Vocal resonation

Vocal resonance may be defined as "the process by which the basic product of phonation is enhanced in timbre and/or intensity by the air-filled cavities through which it passes on its way to the outside air.

"[1] Throughout the vocal literature, various terms related to resonation are used, including: amplification, filtering, enrichment, enlargement, improvement, intensification, and prolongation.

However, the main point to be drawn from these terms by a singer or speaker is that the result of resonation is to make a better sound, or at least suitable to a certain esthetical and practical domain.

The voice, like all acoustic instruments such as the guitar, trumpet, piano, or violin, has its own special chambers for resonating the tone.

The emotional content of the lyric or phrase suggests the color and volume of the tone and is the personal choice of the artist.

The quality or color of a voice also depends on the singer's ability to develop and use various resonances by controlling the shape and size of the chambers through which the sound flows.

These sensations may provide evidence to the singer that their vocal folds are forming strong primary vibrations which are being carried from them to the head and chest.

In other words, the voice's resultant glottal wave is filtered by the vocal tract: a phenomenon of sympathetic resonance.

Included among them are the following: size, shape, type of opening, composition and thickness of the walls, surface, and combined resonators.

The rules governing combined resonators apply to the human voice: for the throat, mouth and sometimes the nose all function in this manner.

Although strong vibratory sensations may be experienced in the upper chest, it can make no significant contribution to the resonance system of the voice, simply by virtue of its structure and location.

There, it has a high degree of vibrational absorption, with little or no acoustical function to reflect sound waves back toward the larynx.

It lies just below the larynx, and, unlike the interior of the lungs, has a definite tubular shape and comparatively hard surfaces.

When this resonant frequency is reached, the response of the subglottic tube is to act as an acoustical impedance or interference which tends to upset the phonatory function of the larynx.

Research has placed the resonant frequency of the subglottal system or tracheal tree around the E-flat above "middle C" for both men and women, varying somewhat with the size of the individual.

The larynx is not under conscious control, but whatever produces "ring" can be encouraged indirectly by awareness on the part of the student and the teacher of the sounds which contain it.

[5][7] One could argue that head surface and deeper nerves close to the sinuses may detect passive vibrations entailed by the voice generated and transmitted across the vocal tract.