A Right to Sing

A Right to Sing

Essays on Singing

By Joseph Shore

Table of contents

Introduction

Vocal mechanics:

1. What do you mean lower my larynx?

2. Is All 2800 created equal?

3. The Illusion of placement

Introduction

These essays in singing were written while I was a professor of voice at The University of British Columbia. They are written in a particularly polemical style because I was trying to engage the minds of the young students who had never studied any of the subjects. It may seem therefore that I debate a great deal with other teachers and voice scientists. This style belies the actuality that I have far more in common with these men than appears. Also, in the years since these lectures I have changed my opinions on several issues herein discussed. I seemed to debate quite a bit with Richard Miller on issues of larynx height and breathing. I now consider that Miller and I are very close on these issues. In the system know as “Appoggio” which we both teach, and to which I am indebted to him for much material, the proper breath is all that is “consciously” attended to in order to secure laryngeal lowering. The sternothyroid muscles, which Sundberg so properly identified as the muscles which lower the larynx, are cued to contract by the tracheal pull of the breath. It is certainly true that conscious attempts to lower the larynx are contrary to Appoggio and usually result in constriction. This being said, the information about laryngeal lowering and the production of the singer’s formant is totally accurate. Miller agrees that the breath for Appoggio results in a larynx that is “relatively low” and stable. His earlier writing which equated the low larynx with the depressed larynx has reference to a German technique in which laryngeal lowering is both excessive and attended to by conscious manipulation. We are both in agreement that such a technique represents a misunderstanding of classic Appoggio utilized by the International School of Singing.

Essentially, these lectures introduce the subject of voice science by taking the beginning student through Johan Sundberg’s book, The Science of the Singing Voice (Northern Illinois University Press).

After some years of reflection I now have to consider the work of Fredric Husler to be bogus in many regards. I had great hopes that Husler’s work might offer insight into proper technique and indeed there is some truth in his writings. But his system as a whole is a misunderstanding of the anatomical and acoustical characteristics of good singing. I have therefore highly edited “Huslerian” comments in this edition of these lectures.

It is my hope that these essays on singing will spur the young singer on to investigate the basic issues of voice science and leave behind the subjective vagaries of simple empiricism. This does not mean, however, that a typical singing lesson is devoted to the discussion of acoustics and muscular nomenclature. While the teacher must know this, the knowledge must be digested and conveyed to the student through a variety of means: demonstration, images, scales, and biofeedback instruments. Vennard’s students have told me that he himself utilized a rather simple, “folksy” method of teaching, something I have also tried to emulate.

These first three long lectures are all about vocal technique, the mechanics of singing. But that does not mean that I view the event of singing as coldly as that sounds, far from it indeed. To me my faith in God, His love for all people and singing are linked together. I love my singers and I love the act of singing. When you get past the scientific lectures of singing you will get to the “heart” of the matter, and it is the heart that matters. When I teach my students I am not just a walking textbook of voice science. I love them. I feel honored and tremendously blessed to be a part of their lives in such an intimate way. How I love my singers. I have had feast and famine as a voice teacher. I have had so many students in my studio that I did nothing but teach six days a week, from early morning until late in the evening, and then I have had the unfortunate circumstance of having no students at all. Let me tell you, the latter case is a cause for severe grief and mourning for me. The former case gives me great happiness.

My voice studio has always enjoyed having singers in all types of music. I do not consider voice a “classical” thing only. Some of the students who have touched my life the deepest have been non-classical; Gospel, Christian Contemporary, Jazz, Pop, they have all enriched my life and made me a better person and teacher.

Everyone has a right to sing! An acquaintance told me this story. He went to elementary school in the Canadian prairies. It was a one room school house with one teacher who taught everything. She taught some things better than others, of course, and tried to bluff her way through some areas. When it came time for the music section, she devised a plan to help her get through the time. She soon noticed that some children could make a rather pleasing sound and others had a lot of trouble. Since she didn’t really know how to work with children’s voices, she hit upon the idea of dividing the class into two sections for music: the “singers,” and “the listeners.” All of the children needing some help with their singing were classed as “listeners.” It was the “listeners” job to sit there in class and simply “listen” to the “singers.” “Unfortunately” sometimes a “listener” would get carried away with the pretty song the others were singing and a wisp of sound would escape from his lips, almost unnoticed; “almost unnoticed,” because the teacher noticed. When this would happen the teacher would stop the singing abruptly, shake her hand and her head and say, “Now now, some of the listeners are singing.” Some of the “listeners” were so scarred from the experience that they could not bring themselves to allow another sound to come out of their mouths for their entire lives, not in church, not at a birthday party, not even in the shower. Let me explain this one thing. Everybody has the right to sing! I am happy to teach beginners as well as seasoned professionals. I am happy to teach people with only a wisp of talent and I am happy to teach the next great opera singer. I love singers and I have the honor of sharing their lives in this most wonderful and intimate way.

Joseph Shore,

Indianapolis, 2002

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "LOWER MY LARYNX"?
Lectures on Larynx posture and Vowel Formation

By Joseph Shore

Some student is always asking me this question. It seems to be a highly charged personal issue with many singers. Especially since information about the larynx and the vocal tract is relatively new, anecdotal, empirical knowledge has been handed down from teacher to student, often in a confusing manner. Dr. Robert Sataloff wrote in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN recently, "Twenty years ago the human voice was a mystery. Little was known about how it works or how to care for it" ("The Human Voice," SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Dec. 1992). No mechanism can be studied fully without a working model and no model existed for the human vocal instrument
until recently. In 1960 Gunnar Fant discovered that the vocal tract worked like an acoustical resonating tube. Ten years later, Sundberg expanded on that discovery and clarified larynx posture according to the formants of the vocal tract.

There are fewer issues in vocal pedagogy more debated than larynx posture. The acoustical research of Gunnar

Fant and Johan Sundberg have finally given us some objective information to use in these ancient disputes. It is

that information that I wish to use here as a sounding-board for further commentary. But first let us look at sound

itself.

Sundberg says this about sound:

Regarded from a purely physical point of view, sound consists of micro-
scopic and quick variations of the air pressure. In order to be perceived as a sound by human hearing, these variations must be more rapid than 2U per second, or, in other words, the frequency must be above 20 Hz and less
rapid than 20,000 per second; that is, the frequency must be lower than
20,000 Hz. When we grow older and lose some hearing ability, the upper
limit, in particular, may drop considerably. Furthermore, these air pressure
variations must neither be too small (because then we do not hear anything
ac all) nor too large (because then we do not hear as much as we feel pain in our ears).

