Here is a no doubt overly simplified attempt at a definition:
A voice is the product of a series of mechanical processes performed by
certain muscles in the head and neck, and affected by the muscles of
respiration in other parts of the body (e.g., the diaphragm) insofar as
those other muscles control the flow of breath - including its speed and
intensity - which then determines the intensity of the initial vibration
in the vocal folds ("cords"), which ultimately sets up the dynamic for
determining the intensity of the vocal sound produced.
The vibration of the vocal folds (or "cords") which is amplified first by
the breath moving those vibrations through the larynx and into the
resonating cavities of the neck and head (the pharynxes, sinuses and
mouth), where the vibrations are further amplified by resonating
(bouncing) against the hard surfaces that surround those
cavities - i.e., bones and, to a lesser extent, cartilages - that
are not dampened by soft tissue. This amplified vibration is ultimately
projected, as a complex sound, beyond the body via the open mouth. The
resulting "outside of body" sound is the sound of the voice.
The "size" and type (soprano, bass) of voice are products of the
combination of pharyngeal, facial, and mouth acoustics and the
thickness of vocal folds. Facial acoustics are affected
mainly by the shape, thickness, and density of the bones and cartilidge,
and by the size and shape of the empty spaces in the resonating cavities.
As a basic rule of thumb, the thicker (and, as a result, less able to
stretch thin) the vocal folds, the lower the voice - and the larger
the resonating cavities, the more extensive the hard surfaces surrounding
those cavities (and possibly the denser/harder those surfaces), the larger
the voice.
I think other things that affect vocal "size" are the potential
power of the flow of breath that the singer can produce, and the physical
nature of the "pathway" from the initial vibrator (the vocal folds) and
the ultimate resonators (pharynxes, sinuses, mouth) - i.e., the length and
other dimensions of this "pipe" will have an effect on the attenuation of
the vibrations before they can reach the resonators that will amplify
them. I think this may be why singers with small rib cages and long, thin
necks have smaller voices than singers with wider rib cages and shorter,
thicker necks.
It's also been observed that there's a strange correlation between waist
length and vocal type. Short waisted female singers tend to have higher
voices, and longer waisted female singers tend to have lower voices. I'm
not sure if the same is true of male singers.
The "brightness" of the vocal sound is affected mainly by the amount of
dampening caused by the soft tissues. If the tissues are tautened,
dampening is reduced, and the sound is "brightened".
KM
=====
My NEIL SHICOFF Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
My Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
-----
Es en balde, majo mio, que sigas hablando
porque hay cosas que contesto yo
siempre cantando:
Tra la la...
Por mas que preguntes tanto:
tra la la...
En mi no causas quebranto
ni yo he de salir de mi canto:
tra la la...
- Fernando Periquet
|
|  |
