Your Voice Your Asset (3)

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The Larynx

The larynx, commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume. The larynx houses the vocal folds (vocal cords), which are essential for phonation.

The Vocal Tract

The vocal tract is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source (larynx in mammals; syrinx in birds) is filtered. The estimated average length of the vocal tract in adult male humans is 16.9 cm and 14.1 cm in adult females 

You really need to study the above diagrams so as to understand how your everlasting musical instrument(Your Voice) works. No time wasted as it enables you know the value of it and how to maintain it for best performance.

I'll like to pause here per chance I have some readers who have not come to understand the vocal system. Fell free to ask your questions as comments and we will try our best to provide you with the best answers.

Your Voice Your Asset! (2)

Voice types and the folds (cords) themselves
Adult men and women have different sizes of vocal fold; reflecting the male-female differences in larynx size. Adult male voices are usually lower-pitched and have larger folds. The male vocal folds (which would be measured vertically in the opposite diagram), are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length. The female vocal folds are between 12.5 mm and 17.5 mm in length.

The folds in both sexes are within the larynx.



They are attached at the back (side nearest the spinal cord) to the arytenoids cartilages, and at the front (side under the chin) to the thyroid cartilage. They have no outer edge as they blend into the side of the breathing tube (the illustration is out of date and does not show this well) while their inner edges or "margins" are free to vibrate (the hole). They have a three layer construction of an epithelium, vocal ligament, then muscle (vocalis muscle), which can shorten and bulge the folds. They are flat triangular bands and are pearly white in color. Above both sides of the vocal cord is the vestibular fold orfalse vocal cord, which has a small sac between its two folds.

The difference in vocal folds size between men and women means that they have differently pitched voices. Additionally, genetics also causes variances amongst the same sex, with men's and women's singing voices being categorized into types. For example, among men, there are bass, baritone, tenor and countertenor(ranging from E2 to even F6), and among women, contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano (ranging from F3 to C6). There are additional categories for operatic voices, see voice type. This is not the only source of difference between male and female voice. Men, generally speaking, have a larger vocal tract, which essentially gives the resultant voice a lower-sounding timbre. This is mostly independent of the vocal folds themselves.

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I'll explain some of the terms in previous posts in details.

Your Voice Your Asset! (1)

The Singing Voice

The voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, reading, singing, laughing, crying,screaming etc. 

The human voice is specifically a part of human sound production in which the vocal folds (vocal cords) are the primary sound source. Generally speaking, the mechanism for generating the human voice can be subdivided into three parts; the lungs, the vocal folds within the larynx, and the articulators. 

The lung (the pump) must produce adequate airflow and air pressure to vibrate vocal folds (this air pressure is the fuel of the voice). 

The vocal folds (vocal cords) are a vibrating valve that chops up the airflow from the lungs into audible pulses that form the laryngeal sound source. The muscles of the larynx adjust the length and tension of the vocal folds to ‘fine tune’ pitch and tone. 

The articulators (the parts of the vocal tract above the larynx consisting of tongue, palate, cheek, lips, etc.) articulate and filter the sound emanating from the larynx and to some degree can interact with the laryngeal airflow to strengthen it or weaken it as a sound source.

The vocal folds, in combination with the articulators, are capable of producing highly intricate arrays of sound. The tone of voice may be modulated to suggest emotions such as anger, surprise, or happiness. Singers use the human voice as an instrument for creating music.

The Voice System

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