Voice and Speech Systems

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Vaghmi_Pro Voice Therapy
a comprehensive system for voice therapy

Vaghmi_Pro Voice Therapy is easy to operate and user friendly software package. It requires no programming skills.

Visit the page on Voice Awareness to understand issues relating to voice.

Who needs voice therapy?

People generally believe that 'voice' is something that one is born-with. But, voice quality can be changed by therapy to make it less abusing to vocal folds and more endearing to the listeners.

Even persons with 'normal voice' may be improperly using voice production mechanism by habit leading to long term problems.

Professionals who use voice extensively such as teachers, lawyers, singers etc may be unaware of the voice dimensions. He/she has to be doubly sure that the voice production mechanism is being used optimally to avoid long term complications.

A singer has to use the optimum pitch. A singer has to make sure that he/she is hitting the notes correctly. Therapy programs helps them.

'Voice Quality' being used may be such that one gets easily tired even after a brief interval of speaking or singing.

'Voice Quality' being used may be such that the listener has to strain to understand one's speech.

A person who speaks too loud or too soft or is unable to control voice properly need to be aware of voice therapy.

A normal male person's voice may sound feminine (puber-phonia). Therapy helps in such cases. A person's voice may be highly nasal. Therapy may help.

A normal child may require voice and speech therapy due to improper learning.

A child with hearing impairment or a cochlear implant lacks good auditory feedback. They can have normal voice. A spastic child lacks muscular coordination. Parents of such children need to be aware of voice and speech therapy.

In case of voice disorders, such as hoarseness, diagnosis has to be made by a voice specialist. Appropriate therapy or micro-surgical intervention may be required. Vaghmi Voice Diagnostics software helps a voice specialist to diagnose the voice disorder by means of acoustic analysis.

What is Voice Therapy?

Voice therapy involves certain exercises related to the use of voice and articulation just like physical therapy (or physio therapy). The vocal exercises to be practiced are prescribed by a professional. The change in voice attributes are monitored over time. Usually each sessions lasts for about 20 minutes and with about 2-3 sessions per week and the sessions may last over several months

Computerized Voice Therapy

Listening to one's own tape-recorded voice or standing in-front of a mirror is not an effective therapy technique. Vaghmi-computerized voice therapy is a sophisticated software tool that converts a PC into a therapy equipment. It has therapy programs for Respiratory, Laryngeal and Articulation (Nasality) controls that determine the quality of voice.

Vaghmi_Pro Voice Therapy provides a visual feedback of voice production process to the client. Thus the client is aware if he/she is following the instructions properly.

The software displays the measured parameter in comparison with a model. For example, if the client is asked to practice at a pitch (fundamental frequency, F0) which is different from the habitual pitch, then the computer software gives a feedback if the client is practicing the correct F0, within, say, 10 or 5%.

The performance over a session is scored. Supposing the client has made 10 trials of which 6 were successful, the score will be 60%. Supposing the client has practiced for 10 seconds out of which he/she has been successful for 6 seconds then the score is 60%. Performance scores of different sessions can be compared by the client or the therapist to see if progress is satisfactory.

Reinforcement messages to further enhance the performance.

It has many interesting Games, Puzzles etc with powerful visuals. Stimulating tasks are to be achieved during therapy.

Goals can be set in a graded manner. What used to be monotonous and time consuming has now become interesting, effective and time saving.

The following modules cover all the major aspects of voice production mechanism.

Voice Therapy Programs

There are a number of programs available for voice therapy to enable respiratory, and phonatory controls. On-line help menu informs the therapist or the user about the purpose of the program, instructions to be followed, principle of therapy etc.

MPD (Maximum Phonation Duration) Therapy

In normal breathing, during expiration, air gushes out quickly but during voicing or speaking expiration is well controlled. Air stored in lungs must be utilized efficiently. A normal person is able to say a sustained vowel or 's' or 'z' for a long duration. (15- 20 seconds). MPD Therapy program enables one to practice sustained phonation or frication in a graded manner. Thus the control of expiration muscles and efficient use of air in lungs can be improved.

In MPD-Pacman, a pacman moves eating berries as long as the subject sustains phonation. In Puzzle, clippings of a picture randomly appear and the picture gets completed if the subject is able to sustain phonation or 's' or 'z' for the set goal duration. The program automatically detects vowel or 's' or 'z' production.

Intensity or Loudness Therapy

Some voices are hardly audible whereas some persons seem to scream. Further, certain social situations or emotional context demand a good control over the loudness of voice. In Pyramid the goal is to achieve a preset loudness level. A rising colourful pyramid appears whose height is proportional to the intensity. Intensity of voice must neither be too loud nor too soft nor fluctuating. In Rainbow the mean intensity level and tolerance limit for variation can be set. When the subject phonates with an intensity that is within the tolerance limits, a 'rainbow' of colours appears.

F0 or Pitch Control

By far the most important parameter determining the voice quality is the pitch or the fundamental frequency (F0). F0 generally used by the subject is called 'habitual pitch'. A person may be using improper 'habitual pitch' resulting in poor voice and abuse of vocal folds. It is not un-common to come across male speakers using a very high F0 (pre-puberty F0) and female speakers having a low bass voice. There is an optimum F0 that has to be used by the speaker. Good news is that it is possible to control F0. Students of music can learn singing the desired notes.

F0 or Pitch Therapy

In F0-Meter a colored horizontal bar whose width is proportional to measured F0 appears. The goal is indicated by another horizontal bar of fixed width. In F0-Bird a flying bird is seen. When the subject achieves the correct F0 the bird sits on a perch else it will move away from the perch. The model or goal can be presented as a tone over the headphones so that the subject can 'tune' the voice to the model's pitch. Tolerance limit can be set. Performance can be scored.

Echo-Voice with F0 Scaling

After the subject is able to achieve the desired F0 for sustained vowels, the task has to be achieved for spoken utterances. In Echo-Voice program the scaling factor for F0 can be set by the therapist. Spoken utterance of the subject with habitual pitch is recorded. The spoken utterance is scaled up or down in pitch and played back. The subject now clearly understands how the voice should sound after scaling.

Intonation, Stress, Rhythm

For a lively voice it is important that the full range of voice is realized. Intonation program can be used in a variety of ways:
(a) Measure mean and standard deviation of F0 and intensity of steady phonation.
(b) Measure the minimum and the maximum F0 (intensity) that a subject can achieve when saying a vowel at increasing and decreasing F0 (intensity).
(c) Set an intonation pattern in the upper screen and ask the subject to reproduce that pattern in the lower screen.
(d) Ask the subject to speak long and short syllables to measure control over rhythm. Histograms can be obtained.

Cursor facility is available. Split screen or full screen options are available. Single sweep or continuous mode of acquisition is possible. Duration of the window can be set. Spoken utterance can be saved, played and recalled.
There are two options. In off-line the signal is initially recorded, analyzed and then the intonation is displayed. In the on-line option, the subject gets an immediate feedback as he/she speaks.

Phonetogram

When one increases the pitch, loudness also increases. The co-variation is systematic for a trained voice and is random for an un-trained voice. In Phonetogram intensity Vs F0 is displayed for as long a duration as desired. Voice Range Profile is a plot of the effort by the subject to produce various F0 values at various intensities. Phonetogram program can be used for measuring the voice range profile. A specific F0 and intensity target can be set for the subject to practice.

Glottal Initiation and Waveform

Glottal initiation program can be used to measure 'Voice Onset Duration' and also to examine if the level of voice remains steady or falls-off indicating the breath control.
The manner of vibration of vocal folds that determines the voice quality can be seen only with sophisticated instruments. However, it is possible to indirectly deduce the manner of vibration by acoustic measurement on phonation signal with some experience. Glottogram program shows the glottal flow and its derivative as a subject phonates thereby providing a visual feedback to control the manner of vibration of vocal folds.

Nasality

If sound comes out through nostrils for sounds other than 'm', 'n', 'ng', it results in 'hyper nasal voice'. There are three programs for Nasalence therapy. A visual feedback is provided so that the the user can voluntarily control and close the velum, a valve at the root of nasal passage.
Some persons are unable to produce nasals such as 'm' and 'n'. Such cases are called hypo-nasal. Nasalence therapy programs can also be used for such cases. Nasalence measurement requires two-microphone setup and balanced two channel front-end amplifier.

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