A study of intra-laryngeal activity during production of voice in normal and falsetto registers

126 Pages·05.305 MB·English

by  Baisler, Perry Emanuel

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NAME AND ADDRESS DATE

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
A STUDY OF INTRA-LARYNGEAL ACTIVITY DURING
PRODUCTION OF VOICE IN NORMAL
AND FALSETTO REGISTERS
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
for the degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Field of Speech
By
PERRY EMANUEL BAISLER
Evanston, Illinois
August, 1950
ProQuest Number: 10060859
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TABLE OP CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS
INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM......... 1
Origin and Significance of the Problem
Significance of Particular Method Used
Statement of Purpose
APPARATUS............................................... 7
Photographic Equipment
Sound Recording
Analytic Equipment
Arrangement of Apparatus
PROCEDURE...........................* .................... 14
General Plan of the Experimental Procedure
Preparatory Procedure
Taking the Pictures
Examining the Film
Analyzing the Sound
Limitations of the Method
PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS.................. 27
Vibratory Patterns in Terms of Glottal Length
Vibratory Patterns in Terms of Glottal Width
Vibratory Patterns in Terms of Glottal Area
Combined Patterns of Vibration
The Apparent Thickness of the Folds
Supra-glottal Conformations
The Glide between Normal and Falsetto Registers
Results of Sound Analysis
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS..................................84
Review of the Problem
Summary of Results
Conclusions
Implications
APPENDIX A* Data from Glottal Measurements . * • * • 93
APPENDIX B. Sound Analysis Data........... 102
BIBLIOGRAPHY 108
t;,e i 7 6 3
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
I. Elements of the Experimental Conditions . . . . 36
II# Percentage of Cycle Occupied by "Closed,*
"Opening" and "Closing" Phases. . ................ 71
III. Glottal Width Measurements - Conditions I
through IV - Subject A . ............. 94
IV. Glottal Length Measurements - Conditions
I through IV - Subject A ........................... 95
V. Glottal Length-to-width Ratios - Conditions
I through IV - Subject A ............. 96
VI. Glottal Area Measurements - Conditions I
through IV - Subject A. .........................97
VII. Glottal Width Measurements - Conditions
I through IV - Subject B. ................. 98
VIII. Glottal Length Measurements - Conditions
I through IV - Subject B........................... 99
IX. Glottal Length-to-width Ratios - Conditions
I through IV - Subject B.......................... 100
X. Glottal Area Measurements - Conditions I
through IV - Subject B................. 101
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
1. Schematic Arrangement of Photographic
Apparatus • • • • . . . . . . 10
2. Set-up for Viewing and Tracing Individual
Frames. ........................ 12
3. Typical "Open” Frames - Conditions I to IV* . 22
4. Before and after Transition - Condition V . * 23
5. Tracings of Laryngeal Image - Subject A -
Condition I . . . * . * . . . 28
6. Tracings of Laryngeal Images - Subject A -
Conditions II and I I I ....................... 29
7. Tracings of Laryngeal Images - Subject A -
Condition IV...................................... 30
8. Tracings of Laryngeal Image - Subject B -
Condition I ......................... 31
9. Tracings of Laryngeal Images - Subject B -
Conditions II and I I I ...........................32
10. Tracings of Laryngeal Images - Subject B -
Condition IV......................... 33
11. Typical Visible Conformations of Supra-
glottal Structures. .................. 34
12. Length of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject A - Conditions I and IV . • . 37
13. Length of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject A - Conditions II and III • . 38
14. Length of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject B - Conditions I and IV . . . 42
15. Length of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject B - Conditions II and III . . 43
16. Width of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject A - Conditions I and IV ♦ ♦ . 47
17. Width of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject A - Conditions II and III ♦ . 48
Figure Page
18* Width of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject B - Conditions I and IV . * . 52
19* Width of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject B - Conditions II and III . * 53
20* Area of Glottis In Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject A - Conditions I and IV . * • 56
21* Area of Glottis In Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject A - Conditions II and III * • 57
22* Area of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject B - Conditions I and IV • * . 60
23. Area of Glottis in Successive Frames of
Cycle - Subject B - Conditions II and III * • 61
24. Variations in Glottal Length***to-width
Ratios - Subject A * ........................... 63
25* Variations in Glottal Length-to-width
Ratios ~ Subject B............................. 64
26* Proportional Representation of Vibrational
Factors - Subject B - Conditions II and III . 66
27. Spectra of Sounds in Normal Register -
Subject A ........... 103
28. Spectra of Sounds in Falsetto Register -
Subject A ........................................ 104
29. Spectra of Sounds in Normal Register -
Subject B .........................................105
30. Spectra of Sounds in Falsetto Register -
Subject B ........................ 106
31. Calibration Curve for Magnetic Tape
Recorder...........................................107
A STUDY OF INTRA-LARYNGEAL ACTIVITY DURING
PRODUCTION OF VOICE IN NORMAL
AND FALSETTO REGISTERS^-
Perry E. Balsler
Northwestern University
INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OP PROBLEM
It may be safe to assume that "registers* In the
human voice have been discussed as long as students have
been interested In the improvement of singing and speaking.
It was not until about the middle of the last century, how­
ever, that definite attempts to describe the phenomenon
began to appear in the literature. About that time, it Is
reported, Manuel Garcia defined a register as a series of
consecutive vocal notes which the musical ear can distin­
guish from an immediately following series of notes, such
that the change in passing from one series to the other may
also be detected (15). More recently Luchsinger offers an
almost identical definition which he attributes to Nado-
lecsny (6)* Almost all authorities agree that there can
be easily distinguished in most voices at least two such
"series"--a "lower" and a "higher," the latter often being
called "falsetto."
•^Grateful acknowledgement Is made of the assistance
of Dr. Paul Moore, director of this study.
1
2
With the clearer recognition of the auditory nature
of registers came attempts to explain them in terms of
characteristic alterations in the functioning of the vocal
mechanism- The frequent use of the terms "head-11 and
"chest register’* reflects the early tendency to make the
differentiation a matter of a change in the relative use of
these two parts of the body, i.e., to make resonance ad-*
justments the chief explanatory principle* On the other
hand, as modern methods of investigation have made the
larynx more accessible for observation, there has been a
strong tendency to seek at least part of the answer in the
altered function of the laryngeal mechanism (1, 4, 6, 31,
and others). It is in the latter tradition that the present
study was undertaken.
An early survey of the field revealed a considerable
lack of agreement as to the number of registers In the
human voice. Relatively authoritative opinion has placed
the count all the way from one (7) to six (6). In a pre­
liminary attempt to define the scope of the current prob­
lem the writer secured the cooperation of 64 students in
beginning speech classes at the University of Washington.
Each subject was asked to glide up the scale while humming
from his lowest note to the highest one he could reach with­
out discomfort. Of the total number only four failed to
exhibit a "break” that could be clearly detected by the ob­
server and six showed two equally obvious breaks. Of the
four whose voices seemed to continue in an uninterrupted