The Human Voice

The human voice is the sound emitted from the throat, for the purpose of communication, which happens instinctively by the thought. The Human voice production is a complex phenomenon involving various organs of the head, throat and chest and in a different sense the whole body. 

To understand the voice, we must first understand the primary functions of some body organs.

There are four components for voice production

1. Actuator – the lungs for breathing in Air

2. Vibrator – The vocal cords in the throat which vibrate

3. Resonator – The air tract from the lungs to the mouth and head

4. Articulator – The organs of the mouth and head

All organs of the respiratory system are involved in sound production. As the vocal cords vibrate to produce sound, it undergoes alteration in tone while traveling the throat and mouth due to changes in shape, structure. A large number of muscles movements are well coordinated and balanced to produce a good balanced sound.

Air is essential for life and for creation, propagation of sound. The organs of respiration are located in the chest cavity. The chest cavity consists of 

1. 12 pairs of Ribs connected to the spinal column 

2. Muscles and cartilages attached to the ribs to aid the movement of ribs in all dimensions

3. The Pair of lungs and trachea connected to the larynx

4. Diaphragm

There are two main passages down the throat, the esophagus (to the stomach) and the trachea to the lungs.

The trachea and bronchial tubes are made up of cartilages and supported by muscles. It can be lengthened or shortened to aid movement of the head in any direction.

The lungs remain closed inside the rib cage.  They are suspended in the thorax one on the right and the other on the left. The right Iung is divided into three lobes while the Ieft lung is divided into two lobs. ln normal breathing, only the upper parts of the lungs expand where as for the purpose of singing, all five lobs expand and contract.

The diaphragm separates the lungs and the lower stomach. The lungs at birth are deflated and the vaccum created helps in inhalation of air through the nose or the mouth. The inhaled air is filtered by the nasal hair and moisturized. The air passes through the nasal passage and enters the throat. While inhalation, the leaf shaped epiglottis opens allowing air to enter the larynx. The air then passes through the larynx and vocal cords and then through the trachea, enter the lungs. Once air is inhaled, it is expelled with the help of the diaphragm and pushed out in the same way.

The diaphragm and the posterior lower ribs help in deep breathing. During inhalation, the diaphragm comes down giving space to the expanding lungs. The posterior ribs also expand due to the pressure from lungs. As we exhale the ribs come to their normal position and diaphragm moves up. This process has to work seamlessly with balance for proper voice production. 

Breathing for Singing

Voice production is caused due the the flow of breath and the intensity of the voice depends on the force of breath. Effective control of breath is essential in singing long and complex phrases spanning octaves. Control of breath is much delicate when used in singing. 

Apart from the basic function of inhalation and exhalation, singing requires

1. Quick and silent inhalation of air

2. Retention of air for sometime

3. Slow and controlled release of air

Western musical scholars have talked about different types of breathing techniques. 

1. Upper chest breathing

2. Middle chest breathing

3. Diaphragmatic breathing. 

Of the three, diaphragmatic breathing is considered the best, which in indian parlance is akin to breathing from the navel.

ln the abdominal type of breathing, the emphasis is made on the movement of the abdominal wall with a slight movement of the chest cavity. In this type of breathing, the diaphragm descends for three and a half inches.

With a good posture and diaphragmatic breathing, one can achieve better control of the inhalation and exhalation required for singing. This reduces tension on the laryngeal muscles to control release of air and helps the musician focus on the performance of musical nuances. The singer is able to sustain notes for a longer period of time and sing with continuity without any wobble. 

In Indian classical music, the singing is done in the seated position. In this position, the body is automatically placed forward. This shrinks the stomach muscles and suppresses the lungs. A Tension is created in the body. If the Spinal cord is kept straight, and the sitting is slightly raised, then the stress on the stomach region reduced allowing lungs spread freely. 

ln normal breathing, the rate of respiration is approximately fourteen to sixteen times per minute white during singing the rate of respiration is lowered ts six times per minute.

