Learn How the Vocal Cords Work - https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=ZLgAQTMgZ6g

Hi, my name is Doctor Dan and today I'm going to be showing you live footage of a
singer's vocal folds and then we're going to learn how the singing voice works. I've got
heaps of great video footage and animation to show you, so let's get started.

Have you ever wondered how the human voice works? We've all got one, but because
it's located inside your neck it's difficult to get to, making it virtually impossible
to directly see and feel. Laryngologist examine the larynx, what some people call the
voice box, using a technique called endoscopic examination. They do this with either a
fixed scope, which is inserted into the mouth, or a flexible scope that is passed through
the nasal cavity. The scope has a small light and camera that illuminates and videos the
internal workings of the larynx.

Here we can see the vocal folds, with the bottom of the screen showing the front of the
singer and the top of the screen displaying the arytenoids, which bring the vocal folds
together for speech and singing.

The video we are looking at here is of an adult sized voice. Interestingly, there is a
difference in the size of the larynx between men and women. With the male adult voice
being larger than the female adult voice. And as you might suspect, the adult voice is
significantly bigger than the pre-pubescent voice. Baby bear, mama bear, and papa
bear is a good way to remember it. And this is the reason why the superior thyroid
notch, what most people call the Adam's apple,protrudes on most adult men and why it
doesn't protrude on most adult women.The size difference also explains, in part, the
various voice types soprano, alto, tenor and bass, but more about that in a moment.

When singing teachers and vocal coaches work with a certain student's voice, they
often approach it as one whole system that is made up of four components. The
actuator, the vibrator, the resonator and the articulators. When explaining these four
components, Chalmers writes:
the actuator is the breath, the power source, and energy of the voice. The vibrator is
the pair of vocal folds, which is valve-like structure of muscle and tissue. The resonator
is the vocal tract. A combination of the larynx, the pharynx and the oral cavity amplifying
the sound. And finally, the articulators are primarily the tongue and lips which shape the
sound into meaningful units. Every engine needs fuel and your voice is no different.

Your breath, or your actuator, fuels your voice. Breathing is split into two phases,
inhalation and exhalation. To inhale the diaphragm contracts, drawing air into the vocal
tract through the larynx and down into the lungs. For the singer, the exhalation phase is
managed primarily by the abdominals and the obliques. Learning to manage the outflow
of air, as well as adjusting the sub glottal pressures in accordance with the song genre,
is just part of the challenge facing the developing singer.
As the breath stream passes through the larynx, it flows between two muscular bodies,
known as vocal folds, historically referred to as vocal cords. The structures of each fold
has five layers. Number one, the outer layer, known as the epithelium. The superficial
layer of the lamina propria, or Reinke's space is number two. Number three, the
intermediate layer of the lamina propria, which is made up of elastic fibers. Number four,
the deep layer of the lamina propria, which contains collagenous fibers and finally, the
main body of the vocal fold, the vocalis muscle, the middle of the thyroarytenoid muscle.

When you were born, your vocal folds were approximately three millimeters in length
and as we age into adulthood, they grow to between nine to 13 millimeters for women
and 15 to 20 millimeters for men. To create sound, the vocal folds are drawn together
momentarily, closing the glottis. Glottis is the term given to the space directly between
the vocal folds. The air pressure builds beneath the closed vocal folds and the glottis
starts to open from the underside through to the top side, allowing air to escape
between the leading edges of the vocal folds. When singing an A4, the same tuning
pitches in orchestra, this single close, open, close motion of the glottis is repeated 440
times per second. Measured in hertz, the oscillatory rate of the vocal folds, in part, gives
us an insight into the voice type of the singer.

Here we see the approximate oscillatory rates of the different voice types. Notice the
difference between the lowest approximate note of the bass voice classification as C2
when compared to the highest oscillatory value of the soprano's E6. 65 hertz through to
1318 hertz. I'm pointing out the obvious when I say, the higher you sing the faster the
vocal folds have to move. The sound formed by the oscillating vocal folds and carried
on the breath stream, is raw and requires quite a bit of post production.

The resonator, often referred to as the vocal tract, is measured from the glottis through
to the outer edge of the lips and nostrils. As sound travels from its point of origin, the
vocal folds, it resonates within and along the flexible spaces of the larynx, pharynx, oral
and nasal cavities. The sound that emanates from the lips and nostrils, is transformed
from a rudimentary buzz to a full and resonant acoustic that has been shaped and
molded by the ever changing space of the vocal tract. It's the ability of the skilled singer
to consistently and accurately change the vocal tract shapes according to the song
being sung, that conveys the emotional value of the lyric via a variety of tonal colors.

But it's not only the resonance of the sound that is shaped. Human beings can fashion
the sound into understandable language with the use of the articulators. The tongue, the
lips, the hard and soft palate, as well as the jaw to some extent, combine to form the
building blocks of language, vowels and consonants. It was once thought that the voice
was a simple linear system with sound only ever flowing up and out. Now, we
understand that the voice is in fact
a non-linear system with each of the four components interacting with one another.
So, for example a high level of breath pressure being supplied by the actuator through
the larynx, can influence the oscillatory patterns of the vibrator, causing the vocal folds
to come together with higher levels of force. This in turn releases air through the glottis
at a slower rate, which only serves to increase the air pressure even further.

It is the multiplicity of these interactions between the four components that make the
human voice one of, if not the most complex instruments to learn to use and sing with.
Every developing singer aims to coordinate the four components of the voice, so that
each plays its role in perfect synergy with the other three components. Of course, there
is much more to singing than the mechanics of the voice, but we'll leave that
explanation for another day
and another video.