Provided that the air pressure is forced to vary in an adequate way, we can hear such variations as sound. Consequently, the voice organ generates air pressure variations. It is not too difficult to imagine why this muse be so. Simplifying a bit, the process can be described in the following way. Every time the vocal folds separate and allow a small amount of air to enter into the larynx tube, the air pressure in that cavity rises somewhat. This increase in the air pressure then rapidly propagates upward in the vocal tract, so that the air pressure in the larynx tube drops again. When the vocal folds separate the next time and pass the next air pulse into the larynx tube, it again rises. The result then is an air pressure that varies in synchrony with the vocal fold vibrations. This is equivalent to the generation of sound, as was just mentioned. This primary sound generated by the vocal fold vibrations is called .the voice source. By and large, the voice source is similar for all voiced sounds produced at the same frequency and intensity of phonation. As there may be huge differences between different voiced sounds, which are equal in pitch and loudness, we conclude that what we hear is not the sound coming directly from the vocal fold oscillator. Something very essential happens to the sound on its way from the glottis to the lip opening.

It was mentioned that the vocal tract is a resonator. This implies that its ability to transfer sound is strongly dependent on the frequency of the sound to be transferred. Tones with frequencies equal to the formant frequencies arc most favored; they arc carried without any problems, or are even helped. There are four or five formants of significance in the human vocal tract. If the glottal oscillator emits a tone having a frequency equal to a formant frequency, this tone will be radiated with a much greater amplitude than other tones whose frequencies do not match a formant frequency.

During phonation, our glottal sound generator, that is, the vibrating vocal folds, does not give rise to one single cone. Instead, an entire family or spectrum of tones is generated. The lowest (one in a spectrum is called the fundamental and the other tones arc called overtones.. The fundamental plus these overtones arc called partials.. All of them have different frequencies, otherwise they would not be different tones. Their frequencies form a harmonic series. This means that partial number N has a frequency N times the frequency of the lowest partial, which is the fundamental. The second partial has a frequency twice that of the fundamental, the third partial has a frequency three times that of the fundamental, and so on. The frequencies of the partials arc simply integer multiples of the frequency of the fundamental.

Thus, the glottal oscillator delivers an entire bouquet of harmonic par-
tials to the vocal tract to be forwarded to its open end, which is the lip opening. The vocal tract treats these partials in various ways because they have different frequencies. The partials lying closest to a formant frequency are helped on their way our, so that they arc stronger in the sound radiated from the lip opening than other partials lying further away from a formant frequency.

A1RSTREAM

LUNGS

(POWER SUPPLY)

The VOICE ORGAN is composed functionally of a power supply, an oscillator and a resonator
The airstream from the lungs is periodically interrupted by the vibrating vocal folds. The re-
sulting sound, the voice source, has a spectrum, containing a large number of harmonic
partials, the amplitude of which decreases uniformly with frequency. The air column within
the vocal tract has characteristic modes of vibration, or resonances, called formants (.A B. C)
As the voice source moves through the vocal tract each partial is attenuated in proportion to its
distance from formant nearest it in frequency. The formant frequencies thus appear as peaks
in the spectrum of the sound radiated from the lips; the peaks establish particular vowel sound.

Here is a graph of the vocal organ: the lungs as the power supply, the airstream, the vocal folds as the oscillator producing the sound stream, resonating in the vocal tract, emerging from the mouth as the modified sound or "radiated spectrum." This graph is for the speaking voice. The singing voice is modified differently as you would expect.

So, the vocal tract is the resonating tube for the voice, the vocal tract being the tube created by the combined chambers of the pharynx and the oral cavity. Before we get into this, I hear some old voices saying: "Wait. That's not all! What about the nose and the sinus cavities. They are resonators too and contribute to the overall resonance by sympathetic resonation. And what about the chest!! After all we have chest tones!" Vennard's studies and his recounting of other scientific studies in this area are now standard. Vennard says about the chest as a resonator:

"One often hears the expression 'chest resonance', and as a relic of a former day of pedagogy it may be tolerated, but we must not allow ourselves to include the chest seriously in our list (of resonators)."

“Let us not forget that me resonators are cavities of air, and while there is air in the lungs it certainly is not free to vibrate as an integral mass. The chest is not a resonator because it is not a cavity. The thorax is filled with a soft, spongy material similar to that used artificially for insulation. It would tend to absorb, not augment.

“If the chest were a resonator it would be constantly changing its pitch, because even though the ribs may remain fixed the volume is decreasing because of the ascent of the diaphragm. The capacity of the thorax cannot remain constant during exhalation, and there cannot be phonation except with steadily controlled exhalation. To refer to the chest as a ''sounding-board” is even worse. No instrument maker would use a cage for a sounding-board, and even supposing he did, he certainly would not fill the spaces and cover the framework with a soft material like flesh. If the chest were a sounding-board, singers would have more volume if they exposed their bodies. No instrument maker would cover his sounding-board with an insulator, and yet we all know that Siegfried sings just as loudly wrapped in a bear-skin as he does in any other circumstances.

“The nasal passages are adapted to the filtering and warming (or in rare cases, for cooling; incoming air) so that it will be cleansed of dust particles, etc., and will be of such a temperature that it will not injure the lungs. The surface is irregular, having fins, or turbinates in the sides like the fins of any mechanical radiator, and it is also fleshy and full of blood vessels, for the purpose of exposing the air to as great a body-temperature area as possible. All this results in two things: While the passage is ideally suited to its function, it is a poor means of taking breath quickly, and it is a poor resonator for either improving or building the tone. For these reasons, most singers both inhale and sing through the mouth.

“The quality of tone as resonated by the nose is well known even to the layman. It is a "honky," muffled sound, which should not be confused with what is sometimes called "nasal twang." A good illustration of it is heard in the speech of those unfortunates whose palates are defective and cannot shut off the nose from the other resonators. Anyone can make a cruel imitation of such speech simply by allowing his velum to drop so radically that the mouth is largely shut off and the tone must exit through the nostrils. No matter how well the pharynx is distended, the tone cannot emerge unimpaired except by way of the mouth.

“How much of this quality is admissible to singing ? I lean toward the opinion that it should be eliminated entirely; that the closure of the naso-pharynx should be complete. As a demonstration that nasal resonance is of negligible value, I sometimes sing a sustained tone for my students while alternately closing and releasing my nostrils with my fingers. There is practically no change in quality.

“In 1954, Wooldridge attempted to Isolate the contribution of the nasal passages to the singing voice by comparing the vowels produced by six professional singers under two conditions: - normal, and with the nasal passages filled with cotton gauze. He was unable to find significant differences between the spectra of the vowels produced under the two conditions, and a jury of expert listeners was unable to distinguish the two conditions by hearing tape recordings. Wooldridge concluded, "The term 'nasal resonance' is without validity in describing voice quality in the singing voice," (p. 39). A repetition of this experiment by five male singers, including myself, confirmed the original findings, (Vennard⁸).

“In the experiment on nasality to which I have referred (Par. 343) we not only filled our nasal passages with gauze but also had our maxillary sinuses more than half filled with water, (Fig.41). These are the largest of the sinuses, and putting water in them would change their resonant properties noticeably if they were of any importance. Our singing under these conditions was compared with our normal singing by 86 vocal authorities from the United States and 25 from Holland. The Dutch judges were included because Europeans frequently judge American speech to be nasal but they were no more able to detect the difference between the normal and the abnormal singing than were the American listeners. Our conclusion was that neither "nasal resonance" nor "sinus resonance" has validity. To dispose finally of the idea that these tiny air spaces, with their minute openings into the other resonators, could be of any value other than as indicators to the singer himself, let me quote a typical scientific authority, Schaeffer.

It is very unlikely that the paranasal sinuses exert any influence upon vocalization. The ostia of the sinuses are so small and not infrequently encroached upon by neighboring parts that one naturally wonders how the chambers can have any modifying influence on the sound waves. Moreover, the great variations in the size and arrangement of the sinuses would preclude any constancy of influence. The theory that the paranasal sinuses impart resonance to the voice must doubtless be abandoned.”

So, the only resonator of the voice source in the model we are using is the vocal tract itself, which forms a resonating tube with areas of resonance called formants. This is the case if the velum is raised against the pharyngeal wall to shut off entrance to the nasal passages. (The trachea may indeed have some effect on the sound. This is still being explored, notably by Dr. Ingo Titze. But the trachea is not an adjustable cavity. So we will leave its discussion until later.) The presence of areas of resonance or FORMANTS in the vocal tract means that certain frequencies of the voice stream are amplified and sped on their way to the mouth. Sundberg shows that the vocal tract, with the larynx in the high, speaking position, has four formants which effectively modify the sound as shown in this slide of the voice organ. You can see the slope is much more gradual in decreasing amplitude of the partials.

Once again, Sundberg says: "THE SOUND GENERATED BY THE AIR STREAM, CHOPPED BY THE VIBRATING VOCAL FOLDS IS CALLED THE VOICE SOURCE. IT IS A COMPLEX TONE COMPOSED OF A FUNDAMENTAL FREQUENCY (DETERMINED BY THE VIBRATORY FREQUENCY OF THE VOCAL FOLDS) AND A LARGE NUMBER OF HIGHER HARMONIC PARTIALS OR OVERTONES. THE AMPLITUDE OF THE PARTIALS DECREASES UNIFORMLY WITH THE FREQUENCY AT THE RATE OF ABOUT 12 DECIBELS PER OCTAVE."

So, the four formants in the vocal tract, when the larynx is high, or in the speaking posture, amplify the upper partials only slightly so that the decrease in amplitude or slope of the voice is less. The peaks in the radiated spectrum where the formants have disrupted the even slope are heard by the human ear as vowels.

This slide shows the graph of the spectral energy of the word "WHO" when spoken. You see that the highest energy is in the lower frequencies and the upper partials have a steep slope downward in energy. The other slide is the same word, "WHO," sung by an opera singer with a lowered larynx with correspondingly broadened base of the pharynx. You will notice the energy peak between 2500 and 3000 Herz.

Jussi Bjoerlings Voice is shown.............Here

curves (right) show the averaged distribution of energy in the sound of orchestral music {black), of ordinary speech (gray) and of the late tenor Jussi Bjorling singing with an orchestra.

The distribution is very similar for speech and the orchestra at all frequencies; it is the singer's voice that produces the peak in the colored curve between 2,000 and 3,000 hertz. In that frequency region a singer's voice is loud enough, compared with an orchestra's sound, to be discerned.

The next slide shows a comparison of the spectral energy of ordinary speech (or singing with the larynx in the speaking positions-deep slope, orchestral music s1ightly less steep slope, and the voice of tenor Jussi Bjoerling. The peak between 2500 and 3000 Hz in Bjoerling's voice is most evident.

Sundberg shows that when the larynx is lowered in such a way as to expand the base of the pharynx, the vocal tract may be said to have an "extra" formant between the normal third and fourth of male singers, which he has called "the singer's formant." The slide above shows the artificial creation of an extra formant with an electronic resonator which behaves like the vocal tract. The new formant increased the amplitude of the partials near it by more than twenty decibels. Sundberg concludes that the lowered larynx, with the expanded base of the pharynx, is a unique feature of serious singing, since without it the resonating tract has only four formants and the spectral energy of the voice is essentially like speech. This is the essential difference between the sound of the popular singer and the opera singer.

Actually the singer's formant is also present in speech, since it is impossible to create new formants, but it is tuned to such a high frequency as to have little if any effect on the sound. For the sake of convenience we will talk about the singer's formant as an "extra formant."

Sundberg explains:

"It can be calculated that if the area of the outlet of the larynx into the pharynx is less than one sixth of the area of the cross-section of the pharynx, then the larynx is acoustically mismatched with the rest of the vocal tract; IT HAS A RESONANCE FREQUENCY OF ITS OWN, LARGELY INDEPENDENT OF THE REMAINDER OF THE TRACT. THE ONE-SIXTH CONDITION IS LIKELY TO BE MET WHEN THE LARYNX IS LOWERED, BECAUSE THE LOWERING TENDS TO EXPAND THE BOTTOM PART OF THE PHARYNX... THE LOWERING OF THE LARYNX, IN OTHER WORDS, SEEMS TO EXPLAIN THE SINGING-FORMANT PEAK."

Bartholomew reported investigations at Peabody Conservatory that the "ring" of the voice is around 2800 Hz for men and around 3200 Hz for women. This could be the resonance of the larynx itself for certain women who generate the singers’ formant.

Bartholomew shows that there probably is no 2800 in the falsetto, unless the falsetto is very strong. This would

also fit with Sundberg, since a weak falsetto is usually sung with a higher larynx and it is doubtful the "one-sixth"

condition would be met. A "stronger" falsetto would have to be sung in a lowered laryngeal posture and the "one-

sixth" condition might be met.

"Depressing" the larynx by pushing down on the tongue, can be shown in X-Rays to narrow the pharynx at the base and therefore we would imagine that the larynx would not have its own resonance. We will talk about the crucial, but sometimes over-looked differences between the lowered and the depressed larynx in a moment, but right now lets talk about the obvious relationship of resonating tubes to frequency. Think of organ pipes. The lower the frequency of the pitch produced, the longer the pipe, and vice-versa. Long resonating tubes have low frequencies and short tubes have higher frequencies. Females have shorter vocal tracts than males, as one would expect. If the morphology of the vocal folds is not compatible with that of the vocal tract, one is not likely to become a singer. PERFECTLY MATCHED MORPHOLOGIES PRESENT THE BEST POSSIBILITIES FOR EXTREMELY EFFICIENT MANIPULATION OF THE TRACT!

