Listening to one's voice: the impact of spectrogram visual feedback in voice therapy

Abstract

External feedback of the voice of patients is commonly used in voice therapy and one of the aims of voice therapy is to restore the self-perception of the voice and of its alterations, which is often disrupted, in dysphonic patients. With a spectrogram, many acoustical parameters, such as voice onset and voice quality, may be visualized on a screen. Literature indicates that the use of spectrogram in vocal therapy can foster self-awareness of acoustical vocal parameters and increase the patients' motivation and autonomy. We conducted a case-control study on 4 patients in a series of three one-hour voice training sessions with a spectrogram. We also performed a statistical analysis of self-assessment exercises and reports on the use of the spectrogram in a 19 patients population. Our conclusion is that spectrogram visual feedback associated with the voice therapist’s comforting attitude can have a positive impact on the therapeutic relationship and on the image the patient has of his voice, especially quality of resonance and voice onset. Spectrographic voice analysis leads to a better comprehension of the numerous acoustic parameters of the voice even though no systematic impact on the quality of vocal behavior was observed. Voice therapists play a major role in voice rehabilitation and we recommend the use of spectrogram visual feedback to enhance their efficiency.