Speak or sing at very high pitch

[Siyu D]

If we speak or sing at very high pitch, the fundamental frequency is going to be very high and harmonic frequency will be relatively high as well and further apart. So on this condition, harmonics should get harder to resonate especially for vowels with low F1. Thus, is it true that when we speak or sing with high-pitch voice, it becomes harder to pronounce some vowels very clearly?

[Simon]

That’s basically correct. In singing, especially of female sopranos, it is harder to discriminate different vowel sounds from one another.

The spectral envelope exists at all frequencies, but the only evidence available to the listener is at the harmonics. That is, the harmonics sample the envelope (just like digital sampling of audio). This means that more widely-spaced harmonics (due to higher F0) provide a lower-resolution representation of the spectral envelope. This makes things harder for the listener.

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