The technique of breathing is the foundation upon which the whole structure of voice training is built. The main objects of breathing technique are to produce a powerful voice, to execute long the musical phrases, to make use of full vocal range and to sustain on a note without any vibration.

The correct type of breathing enables the singer to 

1. Inhale quickly in order to interrupt the song as little as possible 

2. To have greater capacity of air, and better control of air to sustain notes steadily for a longer period

3. To execute groups of notes in fast tempo at one stretch to maintain the force and power of the voice in the long passage upto the end of the musical phrase

4. To have power and wide range of the voice. 

Hence, "The virtuoso in breathing is nearest to the virtuoso in singing." (an old ltatian adage)

Just above the trachea, sits the larynx. these are set of cartilages which houses the vocal cords inside.The larynx functions in swallowing, breathing, and voice production. There are four cartilages and two vocal cords. All cartilages are connected by ligaments and muscles and movements are made possible by the muscles.

1. Epiglottis

2. Thyroid cartilage

3. Crecoid cartilage

4. Erythenoid cartilage

Epiglottis

The epiglottis acts a lid covering the larynx. The small leaf like piece of cartilage is situated at the base of the tongue over the entrance of larynx. Its main function is to prevent entry of any particle into the wind pipe. When we swallow, the epiglottis automatically closes the larynx. The thyroid cartilage is seen moving up in response.

Thyroid Cartilage

The thyroid cartilage is the largest and is in the shape of a V. We can feel the thyroid cartilage by touching our throat. The frontal part is projected and known as the Adams Apple. The larynx is completely covered in the front by the thyroid cartilage. This cartilage is more prominent in men than in women. It derives its name from the greek word thyreos which means a shield, as it resembles a warriors shield. There are two projections called horns on the cartilage which is connect via ligaments to the hyoid bone under the chin. The lower projections on the thyroid cartilage is connected to the cricoid cartilage. 

Cricoid cartilage

Below the thyroid cartilage is a ring shaped cricoid cartilage. the greek work krikos means a ring and the cartilage derives its name from it. It is smaller and thicker than the thyroid cartilage. It occupies much of the posterior wall of the larynx and extends to the lower parts. This is attached to the thyroid cartilage through the cricoid thyroid muscle. With the help of this muscle, the cricoid cartilage is moved towards the thyroid cartilage.

Arytenoid Cartilage 

The arytenoid cartilage are two in number and shaped as a three-sided pyramid. It is supported by the posterior part of cricoid cartilage.

The Vocal cord
The vocal cords or folds are an elastic fibrous tissue, whitish in appearance. It is attached to the thyroid cartilage in the front and each fold is attached to one of the Arytenoid cartilage in the back. The cords are good vibrators as they are capable of being lengthened, shortened, tensed and relaxed, adducted and abducted.  The true vocal cords are situated below the false vocal cords. Though the fold is called 'Cord'. It is no cord but an elastic fibrous tissue. 

The false vocals cords are also fibro elastic tissues but covered loosely by mucous membrane which gives a fleshy appearance. They are reddish in color. Their main duty is to close air passage. Though the false vocal cords come closer when a high note is produced, they play a very minor role with reference to phonation.

Muscles which support the  Cartilages

The vocal cords are controlled by three sets of laryngeal muscles – Creco-thyroid, thyro-erytenoid, creco-erythenoid muscles.

The muscles of the larynx which are necessary for voice production are classified into 

1. Tensors – Cricoid-thyroid muscle 

2. Relaxers – Thyro-Arytenoid muscles form the body of the vocal folds.

3. Adductors – the inter-Arytenoid and lateral cricoid-arytenoid muscle help bring the Arytenoid cartilages together causing the vocal folds to come together.

