiendo cambios en el esquema del sistema con el fin de mejorar la flexibilidad para sintetizar múltiples estilos expresivos a partir de un único corpus de estilo de habla neutro. El planteamiento seguido en esta tesis esta basado en el uso de técnicas de procesamiento de señales (DSP) para llevar a cabo modificaciones del señal de voz para que este exprese el estilo de habla deseado. Para llevar acabo las modificaciones de la señal de voz se han usado los modelos harmónico más ruido (HNM) por su flexibilidad para efectuar modificaciones de señales. La cualidad de la voz (VoQ) juega un papel importante en diferentes estilos expresivos. Por ello se exploró la síntesis expresiva basada en modificaciones de parámetros de bajo nivel de la VoQ. Durante este estudio se detectaron diferentes problemas que dieron pié a los objetivos planteados en esta tesis, entre ellos el encontrar un único parámetro con fuerte influencia en la expresividad. El parámetro seleccionado fue el esfuerzo vocal (VE) por su importante papel a la hora de expresar diferentes emociones. Las primeras pruebas se realizaron con el fin de transferir el VE entre dos realizaciones con diferente grado de VE de la misma palabra usando una metodología basada en un proceso filtrado de pre-émfasis adaptativo con coeficientes de predicción lineales (APLP). Esta primera aproximación logró transferir el nivel de VE entre dos realizaciones de la misma palabra, sin embargo el proceso presentaba limitaciones para generar niveles de esfuerzo vocal intermedios. A fin de mejorar la flexibilidad y el control del sistema para expresar diferentes niveles de VE, se planteó un nuevo modelo de VE basado en polinomios lineales. Este modelo permitió transferir el VE entre dos palabras diferentes e incluso generar nuevos niveles no presentes en el corpus usado para la síntesis. Esta flexibilidad está alineada con el objetivo general de esta tesis de permitir a un sistema US-TTS expresar múltiples estilos de habla expresivos a partir de un único corpus de estilo neutro. Además, la metodología propuesta incorpora un parámetro que permite de forma sencilla controlar el nivel de VE expresado en la voz sintetizada. Esto abre la posibilidad de controlar fácilmente el proceso de síntesis tal y como se hizo en el proyecto CreaVeu usando interfaces simples e intuitivas, también realizado dentro del grupo GTM. Esta memoria concluye con una revisión del trabajo realizado en esta tesis y con una propuesta de modificación de un esquema de US-TTS para expresar diferentes niveles de VE a partir de un único corpus neutro.
This thesis was conducted in the Grup en Tecnologies M`edia (GTM) from Escola d’Enginyeria i Arquitectura la Salle. The group has a long trajectory in the speech synthesis field and has developed their own Unit-Selection Text-To-Speech (US-TTS) which is able to convey multiple expressive styles using multiple expressive corpora, one for each expressive style. Thus, in order to convey aggressive speech, the US-TTS uses an aggressive corpus, whereas for a sensual speech style, the system uses a sensual corpus. Unlike that approach, this dissertation aims to present a new schema for enhancing the flexibility of the US-TTS system for performing multiple expressive styles using a single neutral corpus. The approach followed in this dissertation is based on applying Digital Signal Processing (DSP) techniques for carrying out speech modifications in order to synthesize the desired expressive style. For conducting the speech modifications the Harmonics plus Noise Model (HNM) was chosen for its flexibility in conducting signal modifications. Voice Quality (VoQ) has been proven to play an important role in different expressive styles. Thus, low-level VoQ acoustic parameters were explored for conveying multiple emotions. This raised several problems setting new objectives for the rest of the thesis, among them finding a single parameter with strong impact on the expressive style conveyed. Vocal Effort (VE) was selected for conducting expressive speech style modifications due to its salient role in expressive speech. The first approach working with VE was based on transferring VE between two parallel utterances based on the Adaptive Pre-emphasis Linear Prediction (APLP) technique. This approach allowed transferring VE but the model presented certain restrictions regarding its flexibility for generating new intermediate VE levels. Aiming to improve the flexibility and control of the conveyed VE, a new approach using polynomial model for modelling VE was presented. This model not only allowed transferring VE levels between two different utterances, but also allowed to generate other VE levels than those present in the speech corpus. This is aligned with the general goal of this thesis, allowing US-TTS systems to convey multiple expressive styles with a single neutral corpus. Moreover, the proposed methodology introduces a parameter for controlling the degree of VE in the synthesized speech signal. This opens new possibilities for controlling the synthesis process such as the one in the CreaVeu project using a simple and intuitive graphical interfaces, also conducted in the GTM group. The dissertation concludes with a review of the conducted work and a proposal for schema modifications within a US-TTS system for introducing the VE modification blocks designed in this dissertation.