The average male length of the vocal tract is about seven inches or 17.5 centimeters. As a tube it would have formant frequencies around 500 Hz for the first, 1500 Hz for the second, 2500 Hz for the third and 3500 for the fourth. The larynx-dependent singer's formant would be around 2800 Hz. High tenors might have a tract short enough to average much higher formants. Low basses might have tracts so long their first formants average much lower. Sundberg quotes research which indicates that the singer's formant can range anywhere from 2.3K to 3.6K in male voices, depending on the voice category. The size of the larynx might be very important.

Do women have the singer's formant? Bartholomew's older studies indicate that the female larynx resonates

around 3200, although the newer studies Sundberg quotes make this figure arbitrary if not in doubt. The graph of

the female's spectral energy looks slightly different. There is not as much amplitude in this "peak" area as there

is around 2800 Hz for the male, due to the fact that the upper formants cluster differently for the female voice.

Larynx resonance may still cause a peak in that area for some women who produce the singer’s formant.

Sundberg says that studies of sopranos show that it is POSSIBLE for them to sing with a high larynx. But it has

not been shown that the quality of such singing equals low-larynx singing. In Jerome Hines' book, GREAT

SINGERS ON GREAT SINGING, all of the female stars mention directly or indirectly that they sing with a

lowered larynx. Because of the anecdotal nature of the book, references are not always direct, but there is no

mistaking the communication that the women as well as the men believe they sing with a lowered larynx. In my

own singing I cannot remember working with a leading female singer who did not believe that she sang with a

lowered larynx, and since the physical sensations of a lowered larynx are fairly overt it is difficult to believe they

were all mistaken. On the other hand, the extent of the lowering may be very slight, especially compared to a male

with a large larynx. And it does seem that some light sopranos sing quite well without generating a singer's

formant.

The question is whether there is a spectrum envelop peak in the soprano the way there is in men. Some dramatic

sopranos and mezzos seem to have it. Most lyric and coloratura sopranos do not. There certainly needs to be

more research done on this. Laryngeal positions too would be important to study. For example, a mezzo might

indeed utilize a lower laryngeal position that a high coloratura soprano. As regards the question whether sopranos

can sing with a high larynx or a mobile larynx, the jury is still out. One researcher indicated that he had conducted

tentative tests in his lab which indicated that premiere sopranos sang with a relatively low and stable larynx

throughout the range whereas the ones which utilized a mobile larynx tended to sound like "hysterical chickens."

The expertise of the singer and the resultant sound quality are factors that need to be weighed.

The Voice Organ 21

Area functions

04 8 12 16
Distance to lip opening (cm)

Vocal tract profiles

Figure 2.11. Upper graphs:

From top to bottom, the vocal tract profiles from Fant are the vowels, /u/, /o/, /a/, /i/, /e/.

Area functions for some vowels describing the shape of the vocal tract in terms of its cross-sectional area as function of the distance from the lip opening. This shape is determined by the positioning of the articulators as shown in the vocal tract profiles: the lip and jaw openings, the tongue shape, the velum, and the larynx. (After Fant, I960.)

So what do the formants do? We know they take the crude voice source from the larynx, which 1s a spectrum, and give it character by the process of vowel formation or enhancement of certain partials. The actual sound coming out of the larynx by itself is undifferentiated. Appleman indicates that the sound of the larynx without the vocal tract is scarcely more than a "buzz." In fact, Vennard's film, "The Vibrating Larynx", shows us an excised larynx which is made to "sing." The sound is only a buzz. The positions of the vocal tract then, during coupling of the pharynx and the buccal cavity by tongue shape create the vowel and radiate the sound towards the mouth opening with a character we call timbre, defined by the vowel and particular characteristics of the sound spectrum as the partial receive their particular enhancement from the formants of the tract.

This slide shows the positions of the vocal tract which create the spoken vowels. The tongue is the major instrument for the coupling of the pharyngeal and buccal cavities. Notice in the spoken vowels the great variety of pharyngeal space. The pop singer utilizing the larynx in a speaking position has a different resonance-quality for each vowel since the pharyngeal space changes so greatly for each vowel. The serious singer with the larynx in the low posture begins phonation with the base of the pharynx more expanded and can therefore learn to try to sing all the vowels more evenly. The widest pharyngeal space is in /i:/. The teacher may use the pharyngeal space of /i:/ as a reference for the other vowels, thereby giving the essential impression that all the vowels are resonating in an even fashion. Such pharyngeal evenness can never be fully attained, of course, or there would be no vocal tract shaping to create the other vowels, but using the goal as an illusion in teaching can help to take out the constriction in the pharynx during production of the other vowels. Thus the pharyngeal space of /i:/ can be a great helper for shaping the other vowels with a lesser degree of constriction than the spoken vowels employ. Pant's X-Ray profiles are of SPOKEN Russian vowels. Notice also, that the tongue MUST be free to create the coupling necessary for each vowel. The attempts to keep the tongue flat and against the back of the teeth are holdovers from a previous era in which the role of the tongue in vowel creation was misunderstood. (There was a time when vowels were thought to be formed within the larynx and simply amplified by the vocal tract. The tongue was thought of as an "unruly member" which needed to be out of the way.) For a singer to create the vowels /u:/, and /o:/ with their high arches and still keep the tip of the tongue touching the back of the teeth, may be difficult for some, especially if the tongue itself is short. Try it. Keep the tip of the tongue against the back of the teeth and try to sing all of the vowels purely with the larynx in its lower position. You may find, if you have a short tongue, that the coupling is so altered that the vowels are very impure. Furthermore the "holding" and "forward stretching" of the tongue in this manner may pull upward on the larynx, in some cases so much that it takes OUT the larynx 2800 resonance by cancelling the necessary "one-sixth" condition in the pharynx.

I tend to agree with Fant's pictures for /u:/ and /o:/ although I see many singers who are capable of keeping the tip of the tongue touching the teeth for all vowels without impurity. Appleman's tongue positions differ somewhat from Fant's, especially for /u:/ and /o:/, where Fant shows the tip of the tongue well retracted. Appleman shows almost as high an arch for /u:/ and /o/l as Fant but wants the tongue tip firmly against the teeth.

