Music and speech as the two
possibilities of self-expression with the
human voice
Jaan Ross
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre
University of Tartu
jaan.ross@ut.ee
smART psychology, Dolný Kubín, 13-20 July 2008
1
Where is Estonia?
In North-Eastern Europe, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, south of
Finland, west of Russia, and north of Latvia. It belongs to the three
Baltic countries, the other two of which are Latvia and Lithuania.
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Estonia has
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a territory of 45.2 km2
a population of about 1.4 million people
a capital called Tallinn (about 0.4 million people)
an official language – Estonian, which is close to
Finnish
a significant Russian-speaking minority
a rich medieval architectural heritage from the
Hanseatic times in the historical center of Tallinn
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Estonian Academy of Music and
Theatre
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has about 600 students
has the academic staff of about 250 teachers
was founded in 1919
has originally been designed much after the
pattern of the conservatory in St. Petersburg
hosts the Department of Musicology
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Outline of the lecture
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Properties of sound
Quantity in the Estonian language
Interplay between meter, rhythm and
language prosody in folksongs
Veljo Tormis, folksongs and the new simplicity
Pairwise variability index in speech and
music
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Properties of sound
http://www.dsptutor.freeuk.com/analyser/SA102.html
PHYSICS
MUSIC AND SPEECH
property
unit
property
character
unit
frequency
Hz
pitch,
fundamental
frequency (F0)
logarithmic,
relative
semitone
sound pressure
level (SPL)
dB
(logarithmic,
relative)
dynamics,
loudness
ranking scale
absent:
pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff
duration
(milli)second
rhythm, quantity
linear, relative
quarter note,
eighth note etc.
the rest, i.e.
spectral dynamics
(cf. with the ASI
definition)
absent
timbre,
(phoneme) quality
complex
absent
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Primary and secondary properties of
sound
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Primary properties in speech: segmental, i.e.
timbral or spectral
Secondary properties in speech: tone (pitch),
quantity (duration), intensity; called prosodic
features or suprasegmentals
Primary properties in music: pitch and rhythm
(duration)
Secondary properties in music: timbre and
dynamics (intensity changes)
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Some languages explore secondary
properties as primary
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In Chinese languages, different tone contour
patterns are used similarly to the segmental
properties, i.e. for distinguishing lexical and/or
grammatical meaning
http://www.wku.edu/~shizhen.gao/Chinese101/pinyi
n/tones.htm
In Baltic-Finnic languages (e.g., Estonian or
Finnish), different quantity patterns are used
similarly to the segmental properties, i.e. for
distinguishing lexical and/or grammatical meaning
Tahad saada, saada sada
If you want to get [it], you should send 100 [€, $, etc.]
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In the overtone singing of South Siberia and
Mongolia, spectral properties of sound are explored
for creation of the musical structure
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the fundamental and the upper partials disintegrate,
so that an audible polyphony emerges on the basis
of a single sound source
in order to achieve this, partials from 6 to 12 are
made audible one by one, using a special
configuration of the vocal tract
usually a four-note scale is used in the upper voice
(G-C-D-E-G)
there is a sharp timbral contrast between the two
voices
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http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000C5ABE-B1351CBC-B4A8809EC588EEDF
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the harmonic row
consists of the
fundamental (F0) with
upper partials
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Quantity in Estonian
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ternary opositions (short, long, overlong),
which is unusual
contrast of short and long is not the same as
contrast of long and overlong
productive trochaic pattern
vas-tas-ti-kus-ta-ta-ma-tu-ma-te-le-gi
sa-lon-ki-kel-poi-nen
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Possibilities of V1 and C2 variation in twosyllable Estonian CVCV words
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sagi [saki] (to hustle 2 sg imper) - saagi
[sa:ki] (harvest gen sg) - saagi [sa::ki] (saw
part & ill sg)
sagi [saki] - saki [sak:i] (notch gen sg) sakki [sak::i] (notch part & ill sg)
sagi [saki] - [sa:k:i] Ø - saaki [sa::k::i]
(harvest part & ill sg)
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Observations in connection with V1
and C2 variation
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a phonetically complete paradigm is based on 4
semantically different words (sagima, saak, saag,
sakk)
distinction of g and k in spelling is not based on their
different sound quality
one possibility in the paradigm remains unused (V1
and C2 both long)
V1C2 combinations long-overlong and overlong-long
are excluded
spelling of C2 is phonetically inconsistent, which
justifies spelling errors (minu tupa, lähen köökki)
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Baltic-Finnic old folksongs (runic
songs, runo songs, Kalevala songs)
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a few thousand years old
start to disappear since the end of 18th
century
main characteristics: alliteration and
assonance, parallelism of verse lines, and
trochaic 4-feet meter
texts and tunes may be independent from
each other
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“There is no doubt that since the 2nd half of the 18th
century, the old runic folksongs which were strongly
disapproved by local pastors as well as leaders of the
Moravian brothers, gradually started to be replaced by a
new musical idiom among the Estonian-speaking
serfdom. This has created the basis for future
development of the polyphonic choral singing tradition.
