MUE412

V i M th d
VoiceMethods
Week2
AssocProfDrGhaziah
A
P f D Gh i h Mohd
M hd Ghazali
Gh li
FacultyofMusic

IntroductiontoVocal
Anatomy

ImportanceofUnderstandingthe
VocalAnatomy
l
C
Createsawarenessofhowthebodyfunctionsto
eates a a e ess o o t e body u ct o s to
producesound
g
y p
Knowledgeofvocalanatomyhelpsteachersof
singingtobemoreawareofthemechanicsof
toneproduction
Helpssingersunderstandthedelicatepartsofthe
vocalmechanism
Withunderstanding,singerswillbesensitiveto
With d t di
i
ill b
iti t
howtheirvocalcordsproducesoundandbe
better able to take care of their voice
betterabletotakecareoftheirvoice

Th h
Thethroat

Nasal passage & throat (side view)

Nasalpassage&throat(sideview)

Location of the Voice box

LocationoftheVoicebox

Physiology
PhysiologyofVoice
of Voice
Production

A t
AnatomyofVoiceProduction
f V i P d ti

VoiceMechanism
Voice Mechanism
Subsystem

VoiceOrgans

RoleinSoundProduction

Airpressure
Air
pressure
system

Diaphragm,chestmuscles,
Diaphragm chest muscles Providesandregulatesair
Provides and regulates air
ribs,abdominalmuscles
pressuretocausevocalfolds
Lungs
tovibrate

Vibratorysystem

Voicebox(larynx)
Vocalfolds

Vocalfoldsvibrate,
changingairpressureto
soundwavesproducing
" i d
"voicedsound,"frequently
d"f
l
describedasa"buzzy sound
Variespitchofsound

Resonating
system

Vocaltract:throat
(pharynx),oralcavity,nasal
passages
p
g

Changesthe"buzzy
sound"intoaperson's
recognizablevoice
g

Mechanics of Vocal tone production

MechanicsofVocaltoneproduction

The Larynx
TheLarynx
Alsocalledthevoicebox
Ashort1.5intube
Locatedinthefrontpart
,
oftheneck,between
pharynxandtrachea

AnatomyoftheLarynx
Anatomy of the Larynx
Laryngealcartilages
Epliglottis (coversentranceoflarynx
(covers entrance of larynx
duringswallowing)
Thyroidcartilage(Adamsapple)
Cricoid cartilage(bottomoflarynx)
cartilage (bottom of larynx)
Arytenoid cartilages(attachthevocal
cords)

Larynx
Front,side&backview

Front

KeyFunctionoftheVoiceBox
(Larynx)
(
)
Sound
Soundisgeneratedinthelarynx
is generated in the larynx
Thekeyfunctionofthevoiceboxistoopen
and close the glottis (the space between the
andclosetheglottis(thespacebetweenthe
twovocalfolds).
Roleinbreathing:
g Openglottis
p g
Roleincoughreflex: Close,thenopenglottis
Roleinswallowing: Closeglottis
Roleinvoice: Closeglottisandadjustvocalfold
tension(plusadditionalfunctionsforsinging)

Larynxfunctions
Larynx functions
Control
Controlairflowduringbreathing
airflow during breathing
Soundcreation
Preventsairfromescapingthelungs
duringweightlifting,holdingyourbreath
Protectionoflungsagainstforeign
j
objects

Fromspeechtosinging
From speech to singing
The
The"spoken
spokenword
word"resultsfromthree
results from three
componentsofvoiceproduction:voiced
sound resonance and articulation
sound,resonance,andarticulation.
Voicedsound: Thebasicsoundproducedby
vocal fold vibration is called "voiced
vocalfoldvibrationiscalled
voicedsound.
sound "
Thisisfrequentlydescribedasa"buzzy"
sound Voiced sound for singing differs
sound.Voicedsoundforsingingdiffers
significantlyfromvoicedsoundforspeech.

 Resonance: Voicesoundisamplifiedand
modified by the vocal tract resonators (the
modifiedbythevocaltractresonators(the
throat,mouthcavity,andnasalpassages).The
p
p
g
resonatorsproduceaperson'srecognizable
voice.
Articulation: Thevocaltractarticulators(the
(
tongue,softpalate,andlips)modifythe
voicedsound.Thearticulatorsproduce
recognizablewords.

 Inspeech,therateofvibrationofthevocalfolds
createsthefrequencyorpitchofthethe sound.
Thefrequencyorfrequenciesatwhichtheair
column vibratesdeterminesthequality ofthe
tone.
theaircolumnfromthelarynxtothelips
functions very much like a tube without much
functionsverymuchlikeatube,withoutmuch
variationinwidth.
Inanaverageadult,thetubeisapproximately
In an average adult the tube is approximately
17.5cmlonginadultmalesand14.7cmlongin
adultfemales.

