A method and apparatus identify values for components of a vocal tract
resonance vector by sequentially determining values for each component of
the vocal tract resonance vector. To determine a value for a component,
the other components are set to static values. A plurality of values for
a function are then determined using a plurality of values for the
component that is being determined while using the static values for all
of the other components. One of the plurality of values for the component
is then selected based on the plurality of values for the function.