4. Abductors – posterior Cricoid-Arytenoid muscles control the outward movement of the Arytenoids causing the vocal folds to move apart

The vocal cords do nothing by themselves. The thyro-Arytenoid muscle which operate the vocal cords and help control it. The Thyro-arytenoid muscle is a part of the Vocal cord and it is responsible for the increase or decrease in length of the cord and subsequent descrease or increase in the vocal pitch. The regulation of Swar involves proper tension in the cords and cartilage as well as regulation of air and breath

If these muscles disfunction, then the sound produced is defective. The tension in the Arytenoid muscle helps close the glottis, and the air pressure from the trachea causes the vocal cords to vibrate and produce sound

Glottis

The space between the cords is called glottis. In normal breathing, air passes through the larynx freely. The False vocal cords point downwards and help in holding and compression of breath. The True vocal cords point upwards and help produce sound.

When we sing or speak, the glottis is almost closed, and the vocal cords are held in such balance, that the vocal control is done automatically

There are primarily three positions of the glottis.

1. Vocal Cords are in relaxed position – slightly open

2. Vocal Cords are wide open while breathing

3. Vocal Cords are close to each other while speaking or singing

Phonation

During ordinary breathing, the vocal cords are wide apart and the glottis is shaped like a lozenge shape.

The sound of the voice is created by the action of vocal folds coming together. Air from the lungs is passed through the gap between the folds. This leads to oscillation of the vocal cords and air is expelled in pulses at a certain frequency. This is the frequency of sound heard.

Each human body is unique in its construction of vocal apparatus and the natural pitch is dependent on the physical characteristic of the person. As the vocal cords are capable of varying their tension mass and length, the pitch variation become possible. The pitch of the voice varies directly with the tension and inversely with the mass and length of the vocal cords. At the natural pitch, the vocal cords are in relaxed and almost in flaccid condition while they become stiff and rigid at higher pitches.

 It is found that the notes of different pitches are produced by stretching or relaxing the vocal cords through the articulatory movements of the Larynx. When lower notes are produced, the vocal cords become short and thick and the Glottis is wide opened in its posterior part. It can be said that all the laryngeal muscles are in relaxed position. ln the production of high notes, the vocal cords gradually lengthen and become thinner. When still higher notes are produced the tension of the cords hightens and after a certain poin when the tension becomes too great the posterior sections become adducted and the vibratory length is shortened. This action is done by the Thyro - arytenoids muscles within the vocal cords them selves. On the average, male voices are lower in pitch than female voices. This is due to the difference in length and mass of the vocal cords among the two sexes. The length of the vocal cords range from 7/8 of an inch to 1.5 inches for men and from 0.5 to 7/8 of inch for women. Men posses thicker vocal cords than women.

Resonance is the characteristic quality of a sound which is rich in harmonics, volume and intensity. For an untrained voice, resonance is noticed in a certain range of natural pitch in all humans. With proper vocal culturing, the sound of voice can retain its resonant quality in the full range of the voice.

This aspect of tonal quality of the voice depends on the resonators inside the vocal apparatus. The resonant system of the voice is more complex than those of other musical instruments because the voice is unique in having several resonant chambers.  There are various cavities inside the head and throat which act as resonators.

1. Mouth

2. Nasal Cavity

3. Sinuses

4. Pharynx – Nasal, Oral, Laryngeal

Resonance of the air from the mouth is a correct indicator of good voice production.

When the air passes the vocal cords with vibration, it also passes though the various cavities in the head and starts to resonate in these areas and then exits through the mouth. 

The mouth, throat, larynx can vary in size and shape and hence are tunable. The pharynx is an important resonator. It is of conical form consisting of fibro- muscular tissue and lies immediately above the larynx and extends upward behind the mouth and nose. As it is placed very near the larynx, it gives a powerful effect upon the tonal quality. The Pharynx strengthens the lower partials and thereby adds mellowness to the voice and also muffles the undesirable higher partials because of its soft walls. 

The nasopharynx reinforces the nasal consonants. The oropharynx enables one to produce a note with different tone colors. The laryngopharynx helps reinforce the quality of vowels.