O objetivo geral do estudo foi avaliar a expressividade das licenciandas em enfermagem de uma universidade pública, antes e após uma intervenção fonoaudiológica. A hipótese foi que a intervenção fonoaudiologica, por meio da expressividade que envolve os recursos verbais, vocais e não verbais, modifica os alunos de licenciatura, futuros professores de enfermagem, em relação à sua expressividade. A pesquisa realizada em 2014 foi quantitativa, de delineamentos quase-experimental, de grupo, do tipo intervenção com análise comparativa dos dados antes e após a intervenção realizada e teve como participantes seis estudantes do último período do curso de licenciatura em enfermagem. Como procedimento metodológico teve-se: 1º - preparo dos instrumentos a serem utilizados na coleta de dados (para identificação de características dos sujeitos pesquisados e para avaliação de expressividade - protocolo previamente adaptado para o estudo, com itens dos recursos verbais - qualidade vocal, ataque vocal, loudness, pitch, ressonância, articulação, velocidade da fala, coordenação pneumofônica; recursos vocais - ênfase, pausas, curva melódica, ritmo e variações de loudness, de pitch e da velocidade da fala e recursos não verbais - expressão facial, postura corporal, uso de gestos e meneios de cabeça); 2º - coleta de dados junto às participantes (seleção dessas estudantes para a intervenção, filmagem antes da intervenção fonoaudiológica, desenvolvimento da intervenção proposta em 16 horas distribuídas em quatro encontros, filmagem das participantes após a intervenção e avaliação das filmagens pré e pós-treinamento por experts fonoaudiólogos; 3º - análise dos dados, na qual se utilizou o Teste Qui Quadrado de McNemar para a análise estatística da intervenção realizada, considerando-se o valor de p de 5% (?=0.05). Foi também questionado às alunas sobre a sua visão quanto à efetividade da intervenção realizada. O projeto de pesquisa foi aprovado junto ao Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da universidade (protocolo 17918113.8.0000.5393). A intervenção apresentou efeito positivo na visão dos juízes fonoaudiólogos, nos resultados descritivos verbalizados pelas participantes e nos recursos verbais, vocais e não verbais, embora não tivesse apresentado significância estatística em alguns desses parâmetros avaliados. Os recursos verbais qualidade vocal, ataque vocal, loudness, ressonância permaneceram adequados antes e após intervenção realizada, mantendo, praticamente, os mesmos resultados; o pitch, a articulação, a velocidade e a coordenação pneumofônica apresentaram melhorias. Em relação aos recursos vocais como ênfase e variações de loudness, pitch e velocidade da fala permaneceram adequados antes e após intervenção. Os recursos de pausas, curva melódica e ritmo apresentaram significância estatística após a intervenção realizada. Com relação aos recursos não verbais, houve significância estatística em todos os itens avaliados. Constatou-se, também, que houve mudanças positivas quanto aos aspectos emocionais das estudantes avaliadas, que antes estavam inseguras e passaram a apresentar maior credibilidade e segurança às suas apresentações, resultando em uma expressividade satisfatória. Os resultados indicam que houve uma confirmação parcial da hipótese apresentada; as limitações referem-se ao pequeno número de participantes na pesquisa, o que dificulta a generalização dos dados. Sugere-se que as escolas formadoras de cursos de licenciaturas em enfermagem ao licenciando, em sua formação em docência, disciplinas que trabalhassem a competência comunicativa e, também, a expressividade, para ser um futuro professor preparado a exercer com mais propriedade comunicativa a sua docência.
The general objective of the study was to evaluate the expressiveness of nursing students at a public university, before and after speech therapy intervention. The hypothesis is that the speech therapy through the expressiveness which involves the verbal, vocal and nonverbal resources modifies the undergraduate students, future teachers of nursing, in relation to their expressiveness. The research conducted in 2014 was quantitative, quasi-experimental designs, in group, of intervention with comparative analysis of the data before and after the intervention performed, and it was attended by six students of the last semester of teaching degree in nursing. As a methodological procedure there were: 1st - preparation of instruments to be used in data collection (for identifying characteristics of the subjects and to evaluate expressiveness - previously adapted protocol for the study, with items of verbal resources - voice quality, attack voice, loudness, pitch, resonance, articulation, speech rate, pneumophonic coordination; vocal resources - emphasis, pauses, melodic curve, rhythm and variations of loudness, pitch and speed of speech and non-verbal resources - facial expression, body posture , use of gestures and nods head); 2nd - data collection from participants (selection of these students for intervention, shoot before speech therapy, development of the proposed intervention in 16 hours distributed in four meetings, filming the participants after the intervention and evaluation of pre-filming and post-training by speech experts; 3rd - data analysis, in which we used the McNemar\'s Chi Square Test for statistical analysis of intervention performed, considering the p value of 5% (? = 0.05). It was also asked to the students about their vision for the effectiveness of the intervention performed. The research project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University (protocol 17918113.8.0000.5393). The intervention had a positive effect on vision of speech therapist judges in descriptive results verbalized by the participants and verbal resources, vocal and nonverbal, although it did not present statistical significance in some of these parameters evaluated. Verbal features of voice quality, vocal attack, loudness and resonance remained appropriate before and after the intervention performed, keeping practically the same results; the pitch, articulation, speed and pneumophonic coordination showed improvement. Regarding vocal resources as emphasis and changes in loudness, pitch and speech rate remained appropriate before and after intervention. The resources of breaks, melodic curve and rhythm were statistically significant after the intervention performed. With respect to non-verbal resources, there was statistical significance in all items. It was found also that there were positive changes as the emotional aspects of the evaluated students who were unsafe and started to suffer greater credibility and security to their presentations, resulting in a satisfactory expression. The results have indicated that there was a partial confirmation of the hypothesis presented; the limitations refer to the small number of participants in the survey, making it difficult to generalize the data. It is suggested that the educational schools with undergraduate nursing courses that students should present subjects which worked communicative competence and also the expression in their training in teaching, to be a prepared teacher to exercise their teaching with more communicative property.