Sundberg studied the formant differences in spoken and sung (low- larynx) vowels, using professional singers in Sweden. He found, as we would expect, that the formants of all sung vowels shift downward towards their darker sides due to the lengthening of the vocal tract by the lowered larynx. He also found that his subjects, three basses, used the tongue in a way contrary to the Fant models. Sundberg's basses used less high arch for /u:/, /o:/ and /i:/, so that the tongue picture for all vowels is closer, but not identical, to Pant's /a:/. The tongue tip was retracted for /u:/ as in the Fant drawings. Apparently, Sundberg says, singers select a variety of ways to use the tongue during singing with a low larynx. We should add, however, that it is perfectly possible to sing the vowels with the tongue coupling Fant shows!

In 1971, Sundberg and Lindblom developed an articulatory model for tongue coupling, finally giving us a working

model to use in correcting students. A close look at the model will disprove many anecdotal teaching references to

tongue posture.

Vennard recounts: "An X-Ray study by Hope and Frommhold of singers ranging from beginners to stars of the Berlin Opera shows that it is the beginners who pull the tongue forward."

In teaching voice in the International School of Voice, the tongue is not consciously manipulated. Of the five articulators (jaw, lips, tongue, velum, larynx), only the jaw and the lips are consciously manipulated. One can move the tongue, of course, since it is used for chewing as well as speaking, but one could not consciously position the tongue during speech even for one sentence! The nice thing is that the five articulators work as a unit to form a particular configuration of the vocal tract. Therefore if the jaw and lips are accurate, and the concept of the vowel is accurate, the tongue , velum, and larynx will be accurate. Tongue exercises almost always end up in constriction and rigidity. The reflexive nature of the system has been inhibited by conscious intervention. In the International School, attention is places on the breath, the concept of the vowel, the jaw and the lips.

Sundberg says, "The closer a partial is to a formant frequency the more its amplitude at the lip opening is increased...The vocal tract is constricted and expanded in many rather complicated ways, and constricting it in one place affects the frequency of all the formants in different ways. There are, however, three major tools for changing the shape of the tract in such a way that the frequency of a particular formant is shifted in a particular direction. These tools are the jaw, the body of the tongue, and the tip of the tongue." The two lowest formants are the most important for strength and color of tone, while the singer's formant gives the distinctive "bloom" of the voice.

If the fundamental pitch of the sung tone is not amplified by the first formant, the sound will be less intense in proportion to the frequency distance from the formant. Sundberg shows that when we sing pitches whose fundamentals are higher than our first formant frequency we must raise the frequency of our first
formant, otherwise the sung tone will lack intensity since the fundamental pitch will be higher than the first formant. Since the Jaw is the main way we have of changing the first formant frequency, the procedure is not hard. The wider the jaw space, the higher the frequency of the first formant. We can shorten the tract by stretching the jaw so that the lower mandible slightly narrows pharyngeal space, or we can draw back the corners of the mouth, as when we smile, to shorten the tract from the front end maximally. That gives us the maximum shortening without raising the larynx. However, if you smile for the whole voice, all of the formant frequencies will be raised, so all of the voice except for the very highest notes will be under-resonated.

Sundberg asked why it was that singers originally desired a low larynx. He wondered if it developed out of the need to be heard over large orchestras. The answer to that must be "No," since the large orchestra is a modern phenomenon. The "Camerata"-those Florentines who began opera and serious vocal training—and their kinsmen, have left us vocal pedagogies and descriptions of singers (e.g. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS ON FIGURED SINGING, MANCINI, 1777) so that we know they were after a rich sound, if not necessarily the fully resonant sounds of the latter nineteenth century. Those singers of the First Golden Age were not competing with large orchestras. Nevertheless, their desire for quality and beauty of tone does not suggest that they would have tolerated the kind of tones Sundberg describes as "high larynx." Sundberg says: "According to experiments with synthesized singing the auditory impressions of an elevation of the larvnx is promoted by a voice source having a weak fundamental, which 1s typically affiliated with 'pressed phonation', as we know. This suggests that a raised larynx is typically associated with a general muscle tension in the voice organ, while a low larynx can be associated with 'flow phonation^’ (abduction) and a general relaxation of the voice organ." Therefore it is virtually impossible NOT to conclude that the quality sought and described by the earliest teachers (the Camerata) is consistent with the lowered larynx. It was developed by singers and singing teachers because of the QUALITY of tone it engenders. QUALITY OF TONE PRODUCED THE LOW LARYNX.

The questions then, are how do you lower the larynx and how far? Women have a lesser laryngeal drop than men simply because they have shorter vocal tracts and smaller organs. Vennard tells us that in speaking, the larynx is high, the top of the hyoid bone near the third cervical vertebra usually, and the angle of the thyroid does NOT show any forward tilt. The mylohyoid muscles, which form the floor of the mouth, or "the diaphragm of the mandible," do NOT show significant activity in the raised larynx. Rather most of the work is being done by the swallowing muscles which arise from the palate, and other suprahyoidal muscles (those muscles ABOVE the hyoid bone which pull UP on the larynx). Most of the suprahyoidal muscles are constrictors. Thus, when the larynx is high, the throat constricts. Furthermore, the larynx rises higher with higher pitches during speaking or singing in the high position. Such constrictor tension makes the pharynx an extremely poor resonator. Since the"one-sixth" condition Sundberg described as necessary for the larynx to have its own resonance cannot be met with the larynx high, the singer's formant is not in the graph of the voice.
(I SHOULD CLARIFY THAT WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT THE AVERAGE PHYSIOLOGY. SUNDBERG, HIMSELF, EXPLAINS IN "THE SCIENCE OF THE SINGING VOICE" THAT IF THE PHARYNX IS BROAD ENOUGH A SINGING FORMANT MIGHT BE GENERATED WITHOUT A LOWERED LARYNX. INDEED HE MENTIONS WANG'S STUDIES OF SINGERS IN THE CHINESE OPERA TRADITION
WHO APPEARED TO SING WITH A STRONG SINGER'S FORMANT WITHOUT A LOWERED LARYNX.
It would be essential to look at the pharyngeal width of such singers for a complete explanation. (Sundberg's later examination of Wang's studies showed that his singers did NOT produce a singer's formant.)

The photos below show X-Rays of Vennard's throat when the larynx is said to be in the high, low, and depressed positions. Each position is distinct, as shown by the muscular activity recorded on the electromyograms and the sonagrams of resonance patterns. This is very important since some people claim the low larynx and the depressed larynx are the same thing. Usually they are teachers who are afraid to teach low larynx for fear students will falsely depress, although in some cases one suspects some bias due to tonal preferences. In such cases they seem to disparage the low larynx by equating it with the depressed larynx.

