Skip to main content
Physics LibreTexts

13: Voice

  • Page ID
    25947
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    As we know, musical instruments consist of a vibration which is amplified by resonance. The human singing voice is no different. The vocal chords are the vibrating part and the throat, mouth, nasal cavities and bronchial tubes constitute the resonance cavities that amplify these vibrations into sound. Because every person's combination of throat, mouth, nasal cavities and bronchial tubes is slightly different, we all sound slightly different. The fact that we can change the shape of some of these cavities at will enables us to produce a wide range of pitches, depending on the initial structure and training. Here is Wikipedia on the human voice.

    Key Terms:

    Vocal cords, vocal tract, Bernoulli's principle, resonance cavities, vocal formants, trachea, larynx, phonemes (plosive, fricative, vowels, diphthongs, consonants, semivowels, gliding consonants, liquids, nasal), throat singing, articulation (opera singers).


    This page titled 13: Voice is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kyle Forinash and Wolfgang Christian via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.