The mouth or the oral cavity consists of the palate, tongue, lips, jaws and teeth.  There are two palates – hard and soft palate. The soft palate is moveable and helps in increasing the size of the cavity behind the mouth adding to the resonance. The tongue muscle is also important in speech and shaping the pharynx. The size and position of tongue can reduce or increase resonance and clarity of voice. The lower jaw is moveable and help in increasing space for resonance. 

The nasal resonators consist of various cavities in the head known as sinuses. These are air pockets in the upper part of the mouth. Clogged sinuses affect the quality of voice.

When an open natural voice is used in "Aakar" , it is produced in such a way that there is minimal tension in the base of tongue, it produces a good resonance and the resonating cavity remains in the correct shape which also keeps the voice in good condition.

In the process of utterance of speech sounds, we notice the use of various organs of the mouth to produce a wide variety of sounds. 

Phonation is the production and utterance of speech sounds. For Vocal Music, it is essential to understand speech sounds to understand and produce better musical sounds. Articulation is the shaping of the sound produced by the vocal folds using the structures in the mouth and nose. 

In the creation of various languages, we come across the two main set of sounds groups, the consonants and vowels. 

Vowels are sounds produced with an open vocal tract and its sound depends on the use of the teeth, lips and tongue. Consonants are formed with the constriction of sound from the vocal cord, using the organs of the mouth. Vowels are considered more important as they carry the consonant in sound and hence in speech and vocal music, vowels plays a very important role.

For any speech sound to be made there are two aspects to be considered

1. How the sound is made – Manner of articulation

2. From where the sound is made – Place of articulation 

For mastering any language, one must understand the above for correct pronunciation and meaning.

We learn our mother tongue through hearing and repetition and do not think about how to produce the sound or from where the sound is coming from the mouth. Clear articulation of vowels and consonants influence the quality of singing. Language plays an important role in the clarity of articulation. Each language has a distinctive feature in use of vowels, consonants. Some languages which have nasal consonants will produce nasal voices and those with abundance in vowels will produce more open voices.

The first sounds we make as a baby are vowels like Aa, Ee, Oo.

In the Sanskrit Language, we have 16 vowels. There are also two forms a short vowel or Hrasva and long vowel or Deerga

The Basic vowels are below 

अ – pronounced as in a cat

इ – pronounced as letter e

उ - pronounced as in good

These vowels have a deerga version and extended in time for two matras or beats

Hrasva      Deerga

अ            आ

इ             ई

उ             ऊ

The next two vowels are 

ऋ – This sound is made when the tongue is just about to make contact on the palate behind the teeth for saying R but air is pushed   

लृ - This sound is made when the tongue is just about to make contact behind the teeth for saying L and R but air is pushed  

The above two have a Deerga version ॠ and लृृ

The next of vowels are combination of the basic vowels 

ए – pronounced as in Hay

ऐ – pronounced as in Height 

ओ – pronounced as in sow

औ – pronounced as in how

Place of articulation is place in the mouth and nasal passage from where the sounds are produced in the mouth. The throat, tongue, teeth, palate, lips and jaw movement help in production of these various sounds.

Place of Articulation of Vowels

There are five major areas of the vocal cavity from where the vowels are sounded

1. Glottal or from the vocal cord and mouth is opened 

2. Palatal – tongue is about to touch the roof palate

3. Bilabial – The lips are rounded and or the jaw is opened

4. Retroflex – Retraction of the tongue near the palate or alveolar 

5. Nasal – Sound is directed through the nose

Place of Articulation for Consonants

1. Bilabial - Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow out of the mouth by bringing your lips together. As in letter P

2. Labio-Dental - Labio-dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by curling your lower lip back and raising it to touch your upper row of teeth. As in letter F

3. Inter-Dental - Dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by placing your tongue against your upper teeth or between the teeth. As in letter TH

4. Alveolar - The alveolar ridge is where your teeth meet your gums.  Alveolar consonants are made when you raise the tongue to the alveolar ridge to block or constrict airflow. As in letter N

