10 years since the last PAS. What has happened in the meantime?

Résumé En

In 2002, a series of conferences on Physiology and Acoustics of Singing (International PAS Conference) was initiated by Harm Schutte and Donald Miller of Groningen Voice Research Laboratory in the Netherlands, allowing the singing-voice community to join and share the latest scientific advances in the field. Ten years after, in 2012, a last meeting (PAS6) took place in Las Vegas Department of Music of the University of Nevada in the USA. Ten years passed until the flame was relit by Christian Herbst, Filipa Lã, Mauro Fiuza and Flávia Caraíbas, supported by the Instituto de Formação em Voz (IFV), Faculdade Novo Horizonte (FNH) and Facultad de Educación, and from Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED). Through this presentation, we will look back on the past 10 years, tasting together the fruits of scientific achievements conducted since PAS6 meeting in Las Vegas. Physiology and acoustics of singing has been a prolific area of research during this decade. It has benefited from major technological advances in voice-assesment tools : ultra-highspeed cinematography, CT scan, dynamic real-time MRI, muscular ultrasound imaging, ... Singing is no longer considered solely from a phonatory, articulatory and acoustic point of view, but is increasingly seen as an embodied artistic expression. The interaction between the different levels of control of the singing voice is taken into account. The singing styles studied have become much more diverse, ranging from classical singing to a wide variety of non-classical styles, such as Broadway musicals, jazz, metal, human beatbox, and world traditional singing such as China's traditional Peking Opera or Fado. Registers and passagios remain an active field of research, gaining better understanding through electroglottography, highspeed cinematography and dynamic MRI. Healthy and unhealthy voices attracted attention, with noticeable increasing number of subjects in the studies. Studies on vocal health and singing-voice rehabilitation point the way to a multi-disciplinary approach, good vocal health be a matter of everyone’s care : the singer, the clinician, the singing teachers and all the other voice professionals. Benefits of singing on health and well-being have been explored. Evidence-based practices framework has emerged for singing teaching and learning, and it should be developed.The last two years have been marked by the covid-19 health crisis. We will conclude our presentation in reviewing its impact on singing.