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Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
This project aimed to analyze the issue of oral expressivity in cinema from thematic survey, which came from open interviews with film professionals. The actor's work in this environment has specific demands. The preparation of a film involves many processes, including the technological possibilities and infrastructure. What to think about voice and speech at the cinema? Which processes the construction of oral expressiveness involves in cinema? There are difficulties? The speech, language and hearing scientist can act? Were interviewed six directors, six actors and one sound editor, all of them with film experience, about this research theme. These open interviews were transcribed and analyzed by thematic frameworks, following the proposal of Spink (2004). From these themes, it was possible to organize a didactic proposal to better understand the oral expressivity in cinema. The process for the construction of oral expressivity involves the formation of this, with the previous instrumentation, the script and director influences, and coaches cast and speech therapists; involves support technologies and infrastructure, and fragmentation of oral expressivity. Naturalism, irreversibility, the intimate nature, art and entertainment are features of oral expressivity in cinema. Achieve the objectives of the movie director and to express truth, with intelligibility, continuity, aesthetic and harmony or organicity are the goals of oral expressivity in film. According to respondents, the most frequently cited difficulty is in training, in the preparation of oral expressivity, specifically in the previous instrumentation and creative process, because the processes are very intuitive, subjective, factor that complicates the communication between director, actor, coaches cast and sound designers. Another difficulty is related to support technology and infrastructure for environmental noise, poor equipment and unprepared technical team. The repair of the problems of the filming time or audiovisual record involves editing and dubbing. The dubbing is also a difficulty for most respondents. The speech, language and hearing scientist advice, if based on the specific needs of the environment, can be sensitive at all stages of the construction of oral expressivity in cinema. There is a limited knowledge among professionals of the cinema whose biggest myth is to believe that Speech Therapists acts only in the disturbances. Moreover, perhaps Speech Therapists ignores the needs of the film context and maybe they are a little boldness in proposing their work
Esta dissertação teve como objetivo analisar a questão da expressividade oral no cinema a partir de levantamento temático, que partiu de entrevista aberta, com profissionais do meio. O trabalho do ator nesse meio possui demandas específicas. A elaboração de um filme envolve muitos processos, junto às possibilidades tecnológicas e infra-estrutura. O que pensar sobre voz e fala no cinema? Quais processos envolvem a construção da expressividade oral no cinema? Existem dificuldades? O fonoaudiólogo pode atuar? Foram realizadas entrevistas abertas a seis diretores, seis atores e uma editora de som, todos com experiência em cinema, sobre o tema da pesquisa. Essas entrevistas foram transcritas e analisadas por quadros temáticos, seguindo proposta de Spink (2004). A partir desses temas, foi possível organizar uma proposta didática para melhor compreender a expressividade oral no cinema. O processo para a construção dessa expressividade envolve a formação desta, com a instrumentalização prévia, as influências do roteiro, da direção e das assessorias de preparadores de elenco e fonoaudiólogos; envolve as tecnologias de apoio e infra-estrutura; e a fragmentação da expressividade oral. São características da expressividade oral no cinema, o naturalismo, a irreversibilidade, o caráter intimista, a arte e o entretenimento. Dentre os objetivos encontrados, deve atingir os ideais da direção e transmitir verdade, com inteligibilidade, continuidade, estética e harmonia ou organicidade. Segundo os entrevistados, a dificuldade mais apontada está na formação, no preparo da expressividade oral, mais especificamente na instrumentalização prévia e processo criativo, devido a procedimentos muito intuitivos, subjetivos, fator que também prejudica a comunicação entre diretor, ator, preparadores de elenco e equipe técnica. Outra dificuldade está relacionada às tecnologias de apoio e infra-estrutura, por ruído ambiental, equipamentos deficientes e despreparo da equipe técnica. O reparo dos problemas da fase de captação envolve edição e dublagem. A dublagem é, também, uma dificuldade para a maioria dos entrevistados. A assessoria fonoaudiológica, se embasada das necessidades específicas do meio, pode ser sensível em todas as etapas do processo de construção da expressividade oral no cinema. Há um conhecimento limitado por parte dos profissionais do meio cinematográfico, cujo mito maior está em acreditar que Fonoaudiologia atua apenas nos distúrbios. Por outro lado, haja talvez um desconhecimento dos fonoaudiólogos em relação às necessidades do meio e pouca ousadia em propor sua atuação