Learning Protestant hymns in schools and their
congregational singing in churches hardly has had too
much influence upon this change. Rather, it were the
‘harmonic’, i.e. multi-voiced, and emotional songs of the
Moravian brothers, as it has been pointed out in 1791.”
Karl Leichter, “Keset muusikat”, 1997 (orig 1956), p 464
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The Baltic-Finnic nations (ethnic groups): Finns, Estonians,
Karelians, Vepsians, Votes, Izhorians, and Livs
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August Wilhelm Hupel (1777), Topographische Nachrichten von
Lief- und Ehstland (Topographical Communications from Livonia
and Estonia) II, Appendix
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[Chr. Schlegel] (1830), Reisen in mehrere russische
Gouvernements, 5. Bändchen. Meiningen: Keyssner
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There is no correlation between word stress and syllable duration:
short syllables may be stressed and long syllables unstressed. Metrical
oppositions may be accomplished using both stress and duration.
ha-
ned
hal-
jas-
ta
hõ-
be-
dat
position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
meter
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
word stress
+
-
+
-
-
+
-
-
syllable
duration
-
+
+
-
-
+
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Distribution of syllables/notes in a Karelian lament. Left:
all syllables/notes, right: short (CV) and long (CVV)
syllables/notes separated.
Jaan Ross ja Ilse Lehiste (1996), "Silpnootide pikkusest ühes karjala itkus," rmt
Congressus Octavus Internationalis Fenno-Ugristarum 10.-15. 8. 1995, pars III (red
H. Leskinen, S. Maticsák & T. Seilenthal), Jyväskylä: Moderatores, lk 45-48
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measured (ms)
Syllable/tone durations in folksongs
600
400
200
0
0
100
200
300
400
500
predicted (ms)
Syllable durations predicted according to: M. Mihkla, A. Eek and E.
Meister (1999), “Text-to-speech synthesis of Estonian,” in Eurospeech
‘99: Proceedings of the European Speech Communication Association.
Budapest, pp 2095-2098
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S1/S2 in speech (left, 2 dictors) and in singing (right, 3
singers). Vertical bars correspond to standard deviation. In
speech, short, long and overlong words can be
distinguished well on the basis of S1/S2. In singing,
statistically significant differences between short, long and
overlong words are mostly absent.
Jaan Ross and Ilse Lehiste (1994), "Lost prosodic oppositions: A study of
contrastive duration in Estonian funeral laments," Language and Speech
37, 407-424
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Average durations of sound events (ms) at ictus (rise)
and off-ictus (fall) positions in a folksong melody
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Fall
Normal
Broken
Rise
330
320
310
300
290
280
270
260
250
240
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Broken lines are those
where the word stress
pattern does not coincide
with the metrical accent
pattern.
The performer is LK from
Haljala.
The data are averages from
four recorded songs, the
total number of measured
verse lines being 152 and
that of sound events >
1200.
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Veljo Tormis (s 1930)
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“I do not use folksongs. The folksongs use
me.”
Minimalism and the new simplicity in
connection with Tormis’ works
“The Lost Geese” from a set “Two Estonian
runo songs” (1973-74). Estonian
Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conductor
Tõnu Kaljuste
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How are the sounds used in the
Baltic-Finnic runic songs?
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modus vivendi between speech, music and meter
text semantics dominates over the musical
expressivity
musical isochrony tends to level off linguistically
relevant quantity oppositions
Ictus positions are systematically longer than offictus positions, which provides support for the
duration-based meter theory
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The Pairwise Variability Index:
Background in Linguistics
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The Pairwise Variability Index (PVI) is a metric used
for quantifying speech rhythm.
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It was originally devised for the calculation of rhythmic
differences between varieties of English (Low et al. 2000)
It provides an alternative to the traditional view of
rhythm isochrony (‘syllable timing’ vs. ‘stress timing’)
The PVI captures the difference between adjacent
linguistic units (syllables or feet)
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E.g. the more syllable timed the language is, the lower its
PVI.
