SEPTEMBER 01 1998

Principles of Voice Production 

Ingo R. Titze; Daniel W. Martin

J Acoust Soc Am 104, 1148 (1998)

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.424266

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BOOK REVIEWS
James F. Bartram
94 Kane Avenue, Middletown, Rhode Island 02842

These reviews of books and other forms of information express the opinions of the individual reviewers
and are not necessarily endorsed by the Editorial Board of this Journal.

Editorial Policy: If there is a negative review, the author of the book will be given a chance to respond to
the review in this section of the Journal and the reviewer will be allowed to respond to the author’s
comments. [See ‘‘Book Reviews Editor’s Note,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 1651 (May 1987).]

Principles of Voice Production
Ingo R. Titze
Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1994.
354 pp. Price $66.00.
Although written primarily as a text for students and teachers of vocal
production, based as much as possible on scientific principles, this book is
for ‘‘anyone interested in voice.’’ This includes all of us who speak, sing,
sigh, hum, and hear. Just as the study of acoustics in general is very inter-
disciplinary, some of the specialized subjects within acoustics are also in-
terdisciplinary. Voice production is a prime example.
In this book Ingo Titze has succeeded in blending knowledge drawn
from research and experience in a variety of voice-related professions. Con-
cepts, definitions, and illustrations from anatomy, physiology, physics, aero-
dyamics, acoustics, speech science, hearing science, and music are presented
and interrelated both for normal voice production and for several types of
voice disorders.
The artistic aspects of singing and the teaching of vocal technique are
tively in the interest of easy reading. Equations are included and units are
defined and used. Many graphs and illustrations are specially prepared for
this book, in order to supplement figures borrowed from other published
research.
Following the basics of vocal anatomy, breathing control, oscillation
of the vocal folds, acoustical generation and propagation, and theoretical
and spectral analyses of vowel sounds, the practical issues of voice classi-
fications, ranges, controls, fluctuations, and disorders are explained in detail.
A Glossary and five Appendices assist the reader who is unfamiliar with
terminology, the metric system, decibel and musical scales, and the phonetic
alphabet.
Author Titze can entertain while being instructive. Examples are ~1! a
picture of an ‘‘anatomically correct’’ four-part vocal ensemble scaled like a
string quartet; ~2! a picture of vocal strain by singer Mick Jagger; and ~3! a
limerick about fluctuations and perturbations ~e.g., trills, vibrato! in vocal
output.
The reviewer, with singing as a lifetime avocation ~in choirs, opera,
barbershop harmony!, was so fascinated by this book that he read it in
doctor’s offices and on planes, and lost it somewhere along with accumu-

27 August 2023 13:10:09

not neglected, but some of the related mythology has been dispelled or lated notes. This very belated review followed the purchase of another copy.
confirmed by knowledge gained from research that is explained, then iden- Any acoustician who speaks, sings ~or hears! could be equally fascinated.
tified by publication references at the end of each chapter.
The reader of ‘‘Principles of Voice Production’’ is not necessarily DANIEL W. MARTIN
expected to have prior experience in any of the voice related professions. 7349 Clough Pike
However Titze has avoided the temptation to treat subjects only qualita- Cincinnati, Ohio 45244

1148 J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 104 (3), Pt. 1, September 1998 0001-4966/98/104(3)/1148/1/$15.00 © 1998 Acoustical Society of America 1148