Voice Source Characteristics in Mongolian “Throat Singing” Studied with High-Speed Imaging Technique, Acoustic Spectra, and Inverse Filtering

Lindestad, Per‐Åke; Södersten, Maria; Merker, Bjørn; Granqvist, Svante

doi:10.1016/s0892-1997(01)00008-x

Cited by 92 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Such a 180deg phase-shifted 1:1 entrainment of vestibular fold and vocal fold oscillation might enhance the transfer of aerodynamic energy into the vibrating tissue (Titze, 1988), increasing the output sound level (+12dB in the case documented here) and thus the efficiency of the oscillator. These results are in line with previous research (Finnegan and Alipour, 2009), highlighting the importance of supraglottal tissue structures in sound generation, similar to what has been documented for humans (Fuks et al, 1998;Lindestad and Södersten, 1999;Sakakibara et al, 2004;Bailly et al, 2010).…”

Section: Creation Of Acoustic Energy and The Role Of The Vestibular Fsupporting

confidence: 92%

Complex vibratory patterns in an elephant larynx

Švec

Lohscheller

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYElephants' low-frequency vocalizations are produced by flow-induced self-sustaining oscillations of laryngeal tissue. To date, little is known in detail about the vibratory phenomena in the elephant larynx. Here, we provide a first descriptive report of the complex oscillatory features found in the excised larynx of a 25year old female African elephant (Loxodonta africana), the largest animal sound generator ever studied experimentally. Sound production was documented with high-speed video, acoustic measurements, air flow and sound pressure level recordings. The anatomy of the larynx was studied with computed tomography (CT) and dissections. Elephant CT vocal anatomy data were further compared with the anatomy of an adult human male. We observed numerous unusual phenomena, not typically reported in human vocal fold vibrations. Phase delays along both the inferior-superior and anterior-posterior (A-P) dimension were commonly observed, as well as transverse travelling wave patterns along the A-P dimension, previously not documented in the literature. Acoustic energy was mainly created during the instant of glottal opening. The vestibular folds, when adducted, participated in tissue vibration, effectively increasing the generated sound pressure level by 12dB. The complexity of the observed phenomena is partly attributed to the distinct laryngeal anatomy of the elephant larynx, which is not simply a large-scale version of its human counterpart. Travelling waves may be facilitated by low fundamental frequencies and increased vocal fold tension. A travelling wave model is proposed, to account for three types of phenomena: A-P travelling waves, 'conventional' standing wave patterns, and irregular vocal fold vibration. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Creation Of Acoustic Energy and The Role Of The Vestibular Fsupporting

confidence: 92%

Complex vibratory patterns in an elephant larynx

Švec

Lohscheller

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Alternatively, a bird could theoretically select specific harmonics from a fixed-pitched source by varying its vocal tract filter, as occurs during overtone or "throat" singing in humans (28,29). However, this would require both a very low source fundamental frequency and a vocal tract flexible enough to allow the bird to pick out many different harmonics of that source, neither of which conditions can plausibly be met by hermit thrush vocal anatomy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overtone-based pitch selection in hermit thrush song: Unexpected convergence with scale construction in human music

