Joseph Shore
4314 Pinewood Crescent
Burnaby, BC V5G 2J8
February 6, 1994
COPY
Dr. Ingo Titze
Department of Speech,
Pathology and Audiology
127-A Wendall Johnson
Speech and Hearing Center
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242
USA
Dear Dr. Titze:
Last month, I interviewed the international basso, Jerome Hines, concerning singing and vocal training. I have enclosed a full copy of the interview for you. I hope that you will find it interesting.
Let me say that I have enjoyed and appreciated your many contributions to The NATS Journal. At both the universities where I have taught voice and vocal pedagogy, I have used your articles many times. I have especially enjoyed and supported your "Open-Shop Policy In The Studio" printed some time ago.
I wonder if I might offer some observations concerning your article in the November/December issue of The Journal, entitled, "Raised verses Lowered Larynx Singing"? While I realize that it must be difficult to sculpt your conclusions into one page within a relatively generic, non-controversial format for The Journal, it seemed to me that, either your meanings were obscured, or you did not take into consideration the studies and conclusions of your fellow-scientist, Dr. Johan Sundberg. IF words mean anything, you have offered conclusions which are totally contradictory to Sundberg's and many others. While contradictory conclusions are highly interesting, it would seem to me that an "open-shop" approach would certainly note the contradictory studies of other scientists and offer your reasonings for differences. I am going to risk writing you a letter longer than your article, to point out some of the problems that I see your article presenting.
You cite many problems with a "lowered larynx" without giving us the mechanism for lowering. It does not always seem true to me that "when the entire larynx is depressed, the tissues inside the larynx tend to bunch up against the tracheal mucosa." Your statement is true IF the tongue is used as an illegitimate depressor muscle. Downward pressure on the tongue may force the larynx low but the tissues may indeed "bunch"; more importantly, the area of the base of the pharynx in relation to the area of the larynx tube is usually decreased rather than increased. We have seen this in many X-Rays.
I know you are thoroughly aware of Sundberg's conclusions. First, of course, he says that the proper depressor muscle to lower the larynx is the sternothyroid muscle. When the larynx is pulled down from below by the sternothyroid muscle there is no bunching of tissues against the tracheal mucosa as you described. Instead, the trachea is easily depressed. When the larynx is lowered by the sternothyroid muscles, there is the happy circumstance of increase of the area of the base of the pharynx and expansion of the laryngeal ventricle so that the fourth formant is "almost exclusively determined by the area function in the larynx tube, particularly the volume of the laryngeal ventricle...If the larynx ventricle is appropriately expanded, the fourth formant drops...Particularly if the lowering of the larynx expands the laryngeal ventricle, the fourth formant frequency can be lowered from its typical value of 3.5kHz in adult males, all the way down to, say, 2.8kHz. There are good reasons for assuming that the extra formant.. is identical with the formant that in the model experiments showed a strong dependence on the larynx tube"(Sundberg, The Science of the Singing Voice).
He concludes that there may be exceptional physiologies--a very broad pharynx--which might not require laryngeal lowering, but in general, "larynx lowering, or at least a wide pharynx, is important to male voices because IT IS NEEDED FOR THE GENERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SINGER'S FORMANT." For singers who do not generate a singer's formant--pop and non-classical singers, or certain sopranos--this does not apply.
In Sundberg's now classic article in Scientific American, 1977, the technique for generating a singer's formant by the lowering of the larynx is called "vowel darkening." Your article implied that vowel darkening or lightening was a matter of aesthetic choice. You did not discuss or mention it as connected to the singer's formant. In fact, the laryngeal lowering which gives the singer's formant was shown in Sundberg's studies to lower the fourth formant 17% and the third formant 11%.
You were remarkably kind to the elevated larynx, ascribing to it only minor problems in possible neck and shoulder tension. Sundberg et al., have shown that "a raising of the larynx must result not only in a shortening of the pharynx but also in a narrowing of the lower part of it; when the larynx is lowered, the pharyngeal sidewall tissues must be stretched, so that the lower pharynx is widened. When the larynx is raised, the wall tissues must pile up and fill part of the lower pharynx. In addition, the lower and the middle pharyngeal constrictor muscles may be important...By contracting they would contribute to a raising of the larynx and thereby constrict the pharynx."
The elevated larynx, in people of average pharyngeal physiology, will not produce the singer's formant, according to Fant's and Sundberg's now famous equation. I realize that that statement may require more precise definition of what we mean by "elevated." If we refer to the speaking posture as neutral, then higher postures would be "elevated." If we use the laryngeal lowering necessary in each individual to generate the singer's formant as a reference posture, then any higher posture could be termed "elevated." With either definition, an elevated larynx cannot give the conditions necessary in most people to generate a singer's formant, according to Fant's and Sundberg's studies. I can personally add that in my voice teaching, using an acoustic spectrometer during teaching, I have seen Sundberg's conclusions confirmed consistently. It is also interesting to me, as a singer trained originally in Bel Canto, that the "chiaroscuro" test of Bel Canto may be interpreted as matching Sundberg's conclusions: the lowering of the larynx lowers the vowel formants--giving the "oscuro"--while at the same time giving us the spectrum peak from the singer's formant--the "chiaro."
