OVERLAP OF HEARING AND VOICING RANGES IN SINGING.

Frequency and intensity ranges in voice production by trained and untrained singers were superimposed onto the average normal human hearing range. The vocal output for all subjects was shown both in Voice Range Profiles and Spectral Level Profiles. Trained singers took greater advantage of the dynamic range of the auditory system with harmonic energy (45% of the hearing range compared to 38% for untrained vocalists). This difference seemed to come from the trained singers ablily to exploit the most sensitive part of the hearing range (around 3 to 4 kHz) through the use of the singer's formant. The trained vocalists' average maximum third-octave spectral band level was 95 dB SPL, compared to 80 dB SPL for untrained.