Doolittle

Gingras

Endres

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Many human musical scales, including the diatonic major scale prevalent in Western music, are built partially or entirely from intervals (ratios between adjacent frequencies) corresponding to small-integer proportions drawn from the harmonic series. Scientists have long debated the extent to which principles of scale generation in human music are biologically or culturally determined. Data from animal "song" may provide new insights into this discussion. Here, by examining pitch relationships using both a simple linear regression model and a Bayesian generative model, we show that most songs of the hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus) favor simple frequency ratios derived from the harmonic (or overtone) series. Furthermore, we show that this frequency selection results not from physical constraints governing peripheral production mechanisms but from active selection at a central level. These data provide the most rigorous empirical evidence to date of a bird song that makes use of the same mathematical principles that underlie Western and many non-Western musical scales, demonstrating surprising convergence between human and animal "song cultures." Although there is no evidence that the songs of most bird species follow the overtone series, our findings add to a small but growing body of research showing that a preference for small-integer frequency ratios is not unique to humans. These findings thus have important implications for current debates about the origins of human musical systems and may call for a reevaluation of existing theories of musical consonance based on specific human vocal characteristics. music | birdsong | overtones M any human musical scales, including the diatonic major scale prevalent in Western music, are built partially or entirely from intervals (ratios between adjacent frequencies) corresponding to small-integer ratios drawn from the harmonic series (1). A long-running debate concerns the extent to which principles underlying the structure of human musical scales derive from biological aspects of auditory perception and/or vocal production or are historical cultural "accidents" (2-4). The songs of nonhuman animals, such as birds or whales, potentially offer a valuable perspective on this debate. On the one hand, features of human music that are culturally bound, or dependent on specific characteristics of the human voice or auditory system, should be absent in animal vocalizations. On the other hand, aspects of human music observed in the vocalizations of other species seem likely to be partially determined by general physical or biological constraints rather than solely by cultural practices. Such shared features would complement recent research suggesting that common motor constraints shape both human song and that of some bird species (5).The physical principles underlying vocal production in songbirds are well understood (6-10) and do not differ fundamentally from those of other vertebrates. Sound is produced by tissue vibrations in the syrinx, a bird-specific organ located at the b...

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“…Yet, their adduction has been observed in voice disorders such as ventricular dysphonia cases, where their interference in phonation may occur as a compensatory function ͑Nasri et al, 1996;Pinho et al, 1999͒. Although their physical properties ͑high viscosity and low stiffness͒ are different from those of biomechanical oscillators such as the vocal folds ͑Agarwal, 2004͒, their vibration has been observed during pathological ͑Nasri et al, 1996͒ and some throat-singing productions found in Asian culturesMongolian Kargyraa, Tibetan Dzo-ke chants ͑Fuks et Lindestad et al, 2001;Sakakibara et al, 2001 The effects of the ventricular folds in phonation are still poorly understood. In vivo laryngeal examinations support the idea of a strong physical interaction between the ventricular and vocal folds ͑Fuks et al, 1998;Lindestad et al, 2001;Sakakibara et al, 2001;Bailly et al, 2007͒.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of a constriction in the near field of the vocal folds: Physical modeling and experimental validation

Bailly

Pelorson

Henrich

et al. 2008

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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The involvement of the ventricular folds is often observed in human phonation and, in particular, in pathological and or some throat-singing phonation. This study aims to explore and model the possible aerodynamic interaction between the ventricular and vocal folds using suitable in vitro setups allowing steady and unsteady flow conditions. The two experimental setups consist of a rigid and a self-oscillating vocal-fold replica, coupled to a downstream rigid ventricular-fold replica in both cases. A theoretical flow modeling is proposed to quantify the aerodynamic impact of the ventricular folds on the pressure distribution and thereby on the vocal-fold vibrations. The mechanical behavior of the vocal folds is simulated by a distributed model accounting for this impact. The influence of the ventricular constriction is measured in both flow conditions and compared to the model outcome. This study objectively evaluates the additional pressure drop implied by the presence of a ventricular constriction in the larynx. It is demonstrated that such constriction can either facilitate or impede the glottal vibrations depending on the laryngeal geometrical configuration. The relevance of using static or dynamic vocal-fold replicas is discussed.

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Voice Source Characteristics in Mongolian “Throat Singing” Studied with High-Speed Imaging Technique, Acoustic Spectra, and Inverse Filtering

Cited by 92 publications

References 7 publications

Complex vibratory patterns in an elephant larynx

Complex vibratory patterns in an elephant larynx

Overtone-based pitch selection in hermit thrush song: Unexpected convergence with scale construction in human music

Influence of a constriction in the near field of the vocal folds: Physical modeling and experimental validation

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