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Aim: To investigate the attributed meaning to oral expressivity and its practice in the classroom of teachers of the visually impaired. Justification: Little attention is given to the teacher who works with special educational needs, especially among those whose voice is the mediation of what happens in the world, that is, teachers of blind students and/or low vision. This fact is confirmed by the lack of bibliography resources that address the issue. Theoretical and methodological aspects: Eight of the visually impaired participated in this research, divided into three groups: sighted teacher (GV), composed of four participants, teachers who have low vision (GVS), composed of two participants and blind teachers (GC), composed of two participants. Individual interviews were held with all the teachers who answered six semi-directed questions, previously compiled, which addressed the issue of communication between teacher and student in a classroom environment. The transcribed interviews were submitted to analysis, that considered the contents of the reports. Subsequent to the review process of the collected interviews, successive reading and the definition and design of this study, the first step was the establishment of categories, according to issues highlighted in the content of the answers. After defining the categories and organization of material, Maps of Associations of Ideas were produced that allowed the preservation of the interaction of the context and allowed the visualization of the inter-animation process in the face of questions, keeping intact the dialogical context. Results: The teacher of the visually impaired considers the voice as the main mean of communication with his students in the classroom. The teaching methods of these teachers are supporting the principles of providing all possible details and information about the content, adapted materials, guide as to the mobility, among others, through vocal and physical resources. There is the importance of interaction in the classroom, which is supported by vocal and physical resources (body language resources), between the teachers and the students, for clear and objective communication
Objetivo: Investigar o sentido atribuído à expressividade oral e sua prática em sala de aula, de professores especializados na área da deficiência visual. Justificativa: Pouca atenção é dada ao professor que trabalha com alunos que apresentam necessidades educacionais especiais, principalmente entre aqueles cuja voz faz a mediação do que acontece no mundo, ou seja, professores de alunos cegos e/ou de visão subnormal. Tal fato é confirmado pela escassez de fontes bibliográficas que tratam do assunto. Aspectos teórico-metodológicos: Participaram desta pesquisa oito professoras especializadas na área da deficiência visual, divididas em três grupos: professoras videntes (GV), composto por quatro participantes; professoras que apresentam visão subnormal (GVS), composto por duas participantes; e professoras cegas (GC), composto por outras duas participantes. Foram realizadas entrevistas individuais, com todas as professoras, que responderam seis perguntas semi-direcionadas, previamente elaboradas, abordando o tema da comunicação entre professor e aluno, no ambiente de sala de aula. As entrevistas transcritas foram submetidas a uma análise, que considerou os conteúdos dos relatos. Após o processo de análise das entrevistas coletadas por meio de sucessivas leituras e a definição e delineamento desse estudo, o primeiro passo foi o estabelecimento de categorias, de acordo com aspectos destacados no conteúdo das respostas, definidas da seguinte forma: Após a definição das categorias e organização do material, foram elaborados mapas de associação de idéias que permitiram a preservação da interação do contexto e possibilitaram a visualização do processo de interanimação diante das perguntas, mantendo o contexto dialógico intacto. Resultados: O professor especializado na área da deficiência visual considera a voz como principal meio de comunicação com seus alunos, em sala de aula. As práticas pedagógicas subsidiam-se nos princípios de fornecer todos os possíveis detalhes e informações a respeito do conteúdo, adaptar materiais, orientar quanto à mobilidade, entre outros, por meio dos recursos vocais e corporais. Observa-se a importância da interação em sala de aula, que é favorecida pelos recursos vocais e corporais, tanto das professoras quanto dos alunos e, mais pontual, por uma comunicação clara e objetiva