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Grabe, E., & Low, E. L. (2002). Durational variability in speech and the rhythm class
hypothesis. In C. Gussenhoven & N. Warner (Eds.), Laboratory Phonology, 7, 515-546.
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Pairwise Variability Index
subtract the value (e.g. duration) of
previous unit from the present value
multiply by 100 to get a
whole number PVI
n dk  dk1

PVI  100  
/(n 1)
k2 (dk  dk1 ) /2

sum absolute values of all
successive pairwise differences
divide by the
number of pairs
normalise by expressing difference as a
fraction of the mean of the two units

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Background in Music Theory
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Musical nPVI values, while potentially
influenced by language rhythm, are sensitive
to the genre and style.
This is tested on the basis of Estonian vocal
music because vocal music is more likely to
reflect prosodic features of the language than
instrumental music (Ross and Lehiste 2001),
and should, at least in theory, show an nPVI
more similar to speech rhythm.
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Hypothesis
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Musical nPVI values, while potentially influenced
by language rhythm, are sensitive to the genre
and style.
This is tested on the basis of Estonian vocal
music because vocal music is more likely to
reflect prosodic features of the language than
instrumental music (Ross and Lehiste 2001), and
should, at least in theory, show an nPVI more
similar to speech rhythm.
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Composers (1)
Mart Saar (1882-1963)
composed his songs in the 1920s and 30s influenced
by the impressionism and expressionism of the early
20th century.
One of the founders of the Estonian national style.
From: Soololaulud 3 [Solo songs 3]. Tallinn, 1984.
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Composers (2)
Eduard Tubin (1905-1982)
wrote his solo songs during the pre-war period
representing the late romantic style of the 1930s and
influenced by Estonian folk music.
From: Soololaule [Solo songs]. Tallinn and Stockholm, 1988.
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Composers (3)
Veljo Tormis (1930)
created his folk-music-based song in the 1960s and
1970s.
From: Neli eesti jutustavat rahvalaulu [Four Estonian narrative
folksongs] and Kuus eesti jutustavat rahvalaulu [Six Estonian
narrative folksongs]. Tallinn, 1972.
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Method
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A comparable number of solo songs was chosen
for each composer:
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The total number of analysed melodic segments
was 220:
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Saar (16), Tubin (15), Tormis (10).
Saar (54), Tubin (83), Tormis (83).
The calculation of nPVIs was carried out using
the printed scores by counting the rhythm based
on the vocal line. Adjacent note durations were
compared to each other.
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Method
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nPVIs were calculated for each melodic segment
(phrase) which was defined as a succession of
notes not interrupted by any pause.
Segments shorter than 12 notes were excluded
from the analysis, and segments longer than 125
notes were cut into pieces,
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i.e. the 126th note in a succession of notes was
considered to start a new segment.
Consequently, the length of a melodic segment could
vary between 12 and 125 notes.
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Results
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The average nPVI values for the solo songs by Saar and
Tubin are significantly higher than those for Tormis: 47.0 and
42.1 vs. 22.2 (p<.0001).
There is no significant difference between the nPVI values of
Saar and Tubin’s songs.
A comparison of the nPVI values for music with Estonian
speech shows that the average syllable nPVI (5 speakers) of
Estonian speech - 44.0 (Asu and Nolan 2006) - is very similar
to and falls between the nPVI values of the songs by Saar
and Tubin.
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Average nPVI values for the three Estonian composers
and Estonian speech (Syllable nPVI)
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Conclusions
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Although there is a striking correspondence between
Estonian speech rhythm and that of the music of Saar and
Tubin, the music of Tormis is rhythmically distinct.
This supports our hypothesis that style- and genreconditioned characteristics of music can override linguistically
conditioned characteristics.
The prediction of the rhythm of music on the basis of speech
rhythm may be an oversimplification. Similar nPVI values of
Saar and Tubin’s solo songs reflect similar aesthetic
principles of the two composers.
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Overall conclusion
I have discussed how music and speech explore
their common domain of sounds in a mostly
separate but sometimes overlapping manner.
Further, I have discussed the so-called hybrid form
of different types of singing which combine both the
music and the language, and demonstrate how
occasional conflicts which occur between music and
speech in singing as an example of modus vivendi,
can reasonably been solved in the musical practice.
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Thanks to my colleagues who have
contributed to those studies
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Eva Liina Asu-Garcia (University of Tartu)
Ilse Lehiste (Ohio State University)
Meelis Mihkla, Institute of Estonian Language
Allan Vurma (Estonian Academy of Music
and Theatre)
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