Sundberg also shows that "the lowering of the larynx may be favorable for other reasons than the purely acoustical ones we have described. The lowering of the larynx is performed by an extrinsic laryngeal muscle, namely the sternothyroid muscle. The elevation of the larynx is handled by muscles which are also involved in the articulation, and the entire larynx is suspended in the hyoid bone which in turn is suspended in structures involved in articulation, such as the tongue. For example, the middle constrictor muscle originates in the hyoid bone and inserts in the median raphe of the pharynx. The superior part of it runs almost vertically and is probably active in elevating the larynx. If so, the pharyngeal width must decrease when the larynx is raised which will prevent a normal articulation of all vowels requiring a wide pharynx, such as /i:/ and /e:/. Thus, an elevated larynx is likely to modify the formant frequencies of some vowels, but also, and perhaps still more important, it may reduce the articulatory variability available to the singer. If the larynx is not raised, but on the contrary lowered, all muscles leading upward from the hyoid bone would be relaxed, so that articulatory changes of the pharynx are not disturbed."
Many other advantages of a lowered larynx are cited by him and others. In my experience, the relaxation of the suprahyoidal constrictors is a major advantage. Sundberg cites one more: "According to experiments with synthesized singing (Sundberg and Askenfelt, 1983), the auditory impression of an elevation of the larynx is promoted by a voice source having a weak fundamental, which is 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 lowered larynx can be combined with 'flow phonation' (abduction) and a GENERAL RELAXATION OF THE VOCAL ORGAN" (Emphasis mine).
This is about as contradictory as I can imagine--if words mean anything--from your statements regarding the low larynx which, as you say, "can be more effortful for the vocal folds themselves."
Dr. Sundberg presents a cluster of variables associated with the extremes of phonation: "pressed phonation" is associated with an elevated larynx, low amplitude in the voice source fundamental, constriction in the pharynx, and a cramped vocal organ. "Flow phonation" is associated with a low larynx (one pulled down from below by the sternothyroid muscles), a great amplitude in the voice source fundamental (relative aBduction), no pharyngeal constriction--the suprahyoidals are relaxed--a strong singer's formant, and a general relaxation in the vocal organ.
Your conclusions regarding pitch change mechanisms within the elevated and low larynx also seem to me to be at odds with other scientists. You conclude that the hyothyroid muscles "may contribute to keep the larynx elevated and the vocal folds elongated." You then conclude that a low larynx makes higher notes more difficult because there is "less use of the extrinsic muscles to elongate the vocal folds." I do not think that conclusion can hold true from a study of the articulation of great singers. There are other muscular coordinations that are more commonly advanced by professionals which indicate that a low larynx HELPS higher notes. It is, of course, EASIER for a beginning singer to use the mobile larynx posture so developed in speech. But that "ease" is due to the learned coordination of speech articulation. It is not to say that the high notes produced in this fashion are as acceptable as low larynx tones or healthier.
Dr. Van Lawrence has told us that the sternothyroid and sternohyoid muscles which lower the WHOLE larynx are actively involved in the kind of stretching of the vocal folds needed for higher pitches. He cites not only his clinical evidence from thyroidectomies which sectioned those muscles during the operation, but confirmatory studies at the Haskins Laboratories as well. The singers with sectioned depressor muscles lost their high notes, as well as their pre-operative vocal timbre. In my teaching, I have interviewed singers who underwent this sectioning who were never able to regain their voice. Far from concluding as you, that these muscles which lower the larynx cause a "bunching" up against the tracheal mucosa, Dr. Lawrence says, "These muscles (sternothyroid, sternohyoid) seem to be necessary for STABILIZING THE MAIN FIRM STRUCTURES OF THE LARYNX SO THAT THE SMALLER AND MORE DELICATE INTRINSIC LARYNGEAL MUSCLES CAN FUNCTION OPTIMALLY (emphasis mine)." Again, if words mean anything, his conclusions are about as far from yours as I can imagine words depicting.
In my own teaching, and in my observance of the great singers of The Second Gold Age of Singing with whom I have performed (Hines, Flagello, Yeend, McCracken, Amara, Bardelli, Cossutta et al), Dr. Lawrence's conclusions strike me as most probable. Indeed, in one of the most informative studies of laryngeal posture in a large range of singers from beginners to international stars, Hoppe and Frommhold concluded that the stars were conspicuous in keeping the larynx low THROUGHOUT the singing range, while the beginners allowed the larynx to rise with pitch. Sundberg concluded similarly that good singers allow the larynx to lower further with rising pitch. Van Lawrence's observations point to the most probable conclusion, namely, that the same muscle which keeps the larynx low, or lowers it further--the sternothyroid--also helps the cricothryroids for higher pitch by its downward pull on the thyroid cartilage. Nadoleczny thought that the action of the sternothyroids had been "somewhat too greatly underestimated." Arnold and Luchsinger, while admitting this muscle needs more study, affirmed its importance "in the formation of high notes."
