Research
The science
under the method
A doctoral thesis and five peer-reviewed papers.
Daniel Zangger Borch was the first Swedish voice pedagogue to study the rock, pop and soul voice scientifically, working with Professor Johan Sundberg at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The work has been cited more than 250 times.
The thesis
Sång inom populärmusikgenrer
Singing in popular music genres — artistic, physiological and pedagogical aspects. Doctoral thesis, Luleå University of Technology, School of Music in Piteå, 2008.
The thesis draws together five separate works: three articles in Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, the book Stora Sångguiden, and a recording. It was the first Swedish doctoral work to treat contemporary singing as something a laboratory can say useful things about.
Peer-reviewed papers
The papers, in full
Author copies, free to download.
Freddie Mercury — acoustic analysis of speaking fundamental frequency, vibrato, and subharmonics
Herbst, C. T., Hertegård, S., Zangger Borch, D. & Lindestad, P.-Å. · Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2016.
What made that voice that voice: speaking pitch, vibrato rate, and the subharmonic register Mercury used as an ornament.
Read the paper (PDF)Some phonatory and resonatory characteristics of the rock, pop, soul, and Swedish dance band styles of singing
Zangger Borch, D. & Sundberg, J. · Journal of Voice.
Four non-classical styles, one professional singer, and an expert panel that could tell them apart — then the acoustic measurements that explain how.
Read the paper (PDF)Vocal fold vibration and voice source aperiodicity in ‘dist’ tones: a study of a timbral ornament in rock singing
Zangger Borch, D., Sundberg, J., Lindestad, P.-Å. & Thalén, M. · Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2004.
Distortion is not damage. This is the case study that describes what the vocal folds are actually doing in a ‘dist’ tone.
Read the paper (PDF)Spectral distribution of solo voice and accompaniment in pop music
Zangger Borch, D. & Sundberg, J. · Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2002.
Where the voice sits in the mix, and why the pop singer does not need the classical singer’s formant to be heard over a band.
Read the paper (PDF)
The full publication list, including co-authored work and citation counts, is on ResearchGate.
Shorter pieces
Written for singers, not for journals
Next
From the lab to the lesson
The certification is where this research turns into something you can teach with.
Daniel Zangger Borch, Ph.D. in Music Performance. Voice researcher, vocal coach and author. This is where the books, the research and the certification live — and the way on to everything else.
hello@zangger.se · +46 (0)70 295 53 59
Elsewhere
The Zangger Team
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