Speech level in rooms with very low and very high reverberation

Numerous studies have dealt so far with changing in speech production for talkers due to different acoustic environments, but mostly have been focused on the effect of noise or distance from the listeners and not many on the effect of reverberation. Reverberation has an influence on the voice production, supporting talkers as well as increasing speech level towards an audience. In spite of its positive effects, excessive reverberation influences talkers making them use erroneous vocal behaviors, which may be cause of discomfort and a risk for vocal health, especially in the case of prolonged speech, as for teachers in classrooms. The present work explores the differences in sound pressure level and sound power level of running speech from several speakers, in semi-anechoic and reverberant rooms. Two types of spontaneous speech, a free monologue and the description of a map, have been addressed with a communicative intent to a listener seated at a fixed distance of 6 m. Measurements have been carried out with a headworn microphone and with Voice Care, a voice dosimeter based on a contact microphone. Subjective impressions were caught after subjects have spoken in the two rooms.