摘要：Background in music psychology. Physical movement plays an important role in musical
perception and production. It is generally agreed among professional singers and vocal
teachers, for example, that there are relationships between the kinematics of a singer’s body
and the quality of their voice. Thus, we might expect to find relationships between quantifiable
indicators of a singer’s vocal performance and quantifiable features of their movements while
they sing.
Background in computing, mathematics, and statistics. High-resolution motion capture
systems have been used in several studies to investigate connections between music and
movement (e.g., Palmer & Dalla Bella, 2004; Wanderley, Vines, Middleton, McKay, & Hatch,
2005; Luck & Toiviainen, 2006). The overall orientation of different body parts and the
amo”unt of their movement can be estimated from the motion capture data, and these features
can be subsequently modeled computationally.
Aims. To synthesize basic research on the singing voice, human movement, and quantification
of audio and movement data in an exploration of relationships between bodily posture and
singing quality.
Main contribution. Relationships between the spatial arrangement of the limbs and selected
audio features of 15 singers’ performances of Tuulantei by Oskar Merikanto were examined
statistically. Results indicated that, while there were individual differences in the relationships
observed, features relating to timbre seemed to be frequently associated with the lateral angles
of the head and neck. The frontal angles of the upper body, and the frontal angle and rotation of
the head, were also important.
Implications. Relationships between the kinematics of a singer’s body and their vocal
performance have been identified. The present study combines empirical methods of music
psychology with sophisticated mathematical, statistical, and signal processing methods to
produce formalized knowledge on singing that has application areas in music education.