5. Post-Alveolar - When you retract your tongue back just a bit from the alveolar ridge, the sounds change enough to be recognized as distinct consonants. So post-alveolar consonants are those that occur when the tongue blocks or constricts airflow at the point just beyond the alveolar ridge. As in letter SH

6. Palatal - The roof of your mouth is the hard palate. You create Palatal consonants when you raise the tongue to this point and constrict airflow.  As in letter YA

7. Retroflex – Here the tongue is slightly retracted flat or curved while touching the post-alveolar or palate. As in letter ZH of Tamil

8. Velar - Behind your hard palate you have the velum or soft palate. You make Velar Consonants when you raise the back of your tongue to the velum to block or restrict airflow. As in letter GA

9. Glottal – Consonant produced by constriction of the glottis to restrict air. As in letter HA

Manner of Articulation

1. Plosive or stops - We build air pressure in the mouth using the lips or tongue and then release it. This is a sudden burst of air. Letters – P, B, T D

2. Fricative – Here a restriction is placed in the air flow but not fully. Air flow is partially blocked using lips, teeth or tongue to produce sounds like – F, S, Z, H

3. Affricative - Affricates start with a stop and then transitions into a fricative like in sounds such as CH, JH

4. Nasal – Air passes through the nasal passage and exhaled through the nose above the palate like in M, N

5. Liquid – The air is passed through the sides of the tongue as in L,  R

6. Glide – Here there is very less restriction to air flow and  mouth is moved to make a vowel like sound as in YA, WA

Hence with the above understanding one can pronounce the seven swars of Indian Classical music correctly.

Voice production for singing consists of fifteen ingredients the first twelve of which are equally applicable to effective speaking also.

1. Breath 

Effective control of breath is very necessary for both speaking and singing though singing requires a much more delicate control.

2. Flexibility 

The vocal mechanism and the speech organs should be flexible to enunciate the words and to produce the different musical phrase.

3. Resonance 

Audibility and good quality are required for both speaking and singing which can be acquired only through proper adjustment of the resonators.

4. Mouth Shape

As the resonator influences the voice quality, the mouth shape plays an important role in imparting quality to the tone.

5. Vocal Range

The ranges is more limited for speech than for singing however speaking requires the vocal ranges to avoid monotony.

6. Inflection

Vocal inflections are different for speaking and singing. In the later the inflections become more elaborate and formalized.

7. Enunciation

CIear diction is very necessary for effective speaking and singing.

8. Phrasing

Correct phrasing is required for speaking to make the sentence intelligible and effective where as in singing the careful phrasing adds beauty to the music of the singer.

9. Speed

Agility to the articulating organs and tempo influence the voice quality in speaking and singing. ln speaking, low speed makes the talk to be more sluggish while high speed make it Iack in clarity. Hence moderate speed is required for speech. ln sining low speed increases the loudness while the high speed reduces the volume. The voice quality is more pleasant in the moderate speed.

10. Volume

Adequate loudness so as to reach a large audience is one of the important factors in speaking and singing. The carrying power of the voice and loudness upon the pitch level resonance adjustment and breath control.

11. Hearing

Hearing plays an important role in producing voice for speaking and singing. lt is the most vital means of stimulation. As hearing helps to regulate the pitch intensity and timbre of the voice, it acts as a guide.

12. lmagination

The brain is the integrator of active force. The mental perception or imagery awakens the motor centre of the brain for the adjustment of the vocal mechanism. The mental perception of the words or tones is very necessary for an individual to utter a word or note. The vocal cords are more guided by the mental perception of the sound. In achieving the correct resonance, mental imagery is required

13. Prolongation of vowel sound.

14. Definite pitch relation

15. Dynamics

1. https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/57975

2. https://www.mimicmethod.com/ft101/place-of-articulation/

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50Ojdu1_AE&t=619s

4. https://www.studywithandrea.com/learn-english/english-lesson-manner-of-articulation-and-place-of-articulation/