In my own singing as a Verdi baritone, my laryngeal posture which expands the base of the pharynx and gives a very strong singer's formant, easily remains low or goes even slightly lower for the so-called "extension" of the Verdi baritone, high G4 to high B4.
In the other premiere singers I have observed, the visible posture of the larynx and the impressions from the radiated spectrum, give me the suggestion of diadochokinesis of the sternothyroids and cricothyroids. Berton Coffin boldly stated (perhaps too boldly) that this cooperation of these muscles is a FACT for great singers. It is true that great singers often give empirical descriptions which would be consistent with just such a muscular cooperation.
You will read in the Hines--Shore interview how Mr. Hines experimented with his articulation, due, in part, to my lectures on the singer's formant, and found that he could "sing high notes I never had before, and they felt as easy as my middle," apparently because he allowed the larynx to go slightly lower for the higher tones. At 71 years old this was a change for him. His descriptions would match Sundberg's stated strategy for singers: "...the singer can keep the pharynx wide or EVEN INCREASE THE WIDENING WITH RISING FREQUENCY OF PHONATION."
You conclude that the elevated larynx simply brightens the vowel and may provide an aesthetic option for those teachers/ singers who prefer bright vowels. But you do not discuss the difference between that kind of brightness and the vocal "chiaroscuro" of the tone preferred by most authorities in our Western traditions. If Sundberg is correct, that the constrictor muscles elevate the larynx, the "bright" tone of the elevated larynx is associated with the quality of constriction. And I cannot imagine any quality it could give which would match "chiaroscuro," the functional test of vowel quality from the 17th until the 20th century. It is a vocal "ring" of sorts, but you must be able to "stomach" the constricted quality that comes with it. I personally, for what it's worth, have never seen a clustering of the fifth, fourth, and third formants from an elevated larynx articulation. The singer's formant, which gives the true vocal ring, is associated with a lowering--not a raising-- of the vowel formants by at least 17% for the fourth and 11% for the third.
You mentioned tracheal pull, which Sundberg and others studied. But I do not know of any other researcher who associates the tracheal pull with an elevated larynx as you indicated. Much to the contrary, the "tracheal PULL", PULLS the larynx DOWN, which is why the variables associated with it belong to the cluster of variables belonging to the low larynx and "flow phonation": viz., relative ABDUCTION, a strong voice source fundamental, and a decrease in the space between the thyroid and cricoid cartilages. When there is a good tracheal pull there is no elevation of the larynx.
It is always possible, and indeed it has been theorized by some (notably Quiring and Husler), that the support of the larynx by the depressor muscles, which Van Lawrence mentions, is combined with a stabilizing support from certain "elevator" (Husler) muscles, namely palatopharyngeus and stylopharyngeus. This support of the larynx by opposite pulls would be part of the "inspanning" process (Husler) which brings the larynx down to the "one-sixth" posture which creates the singer's formant (Sundberg, Fant). I do not know of EMG's done on stylopharyngeus and palatopharyngeus which could offer proof. Divising a non-invasive EMG study for those muscles presents many problems. Even if this "elevator" support is confirmed, the result would not be an "elevated" larynx, but a low one with additional support by that upwards support pull. The suprahyoidal constrictors would still, presumably, be relaxed. In fact, the same theorists call the suprahyoidals which Sundberg indicates as active in raising the larynx, the "false elevators." It is true that Husler is a source often discounted because he backed Husson and Goerttler, but it seems strange and unscientific to me to discount everything a theorist says just because he was wrong on one or two things. Many people were convinced Husson's neurochronaxic theory was correct.
Now it may well be that you have other studies so strong as to utterly disprove the conclusions of Sundberg and the others I have briefly mentioned. I would be fascinated to see your evidence. It does seem odd to me for you to present your apparently contradictory conclusions without any reference to the many studies which differ so greatly from yours. Your last paragraph, "Given no strong advantages in either direction (for elevated or lowered larynx).." speaks to my point in writing this inquiry to you. "Strong advantages" for the low larynx have been offered by some of the best voice scientists today. Perhaps you will wish to consider preparing a longer article explaining the scientific bases for your differing conclusions. I am sure that many people, including myself, would be very happy to see your evidence.
Respectfully,
Joseph Shore
Teacher of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy
PS: I have not annotated the quotes because I am sure the sources are familiar to you: Sundberg, The Science of the Singing Voice; The Acoustics of the Singing Voice; Breathing Behaviour During Singing; Dr. Van Lawrence, Singers and Surgery, et al. standard works which would be unnecessary to cite.