Royal Colledge of Surgeons. Edinburgh. 06/10/05

Prof Arnold Moran lecturing on the voice. (He is a surgeon on the larynx etc.)
Notes:
Used Colin Watson software for analysis.
Birds have 2 voiceboxes! - one per lung.
300 songs for Nightingale.
Lyrinx is primarily to protect the lungs. Epiglotis Stops food falling down lungs.
Human mouth is small (no smell vs snouts) so can be controlled.
100s muscles used for speech - all controlled by brain.
So Drunk impacts muscle actions.
When chords touch you get sound.
200 cycles per sec - female
100 cycles per sec - male
Length impacts pitch.
Clicks of vibrations makes continuous sound.
Main definer of sound is muscle weight. Heavy = low.
Russian & Slavic genetic feature = a fluid in larynx so heavier. Females get this in west with age. (not men.)
Church split male/female for choires.
Boy trebles. Castration so less muscles but stronger than women. Bigger lung volume. Women don't have same power in lower register.
97 percent of music records have voice.
Some people hard to hear.
Some have' laser' voice due to harmonics.
Due to projection. 3KHz is easier to hear. Top end of piano. Some people
Pavaroti top C is 0.5 A soprano is 1. But the harmonics make them audible.
Sound wave has sharp dips cos larynx closes rapidly cos chords are held closer via training.
Harmonics sound louder. (Using cave of mouth. Each person does it differently!
Energy of non singer is wasted on lower KHz.
Passagio = moving point from one register to the other.
Opera singers get fat because lonely. Can't stop or drink cos damages voice.
Pop - mike allows voice chance to relax. Best are Ella & Frank. Could have been Opera singers.
Current fashion is voice is just another instrument.
Musicals audition for next while performing current.
Belting (Ethel Merman) = safe.
Twanging (Dolly Parton) (Les Mis)
Crooning
Falsetto (of pop) v high & unnatural.
Muscle injuries.
Nerves.
Real lesions.
Lump on chord - cist or nodule if diagnosed wrong will scar chord.
Voice messages turned to accent for region.
100 muscles in vocal - only n muscles used at one time.
Classical singers develop regular swopping = vibrato.
So classical singers can't do Cole Porter. (Vibrato spoils it.)