Abstract
The traditional form of spectrography employed for speech analysis makes use of fixed bandwidth bandpass filters, which are usually set either to wide-band or narrow-band to optimise the time and frequency resolution of the resulting spectrogram respectively. The acoustic analysis carried out by the human ear can be modelled as a bank of bandpass filters whose bandwidth changes as a function of centre frequency, and therefore the time and frequency resolution varies with frequency. This paper describes a spectrographic analysis technique that is based on peripheral human hearing and considers its potential for application within a real-time visual display for singing training by comparing its output with traditional wide- and narrow-band spectrograms. The potential advantages and disadvantages of hearing modelling spectrography for this application are illustrated and discussed for a selection of sung material, some of which has been recorded during singing lessons where traditional spectrography is being employed.