Mapping a beautiful voice: The continuous response measurement apparatus (CReMA)

This article follows work published in this Journal that drew on a range of diverse literatures to clarify those elements that are perceived to constitute a ‘beautiful’ sung performance. The text rehearsed key findings from existing literatures in order to determine the extent to which particular elements might appear the most salient for an individual listener and also ‘quantifiable’ (in the sense of being open to empirical study). The article concluded with a theoretical framework for the elements that are likely to construct and shape our responses to particular sung performances. Herein, the development of a novel research apparatus and an empirical evaluation of this research framework are being presented. This research framework is believed to provide evidence about the robustness of the emergent theoretical taxonomy of underlying contributory factors by subjecting it to empirical evaluation through a multifaceted investigation into the psycho-acoustic and context-specific interpretation of sung performance quality.