The beginning of the 20th century saw the rise of modernist aesthetics which moulded modern performance practice. This change caused a steadfast distancing from the expressive practices of the late 19th century which were part of a continuum of practice going back to the 18th century or earlier. Recordings of singers, who in some cases were trained in the 1830s and 1840s, provide first-hand evidence of these late 19th-century practices and give insight into their embodied and tacit knowledge. Their singing sounds vastly different to the singing style generally heard today. This thesis examines vocal performance practice information preserved in written sources and early recordings. The practices examined are portamento, tempo rubato (rhythmical asynchrony and tempo modification), vibrato and messa di voce. The main goal is the re-enactment of the singing style from the decades preceding the recording era (extrapolating back to the 1850s). This has entailed a comprehensive analysis of a greater body of historical recordings than previously undertaken. Comparison between these recordings and written sources (annotated scores, instructive editions, vocal treatises, technical methods, concert reviews, correspondence, and biographies) provides in-depth understanding of practices and their application. For the practical application of this evidence, I have adopted a cyclical research process (recording emulation and experimental implementation of performance practice data), which has been used in previous research. Outcomes are presented in a practice-led case study: a recording of Schumann’s Dichterliebe (1840), a reimagining of the song cycle as it might have sounded in the decades immediately following its composition.

Cette thèse s'attaque dans une première partie au problème du pilotage automatique des voiliers de compétition en s'appuyant sur la réalité virtuelle qui, via la simulation, permet de s'affranchir de tests en situation réelle généralement coûteux, contraignants et risqués. Une architecture multi-agents est proposée ainsi que sa modélisation en termes de réseaux de Petri. Une deuxième partie est consacrée à la présentation et à l'étude de plusieurs extensions algébriques de ces réseaux dans le but initial de prendre en charge certaines caractéristiques des systèmes à évènements discrets non couvertes par les réseaux places/transitions usuels. Un état de l'art présente différentes approches du problème du pilotage des voiliers et souligne son caractère complexe. Partant du constat que malgré tout, l'homme parvient généralement à faire face à la plupart des situations rencontrées en mer, nous proposons d'asseoir notre système sur une expertise très fine de la pratique du barreur de compétition. Cette dernière permet d'identifier et de caractériser les éléments importants liés à la technique de barre. Nous proposons ensuite une architecture multi-agents dont la partie commande est basée sur trois agents autonomes, asynchrones et concurrents ainsi que sa modélisation par réseaux de Petri synchronisés. Le système est implémenté sous ARéVi, moteur de simulation d'objets actifs et de rendu 3D développé au CERV. L'expérimentation montre que le barreur virtuel ainsi créé assure un niveau de sécurité intéressant pour un coureur au large en réagissant aux sollicitations de son voilier d'une manière proche de celle d'un homme. Le gain en performance semble plus limité du fait, en particulier, des faiblesses du modèle de bateau implémenté mais pourrait s'avérer intéressant sur un voilier réel. Dans la deuxième partie de cette thèse nous proposons différentes extensions algébriques des réseaux de Petri. Nous choisissons tout d'abord d'utiliser un groupe à la place de l'algèbre des places usuelle des réseaux de Petri et d'en priver l'accès à l'élément neutre pour interdire certaines transitions. Ces réseaux, appelés strict-group-nets, étendent en particulier les réseaux de Petri purs si on choisit pour groupe l'ensemble des entiers relatifs. L'adjonction d'arcs dits inconditionnels conduit aux group-nets et permet d'englober également les réseaux impurs. Nous montrons que les problèmes de savoir si les Z-nets et les strict-Z-nets sont bornés et si une place de ces réseaux est bornée sont décidables via la définition d'un arbre proche de celle d'un arbre de couverture. La notion de ressource disparaissant dans ces nouveaux réseaux, plutôt que de choisir une algèbre a priori nous cherchons à caractériser les algèbres permettant de singer le comportement des réseaux de Petri usuels. Cette démarche conduit aux réseaux lexicographiques pour lesquels la notion de ressource reste étrange car on peut consommer indéfiniment strictement. Nous montrons que les réseaux lexicographiques ont la puissance des machines de Turing et que les réseaux lexicographiques bornés sont les réseaux de Petri bornés. Nous démontrons enfin que le problème de la synthèse trouve une réponse polynomiale pour les Z/2Z-nets ainsi que pour les réseaux lexicographiques en termes de meilleure approximation d'un langage régulier donné.