In Richard Miller's book, ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, AND ITALIAN
TECHNIQUES OF SINGING, The depressed larynx and the low larynx are equated in a six-page article devoted to disparaging laryngeal lowering. He says: "Low-1aryngeal positioning is the logical consequence of techniques which induce sensations of pharyngeal enlargement. As Nagel pointed out, the low position of the larynx follows from the yawn posture. It remains the favored laryngeal position in the German School because it contributes to the production of sound demanded by the aesthetic ideal of that particular national school. Further, it induces the kind of placement sensations associated with that ideal...Unless a singer is versed in acoustical principles and has some prior knowledge of laryngeal function, the system appears logical and 'scientific'."

At first this sounds like an amazing statement! Surely Vennard and Sundberg qualify as knowledgeable scientific investigators whose work is known by Mr. Miller. The beginning of the yawn and pharyngeal broadening Miller disparages speak precisely to the events—if words mean anything—which Sundberg talks about as NECESSARY FOR THE LARYNX TO HAVE ITS OWN RESONANCE. INDEED THE EXPANDED BASE OF THE PHARYNX HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE THE SINE QUA NON OF SERIOUS SINGING IN SUNDBERG'S STUDIES. Professor Miller quotes Sundberg's conclusions in his THE STRUCTURE OF SINGING, but dismisses them by saying Sundberg has studied too "narrow" a field of subjects (p.152). Could it be that this is more necessitated by Miller's aesthetic than an accurate appraisal of Sundberg's studies? Indeed, in Sundberg's collection of studies found within THE SCIENCE OF THE SINGING VOICE, a wide selection of studied singers confirms the need for the expanded base of the pharynx.

The seeming contradiction between Sundberg and Miller can be explained. Sundberg is talking about what the

organs must do in order to generate the singer's formant. Miller is talking about what the singer must consciously

attempt to. In the system known as Appoggio, which is the trademark of the International School of Singing, the

singer consciously attends to the breath and the vowel, not the organs themselves directly. The proper breath

lowers the larynx to a position relatively low in the throat by cueing the sternothyroid muscles to contract. To

attempt to voluntarily lower the larynx by an exaggerated yawn is as foreign to Appoggio as it may be common

within provincial German techniques. When Sundberg speaks of the similarity of the yawn and the pharyngeal

broadening necessary to produce the singer's formant, he is speaking only in terms of measurements, not the

singer's conscious attempts as manipulation. Appoggio will produce the necessary pharyngeal broadening for the

singer's formant without requiring conscious manipulation which almost always results in constriction.

Miller agrees that Appoggio utilizes a larynx “relatively low” and stable throughout the singing range.

Sundberg says that during rising pitch, the area of the pharynx tends to decrease, and the side-wall tissues pile in on one-another. To avoid that, the singer may expand pharyngeal broadening further with the rising pitch. Does this fit the definition of "localized action”? No, such pharyngeal broadening, if it happens, would still be reflexive rather than conscious.

Miller says in discussing "schools of singing", "In fact it would appear to be nearly a physical impossibility to maintain "low-laryngeal posture and pharyngeal enlargement together with the thoracic posture of the classic Italian-trained singer." That conclusion needs examination.

Vennard made a big distinction between the low larynx and the depressed larynx. We will try to look at that distinction. Vennard believed he showed that the low-larynx which expands the base of the pharynx, which gives Sundberg's "one-sixth" condition, and the singer's formant, is attained by relaxation of the suprahyoidal muscles. "ApparentIy,” Vennard writes, "no effort "in the sternothyroid "is needed to Keep it there...When the pupil has learned how to sing, not while forcing the larynx down, but while LETTING IT REMAIN DOWN, he will have cured both symptom and the disease. He will have the vocal lips functioning freely, and he will have the best possible resonator for them." Look at the electromyograms again and you will see that the activation of the sternothyroid muscles is insignificant in Vennard's X-Rays of the lowered larynx. In Vennard's view, the student learns to maintain the requisite relaxation of the suprahyoidals. We will come back to this. But first, what is the experience of great singers in this matter?

Discussions with GREAT singers from a variety of national backgrounds show that they consider themselves to sing with a lowered larynx.

In Jerome Hines' book, GREAT SINGERS ON GREAT SINGING, I grouped the artists according to their statements concerning breathing, laryngeal positioning, vowel formation, passaggio technique and placement. If the artist did not give clear cues I did not list them. Using terms or concepts which Mr. Miller gave in his book to cue "national schools" I found that all but one would be grouped within his "German School" for laryngeal positioning. Almost all of them were in the German School for breathing, vowel formation, and passaggio technique. Placement showed as many undecided or eclectic as in the French, German, or Italian School. Since most of these artists are Italian or sing the Italian repertoire—Indeed not one native German singer was
interviewed—either the idea of strict national schools is faulty or Mr. Miller's analysis of them would seem to be incorrect. Indeed Gigli's teacher, Cotogni, appears to have taught him what Mr. Miller calls German breathing technique, and Melocchi—one of the more famous Italian voice teachers—taught Franco Corelli and Mario Del Monaco what Miller seems to call German laryngeal positioning! Perhaps the concept of strict national schools is too rigid. Hines' interviews tend to suggest that all these international singers have much more in common than would be suggested by the idea of national schools. Many used concepts drawn from two or three of Miller's schools, while their singing is considered by critics, audiences, and other singers to be indicative of a particular repertoire. After all, the art of voice teaching spread from Italy to Germany shortly after the creation of opera. Ideas were passed on and exchanged, and modifications made in a manner we would expect from essentially empirical approaches.

Stockhausen was a pupil of Manuel Garcia II but is associated with the "German School." (Fischer-Dieskau gives credit to Stockhausen and Garcia for his technique.) Emma Seller, who taught singing in Heidelberg, was highly influenced by Helmholz's discoveries and "German" teaching, but also studied the pedagogy found in Italy at the time. The strict idea of national schools simply does not do justice to the great deal of interpenetration of thought. The differences in language account for many of the apparent differences in so-called "national schools." It may be that Miller is discussing national tendencies in these "national schools." Many singers may reach international fame and be eclectic in their technique. The more a singer reaches the goals of the International School of Singing, the less he seems to be confined to national tendencies. There is indeed an “International School.”

National tendencies appear more distinctly within more provincial singers. The better a singer becomes, the more he/she approaches an international standard which is less defined by a concept of strict national schools.

Another concept of laryngeal lowering appears to be offered by Appleman, Husler, and Reid. They indicate that the larynx is maintained in any position by a suspension system of the extrinsic laryngeal muscles. Appleman writes: "Although the movements of the post-dorsum and root of the tongue are responsible for altering the size and shape of the pharyngeal cavity, the suprahyoidal and the infrahyoidal muscles of the throat and neck create a state of muscular suspension through their action as antagonists, which firms the pharyngeal walls and stabilizes the larynx in the phonatory tube at any chosen position...The sensation of finding the proper open throat and laryngeal position in the middle voice is that of the first stage of the yawn... However, the expanded throat sensation must always be accentuated as the pitch is raised. The singer and the teacher must remember that the suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles always act as a unit in their antagonism and never as independent muscles." Reid reiterates this.

