Perceptual Evaluation of Penetrating Voices through a Semantic Differential Method

Some speakers have penetrating voices that can be popped out and heard clearly, even in loud noise or from a long distance. This study investigated the voice quality of the penetrating voices using factor analysis. Eleven participants scored how the voices of 124 speakers popped out from the babble noise. By assuming the score as an index of penetration, ten each of high- and low-scored speakers were selected for a rating experiment with a semantic differential method. Forty undergraduate students rated a Japanese sentence produced by these speakers using 14 bipolar 7-point scales concerning voice quality. A factor analysis was conducted using the data of 13 scales (i.e., excluding one scale of penetrating from 14 scales). Three main factors were obtained: (1) powerful and metallic, (2) feminine, and (3) esthetic. The first factor (powerful and metallic) highly correlated with the ratings of penetrating. These results suggest that penetrating voices have multi-dimensional voice quality and that the characteristics of penetrating voice related to powerful and metallic aspects of voices.