The mechanics and acoustics of the singing voice: registers, resonances and the source-filter interaction
Résumé
Singing combines speech and music—two activities common to most human cultures. It involvesprecise, coordinated control of breath, vocal folds, vocal tract, and their interactions. This chapter firstintroduces the interaction between laryngeal airflow and vocal-fold vibration that produces voicedsounds. It then discusses laryngeal mechanisms or registers, and how nonlinearities in the larynxproduce the harmonically rich voice spectrum. Acoustical properties of the vocal tract and itsresonances filter the voice spectrum, but also affect vocal fold vibration. Finally, it discusses howsingers adjust their tracts using resonance tuning to produce louder, more stable voice with less effort.