Voice quality changes after Karaoke and effects of hydration

Abstract

The present study investigated 1) whether singing sixteen songs in karaoke results in changes in videoendoscopic observation or in jitter, shimmer and/or harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) in speech, and 2) whether water intake during karaoke has effects on the above changes. The results indicated that karaoke singing had an effect on jitter, shimmer and HNR in the vowel/a/when produced in a low and comfortable pitch. No signs of inflammation or edema were found in the videoendoscopic observations. There was no consistent effect of water intake across all pitch conditions and voice perturbation measures; however, jitter and HNR showed effects of water intake in the high pitch condition, suggesting that high-pitched voices may be sensitive to the presence or absence of water intake during singing.