Tactile Feedback for Singing Performance: If you can't hear when you're off-pitch, would it help to feel it? That's what I'm hoping to find out. Singing on pitch typically requires the ability to hear oneself and make fine motor corrections to the vocal cords. This hearing-adjusting feedback loop is fine when a person can hear small pitch variations. But what about those who have trouble hearing when they are "off"? I am investigating how the sense of touch can be used to improve a person's ability to sing on pitch or follow a rhythm. This system does active pitch tracking of a person singing, and gives immediate vibrational feedback indicating when they are off, and by how much. I hope that this system can be used as a training device, to improve singing performance, or to train new singing behaviors like harmonizing. Future work will also investigate how vibrotactile feedback can help timing-related musical performance, such as singing in rounds and drumming.

This project is a collaboration with Sile O'Modhrain.