The voice unmasked: how we hear image, emotion and identity

As the Australian premier season of The Masked Singer draws to a close, fans are listening hard to guess which celebrities remain behind the weird and wonderful costumes. Although the celebrities throw listeners a few cryptic clues, the main giveaways for guessing the identity of the masked performer are found in their voice. Do they sound big or small, male or female, old or young? Is their voice strong, emotive, controlled? As singer Deni Hines said when unmasked last week: “With this, it was purely the voice.” The sound of the voice – referred to as vocal quality or vocal timbre in singing – is highly characteristic and distinctive.