2. How does the larynx work to produce voice?

Crannell (2000) has aptly put that “before any voice can be produced, there must be something capable of being vibrated; that is, there must be a vibrating agent. In addition, a force must be applied to this vibration” (p.34) This force would naturally come from the our eggressive airstream supported by our breath. Hence, the larynx is a vibrating agent. In my opinion, the voice is an inbuilt musical instrument of the human body. I’ve heard somewhere that apart from being a resonator and sound-producing agent, it also plays some part in the excretion process. As suggested by Crannell, this might be true – as he describes that the larynx closes up when there is physical strength needed and there is an increase in pressure.

(Crannell, 2000, p. 35)

The size of the glottis (vocal folds) is controlled by the arytenoids – folds not close enough together might result in a breathy or raspy sound (I wonder if this is the cause of Brandon’s voice). When we breathe out in the exhalation process, air passes through the larynx and vibrates the folds to produce a fundamental tone – but this isn’t very loud or resonant. In order to produce a healthy sound in the voice, it needs to be amplified and resounded through the mouth, throat or nose with resonance. (Crannell, 2000, p.39) According to him, pharyngeal resonance is the most important and I agree – as I feel the most disparities in tension when sounding different syllables – even when doing the humming exercises in class. 

He (2000) also talks about forced and sympathetic resonance, whereby like the sympathetic strings on a sitar which vibrate when the main strings – what if human beings have the ability to do this? I was exploring videos on overtones singing – whereby the tuvan throat-singing tribes and other overtone singers are able to produce a series of overtones on demand. According to my understanding, they have the abilities to modify the resonance (oral, nasal, pharyngeal) cavities with such precision that they are able to produce overtone series. ( See example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC9Qh709gas )

I guess fundamentally, the larynx is in charge of the factors of sound – which includes pitch, rate, loudness, and quality. I would say, in the English language, it is exemplified by the production of vowel sounds – since consonants are produced by the other articulators. Going beyond comfortable levels of any of the factors tend to put a strain on the vocal cords and larynx. I guess this is why warm ups are important before any speech/voice performance – only by warming up the voice and the muscles that are involved in the larynx, cavities can we prepare our bodies for the (rapid) changes that are incoming. The misconception I always had was that there was no need to prepare for speeches – as talking is part and parcel of everyday life. But what I missed out was that in presentations, we also need to vary the 4 factors to bring about more engaging and varied ways of speaking to capture attention.

References:

Crannell, K.C. (2000). Voice and Articulation (4^th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning