OUR VOICE

Vocal Cord and Range

Sound waves are created by causing airflow through the vocal cord. The source of sound in human speaking and singing is the vibration of the vocal cords, which are inside the larynx, and the production of the sounds is called phonation. The vocal cords are set into vibration by air from the lungs that move through the windpipe passing over them, and they in turn produce resonance in the column of air enclosed by the pharynx. The mouth and throat are variable in size and shape, thus permitting alteration of vowel sound and pitch. At puberty the vocal cords of the male become approximately double their original length, with the result that the average adult male voice is about an octave lower in pitch than the female.

Fig.1 shows three photos on vocal cords taken during voicing with three respective vocal frequencies. The average speech frequency ranges for Asia's people are given in Table 1.

Fig.1 Vocal cord positions in voicing with different frequencies
(Left: F0=120Hz, Middle: F0=160Hz, Right: F0=200Hz)
(ScopeView^TM, Dr.Speech^TM)

Table 1 Average speech frequency of Asia People
(From Dr Danial Zhoming Huang)

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Our Voice Potential

Generally, our voices are designed so that, as long as we aren't doing something to damage them, we actually get better with age.

Many singers have changed their entire style in the middle of their lives. Michael Bolton (remember him?)  started in Heavy Metal, then went to Pop, then ended up doing Jazz Standards (ala Sinatra). Rod Stewart started in Rock, went Pop, now does Jazz Standards. Even 'Retha Franklin did the seemingly impossible...she stood in for none other than Pavorotti himself, doing her own rendition of "Nessun Dorma" and she blew the audience away!

The voice quality can be much improved through proper training by yourself and/or professionals. For the artists performing through different styles at different times of life, they must do many styles and use many colors during the same period of their lives.

High Notes & Falsetto

"Falsetto" means "false voice" and it is a defense mechanism. It is produced by your vocal cords in order to stop you from hurting yourself while you attempt to make higher and higher notes. This is done when you haven't yet learned how to produce those higher notes safely with your "real" voice.

Unfortunately, falsetto causes the second problem - running out of air on the high notes. When your voice produces falsetto, your two tiny muscles called vocal cords are not "sealing up", as shown in Fig.1.

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Vocal Cord Mechanism

Vocal Resonance

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