Emotional and Social Signals in Multimedia: Vibrato Variations in Classical Singing

In acoustic psychology research, many studies have explored how acoustic features enhance emotional expression in singing, but the role of vibrato has been relatively underexamined. This study investi- gates how variations in vibrato affect emotional perception in singing through two experiments. Recordings of professional classical singers per- forming notes with different vibrato speeds and amplitudes were analyzed to examine correlations between vibrato features and emotional percep- tion. A perceptual emotional assessment further revealed that changes in vibrato significantly influence the perception of basic emotional cate- gories. Specifically, variations in vibrato speed and amplitude were found to alter how emotions are perceived. The findings indicate that even con- trolled vibrato variations carry emotional cues recognizable to listeners. The study also highlights that vibrato parameters are independent, and professional opera singers can control these features separately to convey distinct emotions.