Abstract:
An effective transformation of sentence level voiced speech from young to aged, or male to female, requires the parametrization and subsequent modification of various components in speech. A glottal excited linear predictive model (GELP), similar to that developed by Childers and Hu [D. G. Childers and H. T. Hu, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96, 2026--2036 (1994)] was used as a basic platform for experiments in gender, age, and vocal quality transformation. This model permits a parametrization initially into excitation and articulation components, which were then separately modified. This study describes the changes in pitch, prosody, glottal pulse shape, and formant structure necessary to evoke a perceptual transformation from an adult male to a prepubescent child. The transformation was performed at the sentence level. A time-domain glottal pulse model which is sensitive to gender/age was used, along with a male-to-child vocal-tract pseudoarea warping. [Work supported by NIH Grant DCO2532-01.]