Vocal Anatomy & Voice Production - Los Angeles Voice Doctor
Vocal Cord Videos
Voice Term Definitions
Parotid Gland Division
Skin Cancer Division
Nasal & Sinus Division
Voice production is divided into three major categories:
Your power source is the breath that supports your sound. This is the driving force, and anything that affects your breath (or your lungs) can completely eliminate your ability to produce sound.
Vibration of your true vocal folds causes vibrations in the air that your lungs have just generated and your abdominal muscles have pushed. The complex anatomy of the vocal folds is designed to produce smooth, even vibrations which will sound pleasant and not hoarse.
Resonators give all the richness and tone that make the voice musical and give it its individual quality and character.
Asthmatics are particularly aware of this but even non-asthmatics can understand this concept. Take a shallow breath and attempt to shout. Now, take a deeper breath and attempt to shout. Clearly it is easier with a deeper breath. Without enough air to support your sound, it will fall flat and quiet.
Your breath is driven by several factors:
Your diaphragm expansion
Your abdominal support
Your lungs must be healthy in order to produce the breath you need. Managing any lung disease correctly will improve your voice.
Your diaphragm is the muscle that contracts to help expand your lungs. A slow, deep breath will give you more breath to work with. You can use this breath to produce a low-volume, long-duration sound or project a loud sound for a shorter amount of time.
Careful control of your abdominal muscles will allow you to push more or less air, in accordance with the sound you want to produce.
The epithelium is the outermost layer of the vocal folds. It is thin and moist and resembles the lining on the inside of your cheek. The next layer is the superficial lamina propria (SLP), which is essentially a gelatinous material. Vibrations in this layer are what make sound and loss of SLP results in scarring and hoarseness.
The final layer is the vocal ligament. Tension in this structure helps determine the speed of vibration, and therefore the pitch of the sound.
Resonators give all the richness and tone that make the voice musical and give it its individual quality and character. The nasal passages, the throat, and the mouth are air chambers that shape the sound and are the structures you train when developing the singer’s formant.This is why, when you have a cold and your nose is congested, you lose a certain resonance to your voice. The sound can no longer bounce through your nasal passages and the tone becomes flat, and without richness.
Schedule your voice consultation with Osborne Head & Neck Institute today.
Vocal Nodules / Nodes
Vocal Papillomas
The top medical resource for professional voice users seeking quality information and compassionate care.