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre de la synthèse de parole à partir du texte. Elle traite plus précisément du procédé de création de voix en synthèse par sélection d'unités. L'état de l'art repose pour cela sur l'enregistrement d'un locuteur pendant une à deux semaines, suivant un script de lecture de plusieurs dizaines de milliers de mots. Les 5 à 10 heures de parole collectées sont généralement révisées par des opérateurs humains, pour en vérifier la segmentation phonétique et ainsi améliorer la qualité finale de la voix de synthèse.La lourdeur générale de ce procédé freine considérablement la diversification des voix de synthèse ; aussi en proposons-nous ici une rationalisation. Nous introduisons une nouvelle unité, appelée "sandwich vocalique", pour l'optimisation de la couverture des scripts de lecture. Sur le plan phonétique, cette unité offre une meilleure prise en compte des limites segmentales de la synthèse par sélection que les unités traditionnelles (diphones, triphones, syllabes, mots, etc.). Sur le plan linguistique, un nouvel enrichissement contextuel nous permet de mieux focaliser la couverture, sans négliger les aspects prosodiques. Nous proposons des moyens d'accroître le contrôle sur les phrases du script lecture, tant dans leur longueur que dans leur pertinence phonétique et prosodique, afin de mieux anticiper le contenu du corpus de parole final et de rendre automatisable la tâche de segmentation. Nous introduisons également une alternative à la stratégie classique de condensation de corpus en mettant au point un algorithme semi-automatique de création de phrases, grâce auquel nous accroissons de 30 à 40% la densité linguistique du script de lecture.Ces nouveaux outils nous permettent d'établir un procédé très efficace de création de voix de synthèse, procédé que nous validons à travers la création et l'évaluation subjective de nombreuses voix. Des scores perceptifs comparables à l'approche traditionnelle sont ainsi atteints dès 40 minutes de parole (une demi-journée d'enregistrement) et sans post-traitement manuel. Enfin, nous mettons à profit ce résultat pour enrichir nos voix de synthèse de diverses composantes expressives, multi-expressives et paralinguistiques
This work falls within the scope of text-to-speech (TTS) technology. More precisely, focus is on the voice creation process for unit-selection synthesis. In a standard approach, a textual script of several thousands of words is read by a speaker in order to generate approximately 5 to 10 hours of useable speech. The recording time is spread out over one or two weeks and is followed by the considerable task of manually revising the phonetic segmentation for all of the speech.Such a costly and time-consuming process presents a major obstacle to diversifying synthesized voices. In order to increase efficiency in this process, we introduce a new unit, called a "vocalic sandwich", to optimize coverage of the recording texts. Phonetically, this unit better addresses the segmental limitations of unit-selection TTS than state-of-the-art units (diphones, triphones, syllables, words...). Linguistically, a new set of contextual symbols focuses the coverage, allowing for more control and consideration of prosody. Practically, in order to automate the segmentation process, better anticipation of the phonetic and prosodic content desired in the final database is required. This is achieved here by increasing the readability and consistency of each sentence included in the script. As a side, these properties also help to facilitate the reading stage. Furthermore, as an alternative to the classic corpus condensation, a semi-automatic sentence building algorithm is developed in this work wherein sentences are built rather than selected from a reference corpus. Ultimately, the sentence building provides access to much denser scripts, specifically allowing for increases in density of between 30 and 40%.In incorporating these new approaches and tools, the voice creation process is made very efficient, as is validated in this work through the preparation and evaluation of numerous synthesized voices. Perceptive scores that are comparable to the traditional process are achieved with 40 minutes of speech (half-day recording) and without any manual post-processing. Finally, we take advantage of these results in order to enhance our synthesized voices with various expressive, multi-expressive and paralinguistic features

L’enjeu de cette thèse est d’étudier la chanson non dans sa dialectique parole/musique, mais par la saisie d’une troisième entité : l’interprétation vocale. Il s’agit à la fois d’en faire émerger l’importance fondamentale et la richesse et de lui conférer sa légitimité d’objet d’étude par la mise en place d’un protocole méthodologique et lexical spécifique qui en autorise l’analyse – au même titre que la composition – malgré son caractère mouvant et réputé réfractaire à la théorisation. Abordée comme objet complexe (selon la terminologie d’Edgar Morin), elle est soumise au feu croisé des disciplines (musicologie, linguistique, rhétorique, acoustique) pour pousser autant qu’il est possible son objectivation. Sous l’égide de la musicologie, l’utilisation d’outils informatiques permet d’établir une complémentarité entre les perspectives des sciences humaines et des sciences exactes, de capter et d’analyser les spécificités interprétatives, aussi bien dans leurs caractères dominants qu’agogiques, leurs rapports à la partition, leur complexité combinatoire au sein des méta-paramètres (timbre, rythme, phrasé) et les tensions dialogiques qui les parcourent (variation/répétition, mélodicité/insertion du bruit, chanté/parlé). Le large corpus de chanteurs d’expression française (du style Rive gauche à la Nouvelle chanson française) permet d’appréhender, au travers d’analyses d’enregistrements en studio ou en concert, la spécificité irréductible de chacun, émanation d’un corps unique, mais aussi de grands réseaux tendanciels de parentés stylistiques. Mise en avant par la perspective sémiologique, autour des notions de stratégie et de visées interprétatives, de rhétorique vocale, de suscitation du pathos et d’expression de l’ethos, se fait jour une typologie des styles interprétatifs, ouverte sur la prise en compte de l’originalité intrinsèque de chaque interprète et sur l’intégration des évolutions génériques ultérieures
The present thesis focuses on the study of the song not in its word and music dialectic but through the acquisition of a third entity : the vocal rendition. The point is to reveal its critical importance and richness and make it legitimate as a subject of study as the result of the implementation of a specific methodological and lexical protocol that allows the analysis – as with the composition – although its changeable nature is not conducive to theorizing. Considered as a complex object (according to Edgar Morin’s terminology), vocal rendition is submitted to the crossfire of various disciplines (musicology, linguistics, rhetoric, acoustics) in order to favour as far as it is possible its objectivization. Within the framework of musicology, the use of computer tools makes it possible to establish a complementarity between the perspectives of social sciences and exact sciences, to catch and analyse the peculiarities of the performances both in their dominant or agogic characters, their connexions to the score, their combinatorial complexity within the meta-parameters (timbre, rhythm, phrasing), as well as the dialogical tensions which run through them (variation and repetition, melodicity and noise integration, singing and speaking parts). Thanks to the existence of a large body of French-speaking singers (from Rive Gauche style to Nouvelle chanson française) it is possible by studying studio and concert recordings to grasp the irreducible specificity of everyone (what is issued from a unique body) as well as the great underlying networks of stylistic relationships. Disclosed by the semeiological perspective, around the notions of strategy and performance designs, vocal rhetoric, the way to induce pathos and to express ethos, there emerges a typology of performing styles that is open to considering the intrinsic originality of each performer and integrating further generic developments

