What do male singers mean by modal and falsetto register? An investigation of the glottal voice source

Seven male operatic singers sang the same notes and vowels in their chest and their falsetto registers, covering the overlap frequency range where two main laryngeal mechanisms can be identified by means of electroglottography: M1 in chest register and M2 in falsetto register. Glottal contact quotients determined using electroglottography were typically lower by 0.27 in M2 than in M1. Vocal tract resonance frequencies were measured by using broadband excitation at the lips and found to be typically lower in M2 than in M1 sung at the same pitch and vowel; R1 typically by 65 Hz and R2 by 90 Hz. These shifts in tract resonances were only weakly correlated with the changes in the contact quotient or laryngeal height that were measured simultaneously. There was considerable variability in the resonance tuning strategies used by the singers, and no evidence of a uniform systematic tuning strategy used by all singers. A simple model estimates that the shifts in resonance frequencies are consistent with the effective glottal area in falsetto register (M2) being 60%-70% of its value in chest register (M1).

Section: Baritonesupporting

confidence: 75%

Vocal tract resonances in singing: Variation with laryngeal mechanism for male operatic singers in chest and falsetto registers

Bernardoni¹,

Smith²,

Wolfe³

2014

“…10. Salomão and Sundberg (2009) observed similar modal-falsetto differences in the EGG signal in male choir singers. The study by Hess and Ludwigs (2000) offers perhaps the most direct evidence of lower vocal fold contact being associated with the EGG-knee.…”

Section: Empirical Evidence For Bi-stable Adductionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Bi-stable vocal fold adduction: A mechanism of modal-falsetto register shifts and mixed registration

Titze¹

2014

The origin of vocal registers has generally been attributed to differential activation of cricothyroid and thyroarytenoid muscles in the larynx. Register shifts, however, have also been shown to be affected by glottal pressures exerted on vocal fold surfaces, which can change with loudness, pitch, and vowel. Here it is shown computationally and with empirical data that intraglottal pressures can change abruptly when glottal adductory geometry is changed relatively smoothly from convergent to divergent. An intermediate shape between large convergence and large divergence, namely, a nearly rectangular glottal shape with almost parallel vocal fold surfaces, is associated with mixed registration. It can be less stable than either of the highly angular shapes unless transglottal pressure is reduced and upper stiffness of vocal fold tissues is balanced with lower stiffness. This intermediate state of adduction is desirable because it leads to a low phonation threshold pressure with moderate vocal fold collision. Achieving mixed registration consistently across wide ranges of F0, lung pressure, and vocal tract shapes appears to be a balancing act of coordinating laryngeal muscle activation with vocal tract pressures. Surprisingly, a large transglottal pressure is not facilitative in this process, exacerbating the bi-stable condition and the associated register contrast.

“…Apart from changing the shape of the vocal tract (Echternach et al, 2008(Echternach et al, , 2010Gullaer et al, 2006;Henrich et al, 2007;Joliveau et al, 2004;Schutte et al, 2005;Story, 2004;Sundberg, 1972Sundberg, , 1974Sundberg and Skoog, 1997;Wendler, 2008), the voice quality can be considerably influenced by changing the vibration pattern of the vocal folds (Henrich et al, 2005;Salomão and Sundberg, 2009;Sundberg and Högset, 2001;Š vec et al, 2008). Here, one of the most critical factors is the vocal fold aDduction; i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Membranous and cartilaginous vocal fold adduction in singing

Herbst

Qiu²,

Schutte³

et al. 2011

While vocal fold adduction is an important parameter in speech, relatively little has been known on the adjustment of the vocal fold adduction in singing. This study investigates the possibility of separate adjustments of cartilaginous and membranous vocal fold adduction in singing. Six female and seven male subjects, singers and non-singers, were asked to imitate an instructor in producing four phonation types: "aBducted falsetto" (FaB), "aDducted falsetto" (FaD), "aBducted Chest" (CaB), and "aDducted Chest" (CaD). The phonations were evaluated using videostroboscopy, videokymography (VKG), electroglottography (EGG), and audio recordings. All the subjects showed less posterior (cartilaginous) vocal fold adduction in phonation types FaB and CaB than in FaD and CaD, and less membranous vocal fold adduction (smaller closed quotient) in FaB and FaD than in CaB and CaD. The findings indicate that the exercises enabled the singers to separately manipulate (a) cartilaginous adduction and (b) membranous medialization of the glottis though vocal fold bulging. Membranous adduction (monitored via videokymographic closed quotient) was influenced by both membranous medialization and cartilaginous adduction. Individual control over these types of vocal fold adjustments allows singers to create different vocal timbres.