Undertone singing

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Undertone singing

Undertone singing is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist makes use of vibrations of the vocal apparatus [1] in order to produce subharmonic tones below the bass tone and extend the vocal range below the limits of the modal voice. [2] In particular, the sound is produced via constricting the larynx in order to produce oscillations in the vocal cords and vestibular folds (or "false vocal cords") at certain frequencies of the vocal cords - corresponding to integer divisions of the frequency produced by the vestibular folds, such as 1:2, 1:3, and 1:4 ratios. [1] This will produce the corresponding subharmonic to that frequency. For example, in a 1:2 ratio, each second vibration of the vocal folds, the vestibular fold will complete a single vibration cycle which will result in an subharmonic produced an octave below the bass tone produced by the vocal cords. This technique is found in certain Tibetan forms of Buddhist Chant, as practised by monks of the Gyuto Order, [3] as well as in Mongolian throat singing, [4] where it is often used in conjunction with other vocal techniques, such as vocal fry. The technique produces a deep, growling quality.

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The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology and speech production in general. Phoneticians in other subfields, such as linguistic phonetics, call this process voicing, and use the term phonation to refer to any oscillatory state of any part of the larynx that modifies the airstream, of which voicing is just one example. Voiceless and supra-glottal phonations are included under this definition.

Voice analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition. Such studies include mostly medical analysis of the voice (phoniatrics), but also speaker identification. More controversially, some believe that the truthfulness or emotional state of speakers can be determined using voice stress analysis or layered voice analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocal cords</span> Folds of throat tissues that help to create sounds through vocalization

In humans, the vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through vocalization. The size of vocal cords affects the pitch of voice. Open when breathing and vibrating for speech or singing, the folds are controlled via the recurrent laryngeal branch of the vagus nerve. They are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally, from back to front, across the larynx. They vibrate, modulating the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human voice</span> Sound made by a human being using the vocal tract

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary sound source.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtone</span> Tone with a frequency higher than the frequency of the reference tone

An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental is the lowest pitch. While the fundamental is usually heard most prominently, overtones are actually present in any pitch except a true sine wave. The relative volume or amplitude of various overtone partials is one of the key identifying features of timbre, or the individual characteristic of a sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larynx</span> Voice box, an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals

The larynx, commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal inlet is about 4–5 centimeters in diameter. The larynx houses the vocal cords, and manipulates pitch and volume, which is essential for phonation. It is situated just below where the tract of the pharynx splits into the trachea and the esophagus. The word 'larynx' comes from the Ancient Greek word lárunx ʻlarynx, gullet, throat.ʼ

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overtone singing</span> Style of singing multiple notes at once

Overtone singing, also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, or diphonic singing, is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract to arouse the perception of additional separate notes beyond the fundamental frequency that is being produced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singing</span> Act of producing musical sounds with the voice

Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person whose profession is singing is called a singer, artist or vocalist. Singers perform music that can be sung with or without accompaniment by musical instruments. Singing is often done in an ensemble of musicians, such as a choir. Singers may perform as soloists or accompanied by anything from a single instrument up to a symphony orchestra or big band. Different singing styles include art music such as opera and Chinese opera, Indian music, Greek music, Japanese music, and religious music styles such as gospel, traditional music styles, world music, jazz, blues, ghazal, and popular music styles such as pop, rock, and electronic dance music.

Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.

A register is the "height" or range of a note, set of pitches or pitch classes, melody, part, instrument, or group of instruments. A higher register indicates higher pitch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vocal register</span> Range of tones a certain voice type can reliably produce

A vocal register is a range of tones in the human voice produced by a particular vibratory pattern of the vocal folds. These registers include modal voice, vocal fry, falsetto, and the whistle register. Registers originate in laryngeal function. They occur because the vocal folds are capable of producing several different vibratory patterns. Each of these vibratory patterns appears within a particular range of pitches and produces certain characteristic sounds.

Throat singing refers to several vocal practices found in different cultures worldwide. These vocal practices are generally associated with a certain type of guttural voice that contrasts with the most common types of voices employed in singing, which are usually represented by chest (modal) and head registers. Throat singing is often described as producing the sensation of more than one pitch at a time, meaning that the listener perceives two or more distinct musical notes while the singer is producing a single vocalization.

In music, the undertone series or subharmonic series is a sequence of notes that results from inverting the intervals of the overtone series. While overtones naturally occur with the physical production of music on instruments, undertones must be produced in unusual ways. While the overtone series is based upon arithmetic multiplication of frequencies, resulting in a harmonic series, the undertone series is based on arithmetic division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vestibular fold</span> Part of the larynx

The vestibular fold is one of two thick folds of mucous membrane, each enclosing a narrow band of fibrous tissue, the vestibular ligament, which is attached in front to the angle of the thyroid cartilage immediately below the attachment of the epiglottis, and behind to the antero-lateral surface of the arytenoid cartilage, a short distance above the vocal process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuvan throat singing</span> Style of overtone singing

Mongol-Tuvan throat singing, the main technique of which is known as khoomei, is a style of singing practiced by people in Tuva and Mongolia. It is noted for including overtone singing. In 2009, it was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO. The term hömey / kömey means throat and larynx in different Turkic languages. That could be borrowed from Mongolian khooloi, which means throat as well, driven from Proto-Mongolian word *koɣul-aj.

Coup de glotte or 'shock of the glottis' is a term used in the theory of singing technique to describe a particular method of emitting or opening a note by an abrupt physical mechanism of the glottis. During the 19th century there was disagreement among teachers and performers as to whether the technique should be taught as a normal part of vocal method or not. The technique is still sometimes used to achieve particular effects, dramatic or ornamental, but is usually avoided in the teaching of fundamental vocal method. In English, it is often called a glottal attack.

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." Throughout the vocal literature, various terms related to resonation are used, including: amplification, filtering, enrichment, enlargement, improvement, intensification, and prolongation. Acoustic authorities would question many of these terms from a strictly scientific perspective. 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.

Modal voice is the vocal register used most frequently in speech and singing in most languages. It is also the term used in linguistics for the most common phonation of vowels. The term "modal" refers to the resonant mode of vocal folds; that is, the optimal combination of airflow and glottal tension that yields maximum vibration.

Vocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera. Particularly famous examples of extended vocal technique can be found in the music of Luciano Berio, John Cage, George Crumb, Peter Maxwell Davies, Hans Werner Henze, György Ligeti, Demetrio Stratos, Meredith Monk, Giacinto Scelsi, Arnold Schoenberg, Salvatore Sciarrino, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tim Foust, Avi Kaplan, and Trevor Wishart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oral skills</span>

Oral skills are speech enhancers that are used to produce clear sentences that are intelligible to an audience. Oral skills are used to enhance the clarity of speech for effective communication. Communication is the transmission of messages and the correct interpretation of information between people. The production speech is insisted by the respiration of air from the lungs that initiates the vibrations in the vocal cords. The cartilages in the larynx adjust the shape, position and tension of the vocal cords. Speech enhancers are used to improve the clarity and pronunciation of speech for correct interpretation of speech. The articulation of voice enhances the resonance of speech and enables people to speak intelligibly. Speaking at a moderate pace and using clear pronunciation improves the phonation of sounds. The term "phonation" means the process to produce intelligible sounds for the correct interpretation of speech. Speaking in a moderate tone enables the audience to process the information word for word.

References

  1. 1 2 Švec, Jan G.; Schutte, Harm K.; Miller, Donald G. (1996-02-01). "A Subharmonic Vibratory Pattern in Normal Vocal Folds". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 39 (1): 135–143. doi:10.1044/jshr.3901.135. PMID   8820705.
  2. "Undertone Singing". I love overtone singing - Wolfgang Saus. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  3. Smith, Huston; Stevens, Kenneth N.; Tomlinson, Raymond S. (1967-02-01). "On an Unusual Mode of Chanting by Certain Tibetan Lamas". The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 41 (5): 1262–1264. Bibcode:1967ASAJ...41.1262S. doi:10.1121/1.1910466. ISSN   0001-4966.
  4. Lindestad, P. A.; Södersten, M.; Merker, B.; Granqvist, S. (2001-03-15). "Voice source characteristics in Mongolian "throat singing" studied with high-speed imaging technique, acoustic spectra, and inverse filtering". Journal of Voice. 15 (1): 78–85. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(01)00008-X. ISSN   0892-1997. PMID   12269637.