Short term effect of ‘semioccluded vocal tract exercises’ on healthy actors’ voices

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a 10-minutes warm-up protocol with semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) on actors without voice complaints. A short dramatic passage was audio-recorded at 4 time points. Between the second and the third recording the actors performed the exercises, while between the third and the fourth they performed in a show. The voice quality was acoustically and auditory-perceptually analysed at each time point by blinded raters. Self-assessment parameters anonymously collected pre and post exercising were also evaluated. No statistically significant differences on perceptual ratings and acoustic parameters were found between pre/post exercise session and males/females. Statistically significant improvement was found in the self-assessment parameters concerning comfort in production (males), sonorousness, vocal clarity and power (both males and females). The proposed vocal warm-up with the SOVTE protocol created may thus be effective in determining a self-perceived improvement in comfort, voice quality and power.