Phonation
http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ohs/voice_pro
duction.pdf
Whenwebreatheinandoutwithoutspeaking,thevocalfoldsin
thelarynxareopentoallowtheairtopasstoandfromthelungs
easily.
Theimpulsessentfromthebrainwhenwewanttospeak,signalto
The impulses sent from the brain when we want to speak signal to
themusclesofthelarynxtoclosethevocalfolds.
Whentheaircomingupfromthelungsmeetstheclosedvocal
folds,thepressureandflowoftheairovercomestheresistanceof
,
p
thevocalfoldsandsetsthemintoapatternofrapidvibration.
Thatis,thevocalfoldsopenandcloserepeatedly,around200 220
timespersecondforwomenand100 120timespersecondfor
men.
Thisrapidvibrationofthevocalfoldsproducesthesoundwavesin
the
airwhicharethebasictonesofourvoices.
air which are the basic tones of our voices
Thevocalfoldsarethereforethesourceofthehumanvoice.

Phonation
Refertowebsiteforanimatedvisualsonmechanism:
http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/respiratorysystem/larynx/
phonation/tutorial.html

VoicecareforTeachersprogram
http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ohs/voice_production.pdf

Thelarynxislocatedonthetopofthetracheaandisbehindthe
AdamssApple.
Adam
Apple.
Thetwovocalfoldsinthelarynxareapproximately20mminlength
andarestretchedfromjustbehindtheAdamsAppleinthefrontof
yournecktothebackofthelarynx.
Thesevocalfoldsarecomplexstructuresmadeupoffourmain
layers.
Theouterlayeristhemucousmembrane(orepithelium).
Directlyunderthemucousmembraneisasoft,pliablelayerfilledwith
Di tl
d th
b
i
ft li bl l
fill d ith
fluid;thislayerisknownasReinkes space.
ThemucousmembraneandReinkes spacearetogetherknownasthe
coverofthevocalfolds.
Thiscoverofthevocalfoldsmustbekeptmoistandpliablesothatit
canmovefreelyinawavelikemotion(themucosalwave)overthe
deeperlayersofthefolds.
Ifthecoverofthevocalfoldsbecomesdryorstiff,thevoicewill
If the cover of the vocal folds becomes dry or stiff the voice will
becomeroughandthepersonmayexperiencethroatdiscomfort.

Voice
Voiceprojectionandresonance
projection and resonance
Voiceprojectionandresonanceisimportantin
p j
p
singing
Voiceprojectionallowsthepersontobeheard
Voiceprojectioninvolvesthemaximumuseofthe
breathingmechanisminsoundproduction
Resonancegivesthequalityofvoice
Resonance gives the quality of voice
Whatwerecognizeas"vowels"areactually
changesinthequalityofthetone.Ourtongues
g
q
y
g
allowustochangetheshapeofthe"tube",
specificallychangingthecrosssectional"width"
by sliding forward or back
byslidingforwardorback.

Resonation
The
Thebuzzcreatedbythevocalfoldsresonates
buzz created by the vocal folds resonates
(vibrates)theaircolumnandthisinturn
causes the structures above and around the
causesthestructuresaboveandaroundthe
larynxtovibrate/resonateaswell.
Thepartsofthebodythatcanvibratein
The parts of the body that can vibrate in
harmonywiththevoiceareoftencalled
Resonators.
Resonators

Resonators
ChestandLowerBody lowpitches
andopensounds("AW")
p
(
)
Throat midrange,easyspeaking
tone
Mouth uppermidrange,mid
upper midrange mid
vowels
Nasal close,frontvowels,especially
when followed by a nasal consonant
whenfollowedbyanasalconsonant
Facial highrange,frontvowels
Sinus giventhattherearesomany
sinuses,manydifferentquality
i
diff
t
lit
soundsactivatethem
Bonesoftheskull falsetto,veryhigh
range,closedvowels.
l d
l

Closeupview

Articulation
What
Whatwerecognizeas
we recognize as "vowels"
vowels areactually
are actually
changesinthequalityofthetone.Our
tongues allow us to change the shape of the
tonguesallowustochangetheshapeofthe
"tube",specificallychangingthecross
sectional "width"
sectional
width byslidingforwardorback.
by sliding forward or back

Mechanism
of
singing
Resonators
Articulators
l
Vibrators

Homework
Find
FindoutthesizeoftheVocalfoldsin
out the size of the Vocal folds in
adultsandchildren
Howdoeslength/thicknessofthe
H d
l
h/ hi k
f h
vocalfoldsaffectthepitchofa
personsvoice