This is not necessarily a "different" concept expressed by these teachers. They are again describing organ

function rather than the singer's attention, which as we have seen should be to the breath and the vowel. If these

teachers state or imply that consciously attending to yawning is integral to their systems, then they would indeed

be stating something different, but I do not see that as a necessary conclusion.

An extensive explanation of this antagonistic system comes from Frederick Husler. Husler's book SINGING, THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF THE VOCAL ORGAN, is a mixed bag. I have had to revise my opinion of his work. Much of it is just plain wrong. However, even Richard Miller told this writer that he admired “one thing” about Husler, that he really wanted to know how the mechanism worked. Unfortunately he seemed to have a penchant for backing the “wrong horse.” He backed Goerttler and believed in the existence of the ary-vocalis, and even thought he had found a way to isolated the muscle; amazing since the muscle doesn’t exist! He back Husson and believed in the neurochronaxic theory of vocal fold vibration; amazing since it is utter hogwash! On the issue of laryngeal suspension, however, he seems to have been more accurate. Therefore I have left in a portion of his material on this subject. He details the "elastic scaffolding" in which the larynx is suspended. "A properly functioning singing organ consists of one vast interplay, a widespread cyclical process, in which all parts cooperate to support and help each other. In short, 'each muscle, as antagonist, regulates the action of another'"(p.24).

The Suspensory Mechanism (Elastic Scaffolding)!

When singing takes place in the correct physiological manner, the larynx—at the precise moment in which its own activity begins—is strongly inspanned in a net formed by a number of paired muscles. These muscles stand in close reflex connection to each other, jointly forming a separate mechanism, a unit of great significance to the voice. The inspanning process takes place as follows: out of the network in which the larynx is flexibly suspended certain muscles, 'Elevators', pull upwards (slightly forward and slightly back as well), while others, 'Depressors', simultaneously draw downwards (also somewhat forward and somewhat back). This general counter-play (opposition) brings about the necessary inspanning of the larynx.

elevators
The following muscles draw the larynx upwards:

(1) The shield cartilage-tongue bone muscle, thyreo-hyoideus (Fig. 31).

(2) The muscle palato-laryngeus-tensor veli palati (Fig. 32).

(3) The muscle stylo-pharyngeus (Fig. 35)4

There is not much to be found in specialist literature about the action of the palate in singing. But all good singers are strongly aware of their muscles in the region of the palate, especially when producing their most beautiful top notes. (They can also feel the powerful manner in which the larynx is simultaneously drawn downwards: the counter-play between Elevators and Depressors.) That is the reason why singers sometimes practice 'yawning'.

(It has been said that the pharynx muscle: constrictor-pharyngis superior, is a
serviceable Elevator in singing. This is scarcely credible, however, because it is a definite throat-constricting muscle used in swallowing. The vocal result would be a form of 'tight' or 'squeezed' tone.)

depressors

The muscles that act as opposers to the Elevators by depressing or, to be more
accurate, drawing the larynx downwards are:

(1) The paired chest bone-shield cartilage muscle, sterno-thyreoideus (Fig.
33). To be exact, the pull is forward and down. (This muscle also
renders the necessary opposition to the Stretcher of the vocal folds,
crico-thyreoideus.)

• K. Goerttler.i³

+ This term was coined by Goerttler to describe the 'passive tensing' of the vocal folds through the crico-thyreoideus, 'which, basically, does no more than tauten its elastic scaffolding'. We have adapted it for its descriptiveness, giving it a broader meaning.

t According to V. E. Negus.³²

SPHERE II: THE SUSPENSORY MECHANISM

(2) The crico-pharyngeus muscle that pulls downwards and back. Physiologists call it a 'powerful muscle'.* It springs from the lateral lower border of both sides of the ring cartilage, encircles the gullet (at the junction of the pharynx and oesophagus) where it anchors the ring cartilage, sometimes known as the 'base' cartilage. This arrangement enables the inferior horns of the shield cartilage to move freely on the ring cartilage. Without the help of the crico-pharyngeus, the larynx is easily obstructed by the cramping action of the upper muscles of the tongue and tongue bone which try to compensate for its deficiency. (Fig. 34).

(3) In addition, wind-pipe and oesophagus can exert a certain pull on the larynx; the windpipe draws it down and the gullet (being connected to the Santorini cartilages, and therefore to the pyramids) pulls it back and down,

Out of this muscular network, the crico-pharyngeus is, as a rule, the weakest and the least developed (in speaking it is hardly used). It is, nevertheless, one of the most important of the singing muscles. Singers of exceptionally strong physique are well aware of it: 'Sing from the nape of the neck', or as Caruso said: 'Place the voice low
down at the back of the throat' (meaning that the action of the muscle behind the gullet should actually be felt).

One reason for the great importance of the suspensory mechanism is that it forms a connection (and partly a direct one) between the throat and the trunk. Moreover, if set in action by a strong enough impulse, it will automatically bring into play all the respiratory muscles needed in singing. The proper erection of the vocal organ seems to depend chiefly on this mechanism.

The requisite tensing of the muscles of the throat—Tensors, Stretchers and Closers—is also occasioned by it. In other words, its co-operation first brings the functions of the larynx into the proper condition for singing. .:

The various paired muscles of the suspensory mechanism pull on the larynx in four different directions. Each of these directional pulls is able to alter substantially the shape and the degree of tension of the vocal folds, and of the laryngeal cavity above. Each one changes the tonal character of the voice, its possible variations being almost unlimited.