The Introduction positions the history of girl and young woman singers in the 1960s in the context of broader histories of vocal training; ideas about voice, respectability, and expressivity; and the models of youthful femininity that were emergent in 1960s Britain. It opens with discussion of vocal discipline in magazines and books produced for young women. This is followed by reflections on the concept of voice as sound and voice as expression, how ideas about the use of voice are tied to gender, and how they have been used by feminist thinkers and scholars in the field of Voice Studies. Then, the introduction provides historical background on vocal pedagogy and histories of accent and vocal discipline in the UK, tying this history to the 1960s and notions of modernity that emerged at the time. It reflects on what voice and freedom of expression signified during the youth and musical movements of the “Swinging Sixties,” and, in particular, on how ideas about voice affected girls and young women in this period. Finally, it provides an overview of the book’s chapters provides an overview of the book’s chapters.

The Laban Workbook is a compendium of unique exercises inspired by the concepts and principles of movement theorist and artist, Rudolf Laban. Written by five internationally recognized movement experts, this textbook is divided into single-authored chapters, each of which includes a short contextual essay followed by a series of insight-bearing exercises. These expert views, honed in the creation of individual approaches to training and coaching actors, provide a versatile range of theory and practice in the creative process of crafting theatre. Readers will learn: Enhanced expressivity of body and voice; Clearer storytelling, both physical and vocal, facilitating the embodiment of playwrights’ intentions; Imaginative possibilities for exploring an existing play or for creating devised theatre. Featuring many exercises exploring the application of Laban Movement Studies to text, character, scene work, and devised performances - as well as revealing the creative potential of the body itself - The Laban Workbook is ideal for actors, teachers, directors and choreographers.

“Verse-speaking” choirs led by women trained in elocutionary techniques were popular at women’s colleges in the 1930s and 1940s. School groups expressively speaking poetry together reflected the Depression-era values of social usefulness and civic unity. Pedagogical materials written by women consistently relied on musical terminology to describe choirs’ arrangements. Choirs undertook recitation utilizing differently pitched voices and alternating spoken solos with larger groups. The Wellesley College Choir, conducted by Cécile de Banke, was a leading representative of this style of musical interpretation of contemporary poetry. While elocution had featured female soloists in personal interpretations of literary works, the speech choir, with its patriotic overtones of civic good, was an even safer venue for feminine expression, as women’s personalities would be absorbed into the whole.

This book addresses the development of children’s artistry in the music classroom and children’s chorus. It unveils children’s artistry, identifying its characteristic behaviors, its progression of development and necessary components for growth, and guides the practical application of principles addressed. The book addresses the development of children’s artistry from the perspective of both the choral art and the process of music learning, with each informing the other, rooting artistry in music learning and developing artistry in an ongoing manner throughout childhood. It presents the musical mind as the gateway to children’s artistry. It discusses the power of movement in the embodiment of children’s artistry. It examines song and its role in the development of children’s artistry, demonstrating how rhythm, melody, and text—independently and together—influence children’s developing artistry musically, expressively, and vocally, at all ages and stages. Musical examples throughout demonstrate principles presented, provide professional development with tonalities, meters, movement, and songs, and offer a multitude of songs of increasing difficulty for the music classroom and children’s chorus that compel the musical mind, prompt artistic expression, and enable vocal technique. Practices and techniques that facilitate the development of children’s artistry are included, and the book can be used with any methodology. This book leads teachers to draw artistry out of every child and draw every child into the choral art. Content is intended for application with children from kindergarten through seventh grade, though it is also appropriate with older singers in the process of developing artistry.

