For this particular project I focused on the production of Ghanaian vocal timbre by three native Ghanaians, individuals in IVE, and non-IVE members of a Ghanaian children's song. There is no conclusive theory of timbre perception. Part of the difficulty is that timbre is difficult to perceive as an isolated phenomenon since it is based on perception. Timbre is connected with the source as opposed to individual and measurable attributes such as frequency or amplitude. With regards to vocal timbre the vocal tract transforms the airflow spectrum into recognizable acoustical patterns which we know as vowels.
Vowels are a musical element of singing aside from their information carrying function.
Three areas of vowel production that are typically studied in computer analysis when researching timbre are the harmonic spectra, formants, and attack and decay transients. Another approach to investigating timbre along with computer analysis is the investigation of the verbal descriptions of timbre provided by subjects. I was interested in both acoustical properties and semantic descriptions of vocal singing timbre. The results from this project can in no way make large scale evaluations of Ghanaian and American timbre, but should be regarded as a stepping stone into the investigation of timbre perception and imitation among Ghanaian and American voices. The first time they sang without any instruction as to vocal production, and once again after hearing the tape of one of the Ghanaian singers they were asked to try to imitate the timbre of the voice they heard.