Some of the muscles of the suspensory mechanism, however, are scarcely needed or actively used by modern man in his present way of life so that, if they are not completely stunted (atrophied), they are generally badly innervated and correspondingly impotent. As a rule, it is their predisposition to connect up as a unit, as an individual mechanism, that is seriously impaired if not totally extinguished. Their under-development is often perfectly visible, shown by the chronic retraction of the larynx in the normal person (this is also the reason why he cannot sing). -

Science has come to the conclusion that the action of the suspensory muscles in the production of voice has been 'somewhat too greatly underestimated'.*

•V.E.Negus.³²

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

We will go further and assert without the least exaggeration that the suspensory mechanism constitutes a cardinal factor in the formation of the singing voice (though not, of course, of the spoken tone). Were the inspanning, stretching and tensing of the vocal folds through the suspensory mechanism to be entirely lacking—an imaginary case—the result would be, either a weak form of 'falsetto', without any possibility of strengthening it and so passing into the full voice, or a raucous 'chest voice' with inaccessible high notes, with no possibility of modifying its volume, and the like. The reason for this is that one of the most important links between the two extremes would be missing. At its

very worst the result would be the ugly noises made by someone who is said to have 'no voice*. Naturally, every variation exists between the absolute zero point of the non-singer, the physically highly-gifted natural singer, and the 'made' singer (i.e., one whose voice has been completely 'unlocked', regenerated): the suspensory mechanism is capable, needless to say, of partial functioning in any number of ways and combinations. The importance of this mechanism in singing can be observed time and again in the voice trainer's practice, simply through the fact that, thanks to the efficient functioning of the suspensory mechanism, vocal folds considered to be fairly seriously damaged by the physician, are still able to produce a far better singing tone than the perfectly healthy ones of an organ which, in this sense, has collapsed upon itself. In this respect the proverbially pillar-like necks of singers endowed with magnificent voices are instructive, displaying, as they do, the presence of highly developed suspensory muscles. Those at the back of the neck, which can be considered peripheral
antagonists, are particularly striking.

* M. Nadoleczny. M

SPHERE II; THE SUSPENSORY MECHANISM

indirect inspanning muscles

An indirect but equally important contribution to this inspanning process is
rendered by a paired muscle that reaches from the tongue bone to the shoulder,
M. omo-hyoideus, and by another running from the tongue bone to the chest bone, M. sterno-hyoideus. These powerful muscle-bands draw the tongue bone downwards and, as the larynx is muscularly attached to it (M. thyreo-hyoideus), it necessarily shares in the downward movement (that these muscles take a strong and active part in the production of a sung tone can be felt quite easily with the fingers, especially the omo-hyoideus). Though voice physiology realizes that the meaning of these suspensory or inspanning muscles 'still needs precise investigation',* nonetheless it emphasizes their importance 'in the formation of high notes'. (Fig. 38).

It is easy to conceive that, if the tongue bone is drawn downwards, it has the
effect at least of relieving awkward tenseness in the upper muscles of the tongue bone.

complications DUE TO deficient functioning OP THE suspensory

mechanism

On pages 19 and 26 two hypothetical cases were mentioned to show how the
voice can split into definite registers ('falsetto' and'chest register'). Such a falling-
apart of the voice is due, basically, to the failure of the inspanning mechanism.

Here are some further examples, showing how the same cause can produce quite
different results:

If the Depressors fail to function, so that the larynx is not properly inspanned
while singing, muscles of the tongue and tongue bone, as well as the large number of swallowing muscles (which through constant, life-long use are always perfectly innervated), take charge to compensate for this deficiency. Without the necessary resistance from below, the swallowing muscles pull the larynx back and up and fix it there, while the tongue does its share by pressing it down and back (for a more detailed description, see illustration and text, taken from an X-ray picture, page 28).
This, more or less, is what gives rise to the 'constricted' tone.

The voice has a certain 'falsetto-head tone' content, because the specific Stretcher
(crico-thyreoideus) is active, and there is no special difficulty in singing up to a
moderately high range.

The variations in this type of voice equal approximately the number of tongue,
tongue bone and swallowing muscles (the 'squeezed', 'constricted' voice is one ol
them).

It is extremely difficult to remedy this particular form of vocal distortion, because
it invariably means that the singer's instincts are equally distorted.

The most usual complication caused by inadequate suspension of the larynx is of a different nature, and is less difficult to cure.

* G. E. Arnold.¹ + G. E. Arnold¹ quoting Ammersbach.

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

Tongue, tongue bone and swallowing muscles are not at fault in this case, but the
Elevator, thyreo-hyoideus (the muscle that suspends the larynx to the tongue bone) which, by becoming independent, so to speak, draws the larynx up too high. The Closers of the vocal folds work to excess, which enables them to keep the glottis closed up to the highest pitch; the Elevator, thyreo-hyoideus, evidently acts as external antagonist: to the Closers (see also the chapter'Falsetto—Head Register').
The chink of the glottis and, apparently, the vocal folds themselves, are considerably shortened. In this situation, there is not only no co-operation from the Depressors of the larynx, but the necessary active participation from the organ of breathing is also lacking.

The vocal product is the so-called 'white voice' the 'voce bianca'. In a milder
form this kind of voice is heard in large numbers, especially in tenors and coloratura sopranos.

The so-called 'pressed tone' is equally attributable to the deficient functioning of
the suspensory mechanism—primarily of the Depressors. The air accumulates
beneath the throat and presses, it upwards. To parry it, the action of the Tensors and Closers is forcibly increased, while the work done by the Stretchers is seriously obstructed.

fig. 40. This illustration has been drawn from an X-ray picture taken during production of a so-called 'squeezed voice'. The accompanying text reads as 'follows: The larynx lies exceptionally high. The horns of the shield cartilage press against the pharyngeal wall. The tongue bone is also tightly pressed against the wall of the pharynx, partly disappearing beneath the jaw. The tongue is strongly drawn downwards and back and the X-ray taken in profile shows no space between the tongue and the posterior wall. The voice channel is completely displaced. The pressure on the larynx is so strong that no appreciable outlet remains between pyramids and epiglottis.' (Quoted from: Experimentally Phonetic, Panconcelli-Calzia.) ^:

SPHERE II: THE SUSPENSORY MECHANISM

It has been observed that this has the effect of tilting the pyramid cartilages forward* which, in turn, considerably reduces the laryngeal cavity (see
'Stiff Throat' in Chapter XIV).

The first step to be taken in all these cases is thoroughly to rouse and mobilize the entire organ of breathing. It eventually co-ordinates with the inspanning muscles and so will free the throat. Those familiar 'tongue-relaxing exercises' are useless: they do not strike at the root of the trouble and so cannot eliminate it.*

(*My Note: This is a good statement of the vocal technique of Appoggio. By attending to the breath, all the muscular processes are coordinated. Husler’s narration of these muscular actions should not be interpreted to mean that singers are to try to exercise direct control over or that merely learning about the muscles will help singers to become proficient in their art! )

If the muscles in which the larynx is slung. Fig. 35, are inactive while singing,
then upper tongue bone muscles (see Fig. 39), and perhaps others as well, used
in swallowing, take charge to give the larynx some sort of support. This draws
the larynx up and stiffens it, which inevitably narrows or otherwise contorts the
voice.

fig. 31. Elevator. Shield cartilage- tongue bone muscle (M. thyreo- hyoideus).

fio. 32. Elevator. Palato-laryngeal
muscle (M. palato-laryngeus) seen from
the back.