This chapter introduces one of the most understudied communities of New Negro writers. Commencing in the 1920s, African American writer Georgia Douglas Johnson invited writers to her home on Saturday evenings to encourage the development of a cohesive and supportive community of black writers. With a particular emphasis on the writing of African American women, the S Street Salon evolved into a viable space for African American women writers to workshop their poems, plays, short stories, and novels. Many of the New Negro era literary works produced by African American women participants of the S Street Salon tackled politically significant and contentious issues such as racial and sexual violence and women’s reproductive rights. Most of the well-known New Negro writers participated in a Saturday session at the S Street Salon. The S Street Salon was arguably one of the most significant intellectual, political, and cultural communities of the New Negro era. This community pivoted around African American women’s expressivity. The women of the S Street Salon inserted their stories and their voices into black public culture through creating an African American women-centered counterpublic.

AbstractMichael Symmons Roberts discusses breath and breathlessness as a theme running through his work, beginning with his novel, Breath (2006). He also discusses breath as a subject in his poetry, the place of breathing in the sound and expressivity of voice, and the idea of poetry as ‘alive in the heart and on the tongue’. He considers how the reader can realise the printed poem as an aural structure; and how living engagement with a poem, signified in reading partly by structures of breathing, is heard in the interplay between all of a poem’s formal features. Given that a poem is likely to say more than its author knows, he discusses the implications of hearing poets read their own work; and finally considers all the elements that affect how the voice (actual or imagined) gives aural shape to a poem.

The Introduction positions the history of girl and young woman singers in the 1960s in the context of broader histories of vocal training; ideas about voice, respectability, and expressivity; and the models of youthful femininity that were emergent in 1960s Britain. It opens with discussion of vocal discipline in magazines and books produced for young women. This is followed by reflections on the concept of voice as sound and voice as expression, how ideas about the use of voice are tied to gender, and how they have been used by feminist thinkers and scholars in the field of Voice Studies. Then, the introduction provides historical background on vocal pedagogy and histories of accent and vocal discipline in the UK, tying this history to the 1960s and notions of modernity that emerged at the time. It reflects on what voice and freedom of expression signified during the youth and musical movements of the “Swinging Sixties,” and, in particular, on how ideas about voice affected girls and young women in this period. Finally, it provides an overview of the book’s chapters provides an overview of the book’s chapters.

Abstract This chapter focuses upon those musical elements that help shape the musical expressivity of Lieder: the composer’s use of dynamics, timbre, register, and techniques of stress and emphasis that the performer must interpret during performance preparation and convey with conviction during actual performance. In addition to the elements of musical sound mentioned already, this unit also explores the performer’s need to consider the concept of persona, the understanding of whose “voice” is being expressed within a given musical line or section. In all these areas, the interpretations and decisions are based first and foremost upon understanding the poetic text and how the composer is conveying that text in musical sound.While composers often give specific instructions to performers as to how loud or soft their music should be, there are almost limitless shadings of “forte” and “piano,” depending on range, texture, and individual abilities. As a consequence, the broad range of variables in choosing dynamics remains in the hands and voices of the performers themselves. We examine some of these variables in several Lieder, beginning with Schubert’s famous “Gretchen am Spinnrade.”

Musical responses to the sinking of the Lusitania (1915)—a watershed in World War 1—appeared on both sides of the Atlantic. In Britain, Frank Bridge composed his Lament for string orchestra, dedicated to Catherine Crompton, a child who had perished along with her entire family. The piece, performed professionally in London, was written for a type of ensemble that was popular with wealthy amateur women string players. Since strings were associated with the expressivity of the human voice and were becoming understood as having therapeutic properties, Bridge’s music may be considered a “lullament” for its combination of elements of lullaby and lament. This hybrid genre of grief further carried gendered and class-ridden meanings. The work reinforced and transcended British cultural and musical norms and boundaries.

Moral practice embodies the assumptions that moral truths are mind-independent and moral reasons are categorical. According to the practical expressivist account, both assumptions can be understood as claims about the application conditions of moral terms. In both cases, the practical expressivist goes on to understand these claims to voice positions about which moral sensibilities agents ought to adopt. The former voices the claim that agents ought not form their moral attitudes on the basis of their own endorsement of those attitudes; the latter that agents ought not form their structured-approvals purely on the basis of the existing desires of the target agent. In both cases, these substantive moral positions are also constitutive of competence with moral concepts, since agents who generally denied them would not be able to use those concepts to coordinate in the ways distinctive of morality.