JCPSLP VOL 15 No 1 March 2013

Computer-assisted assessment and intervention

Top 10 resources iPad and iPhone apps for voice Alison Winkworth T his Top 10 is a set of resources selected by Dr Alison Winkworth. Alison specialises in voice in her private practice and lectures at Charles Sturt University in Albury-Wodonga. A member of the Australian Voice Association, she’s a keen singer and percussionist, and lives in north-east Victoria. Below is a list of apps that Alison has trialled with clients with voice disorders. 1 Piano keyboard, e.g., Virtuoso Piano, Pianist Pro

3 Voice care info and voice warm up exercises Examples of voice care information and voice warm-up exercises include: • Your Voice (free), information and exercises for preventing voice

Alison Winkworth

problems by Dr Edwin Yiu (professor in speech pathology at Hong Kong University), and • Warm Me Up ($7.49), with over 50 vocal exercises that singers love. 4 Voice analyser Voice analysers like this app show a real-time spectrogram and spectrum to provide biofeedback to clients. For example, in the voice quality “twang” (a piercing, nasal sound in its purest form, that is highly vocally efficient), we look for high amplitude formants clustered around 3–5kHz. Once the sound is produced, the spectrum screen in this app provides instant feedback to clients. There are now many acoustic analysis apps, but they’re mainly designed for music professionals and sound engineers. It takes some lateral thinking to apply them to voice work, but if you have some basic knowledge of acoustics, apps like these can augment voice work with clients. In fact, there are even apps clinicians can use to learn more about the physics of sound, such as iPlay Fourier ($8.49). 5 Tuner, e.g., ClearTune, Pitch2Note or n-Track Tuner Tuner apps can be used instead of using your own pitch judgement. These apps are mainly designed for musicians, such as guitarists, to help them tune their strings. But if you’re not confident using your own pitch-matching abilities, then a tuner app will help in identifying the client’s vocal frequency on a sustained vowel. 6 Anatomy teaching,

Piano keyboard is useful for providing a musical model for testing phonational range and pitch matching. This app enables you to play a keyboard note, or chord, to provide a pitch model for a client. I use this during voice assessment to help the client reach higher or lower notes during evaluation of maximum pitch range. Although there are apps that would measure a client’s fundamental frequency, I prefer to use my auditory judgement and pitch matching with a piano keyboard on

most occasions. And it’s been years since I lugged a full size electronic keyboard around with me now, thanks to apps like these. 2 Sound level meter, e.g., Decibel Meter Pro, Decibel 10th

Sound level meter apps can be used in LSVT for people with Parkinson’s disease, as well as with other clients, especially children, to give them a greater awareness of loudness. However, as the reliability of sound level meter apps are yet to be established, these apps should be used with caution.

e.g., Visible Body, Gray’s Anatomy, 3D

The sound level meter apps can replace the expensive SPL meter in the clinic, and there are again lots to choose from. A readout on the sound level meter will help teach a client greater awareness of their own and others’ vocal loudness. It’s also useful for teaching clients that articulatory precision can be more effective than simply raising one’s vocal loudness, in getting a message across. When I work with teachers with voice problems, apps like these help in achieving subtle changes in loudness while improving speech clarity.

Brain, Laryngeal Anatomy, LUMA ENT

Anatomy apps can be used with clients or students, or for checking on a muscle name for your own learning. I also

like using Upper Respiratory Virtual Lab . Using your fingers to swipe and zoom, you “dive in” virtually, through

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JCPSLP Volume 15, Number 1 2013

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology