THE ART OF

SINGING
Science Behind the Song

Alexander Chen
 INTRODUCTION
In 1990, the maestro tenor Luciano Pavarotti captured the attention of the world as his rendition
of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, selected as the theme of the World Cup that year, captivated the
ears of listeners and cemented his status as a legend of opera. But what separates his booming
vibrato from an amateur singer, or even normal speech? There is no evidence to suggest that
the greatest singers have bigger lungs, or other advantageous physiologies. Instead, what they
master is the honing of every part of the long system that is sound production in the human
body. What this review will explore are the connections and differences between the vocal
folds and the vocal tract, phonation and resonation, harmonics and formants as well as looking
at the consequences of these processes in two types of singing: yodel and opera.

HARMONICS
Myoelastic Aerodynamic Theory of Phonation
The act of singing involves many parts and actions, all working together simultaneously to
produce desired sounds. It begins with the contraction of the lungs which produces an airflow.
All forms of singing then come from the larynx, which is attached to your trachea and contains
the vocal cords, or vocal folds. Controlled by the Vagus nerve, vocal cords are composed of
pairs of mucous membrane which vibrate to modulate the flow of air being expelled from the
lungs. The sustained pressure from the airflow maintains this wave oscillation, and the airflow
is cut into smaller groups of sound waves each time the vocal cords returned to their starting
closed position.

There are two main theories about how the pressure from the airflow leads to the vibration of
the vocal folds. The first is the myoelastic theory. To produce sound or undergo phonation, the
vocal cords come together, creating a pressure underneath them from the upcoming airflow.
This subglottic pressure then pushes the folds apart, allowing air to flow and reducing the
pressure. This then allows the muscle tension recoil to bring the folds together, after which the
pressure begins to increase again.
The aerodynamic theory uses Bernoulli’s principle. As above, the closing of the vocal folds
creates a subglottic pressure, which eventually forces the cords open, allowing a small amount
of high velocity air through. By Bernoulli’s equation, as seen below, an increase in speed means
a decrease in static pressure. This then means the pressure above the cord is bigger than the
pressure below it, which forces the folds to close again, leading to another build-up of pressure.
This then creates a wave effect which propagates from the bottom to the top of the cords.

Both theories are mutually consistent and it is probable that both contribute to the vibration
pattern produced in the vocal folds. This process, known as phonation, creates basic tones,
which can vary in pitch. The sound produced has a dominant frequency, the fundamental
frequency of the vocal fold, and this varies depending on both the pressure of the airflow and
the vocal cords’ length, size and tension, which all dictate the resonant frequency of the cords.
The fundamental frequency is given by the vibration of the whole fold, but the vibrations of
half of each vocal fold, or a third, or a quarter etc. create less intense tones which are called
overtones. The amplitude of these overtones decreases uniformly as the frequency increases,
at a rate of approximately 12 decibels per octave [2]. These combine to give a harmonic
spectrum of a sound, which is associated with timbre.
 FORMANTS
Resonance and Resonators
What separates aesthetically pleasant singing from other sounds is down to many factors, with
the concept of the “richness” of a sound mainly down the many resonances in the vocal tract.
Resonance is the process of enhancing the sound produced by basic phonation. This process
emboldens the timbre and increases the amplitude of the sound waves produced, which
highlights its need in yodelling and opera, where power is greatly desired.
Vocal resonation occurs when the frequency of the produced tone matches the natural resonant
frequency of air cavities, for example, in your vocal tract, called resonators. These resonators
cannot start a vibration but will add to an incoming wave at the correct frequency. The resonant
frequency of an air cavity depends on its volume, the length of the opening and the area of the
opening. This specific frequency can be observed by pushing extra air into the cavity, which
incites a SHM-like oscillation of air in and out of the cavity [6]. In the human body, these
resonators are tracts, and so are modelled as closed-end tubes, rather than differently shaped
cavities which result in different types of resonance, such as Helmholtz resonance in spherical
cavities.
The three main air cavities in the vocal tract are the nasal and oral cavities as well as the part
of the tract above the vocal folds, although there are up to 4 other possible chambers, including
resonant chambers in the head and chest. These all have varying lengths and areas, and
therefore have different resonant frequencies, but resonances in the vocal tract tend to be the
most prominent. This gives the singer options, and a trained singer will physically alter the
shape and size of these resonators to match the frequency of the note they are singing. For
example, most classical singers rely on nasal resonance for their passagio or middle range,
switching to the softer mouth resonance for quieter sounds, and using head resonance for high
notes. Although these terms are commonly quoted with different meanings within the industry,
we take these names after the cavity in which they resonate.
Formants and Frequency Spectrum
Every sound has a frequency spectrum, which measures the relative intensities of its component
frequencies. A formant is a peak of this spectrum, typically indicating a resonance. In fact,
different sized rooms can also accommodate certain formants, since a room itself can act like
a cavity, and so has its dimensions can define certain optimal frequencies. Formants in singing
tend to arise mainly because of two different resonators in the vocal tract, which augment
certain frequencies, these being the oral cavity and the pre-tongue part of the vocal tract. Being
perpendicular to each other, they can change shape to accommodate and support different
frequencies. Singers attempt to master the muscles around these resonators, changing their
shape appropriately to allow for resonance to occur at all frequencies.
During singing, resonance occurs during vowel sounds rather than consonants obviously, and
the main vowel sounds, Ah, Ee and Oo for example, have distinctive formant patterns, which
remain the same even as the frequency of the sound changes. Even though a bass may have a
lower set of formants than a tenor when singing an Ee vowel, the relative positions of the
formants will be the same, as that is what defines the Ee sound. This is how we distinguish
different vowel sounds; our inner ear analyses the formants of a sound and can therefore
compute what vowel it is as you only need the 2 lowest formants to calculate the vowel. What
is true however is that at particularly high frequencies these formants bunch quite close
together, thereby making them quite difficult to be distinguished from one another. Opera
singers and yodellers take advantage of this ambiguity by shaping their vowels at high
frequencies to match the vowel which most easily undergoes resonance: an Ee vowel. That is
why the standard yodel goes yodel-ay-ee-oo, with the highest falsetto note being the Ee.
By modelling the vocal tract as one long closed-end tube, with the closed end being the glottis
and the open end being the lips, and considering the family of standing waves produced, we
can predict fairly accurate values for the prominent speech formants. By estimating the length
of the entire vocal tract as 17cm, common in adult males, the first standing wave occurs with
wavelength 4x0.17=0.68m. Using v=fl, we derive f=500Hz, this giving estimates of 500hz,
1500Hz and 2500Hz for the first three formants of the human voice. However, when
pronouncing different vowels, the contortions of our vocal tract, the movements of articulators,
and the fact that the vocal tract has a perpendicular bend in it lead to different formants for
different tones. The diagram below plots each vowel with the coordinates being the frequencies
of their first two formants. The spread of this data indicates the utility of formants in
distinguishing vowel sounds.

There is a way to predict the formant patterns in normal speech, using the superposition of
the harmonic spectrums of the two main parts of sound production: phonation and resonance.
 By superimposing these two
frequency spectrums, you can
produce this estimation to the
average natural frequency spectrum
of singing.

These are the three formants,

produced by resonances in the vocal
tract

This is the harmonic spectrum by

the vibration of the vocal cords, the
fundamental frequency being the
loudest, and the other frequencies
being the lighter overtones

This is how an actual frequency spectrum looks, notice the difference in formants, but
common formant at around 500Hz.
 YODEL AND OPERA
To elaborate on the varied nature of singing, it suffices to look at two extremely unique types
of singing: yodelling and opera.
Yodel
Yodel is a form of singing which dates to the 16th Century, where it was first recorded as “the
call of a cowherd from Appenzell”. Born out of utility as a way of long-range communication
and herding, yodelling as an art-form soon became ingrained in Alpine musical tradition. The
uniqueness of the sound produced is due to the rapid alternation between a singer’s “head”
voice or falsetto and his “chest” voice, or tessitura range. The difference between these two
vocal registers lies with the motion of the vocal folds. During chest voice singing, the entire
fold vibrates, whereas in vibrato, only the ligamentous edge vibrates and the vocal folds barely
touch. This reduces the size of the oscillator, and therefore raises the frequency of the sound.
Consequentially, falsetto tends to occupy the range one octave above normal chest singing.
This style of singing was useful for communication, as essentially you have a way of signalling
when you stop communicating. If the penultimate vowel is a falsetto note, it signified the end
of the communication, like saying “over” on a radio.
Opera
Opera on the other hand, although dating back to a similar time, is of a completely different
style. Created as a way of combining art forms, opera is a form of dramatic representation, and
is typically characterised by piercingly high soprano notes and thunderous baritone tones.
Operatic singing is known for its projection, and is typically the type of singing that requires
the most control of resonances over a large range of frequencies.
Singer’s Formant
So far, we have looked at the many factors that affect sound production, but have not yet
covered what is thought to be the most defining factor of classical singing, or the secret to the
sounds of Domingo or Pavarotti. Studies of opera singers have shown that there is an
unexpected formant at around 3000 Hz that isn’t present in speech. Called the Singer’s
Formant, this has important consequences on the ability of the singer to be heard over an
orchestra and fill a concert hall, and in the case of yodelling, allows yodels to be heard at long
distances. Since it seems to be caused by a higher resonance of the vocal tract around the
aryepiglottic space, singers are often told to lower their larynx, as this creates this space where
an extra resonant frequency can occur. Lowering the larynx also accounts for another
difference between speech and operatic singing, which is how the vowels sound. When vowel
sounds such as Ee and Eh are sung with a lowered larynx, the vocal tract is longer than usual,
which means the wavelengths of the standing waves are longer, and therefore the frequency of
the formants decrease. This then means vowel sounds are modified, so Eh becomes more like
Er.
Similarly, singers aim to increase the amplitude of their singing through another mechanical
operation. Recall that the sound produced has a fundamental frequency, which is equivalent to
the note sung, but that there are formants superposed onto the frequency spectrum of the
original sound produced by the vocal folds. To maximise amplitude, especially for high notes,
this is equivalent to maximising constructive interference, and so the singer moves his first
formant to the same frequency as the fundamental frequency. This could be done by changing
the length of the vocal tract, as above, or in the cases when the vowel has a very low first
formant such as the Ee vowel, changing it to more like an Ah sound, which has a much higher
first formant, closer to the fundamental frequency. This explains the vowel distortion that
occurs in operatic singing in terms of maximising amplitude. All these factors are considered
crucial in separating the powerful nature of operatic singing from normal speech.

Here is an actual frequency spectrum of the sung phrase Gloria in Excelsis Deo; notice the
Singer’s formant between 2.5 and 3kHz.
 CONCLUSION
In summary, we have looked at the primary components of spoken sounds, as well as the role
of the singer in manipulating these components for better aesthetic qualities in their singing.
Importantly, the theory involved in sound production has had influence in many areas, from
the crude Von Kempelen Speaking Machine to digital voice synthesis, a particularly prominent
feature of the modern world of technology, where many firms are developing their own unique
digital assistants. Even in a world of supercomputers and A.I, vocal acoustic science remains
relevant.

REFERENCES
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singing
2. http://www5.uva.es/nuteco/sites/default/files/publicaciones/sundberg.pdf
3. http://www.voicescienceworks.org/harmonics-vs-formants.html
4. http://person2.sol.lu.se/SidneyWood/praate/whatform.html
5. https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/phonetics/acoustic/formants.html
6. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Waves/cavity.html
7.