Vocal tract resonances in singing: Variation with laryngeal mechanism for male operatic singers in chest and falsetto registers

Abstract

Seven male operatic singers sang the same notes and vowels in their chest and their falsetto registers, covering the overlap frequency range where two main laryngeal mechanisms can be identified by means of electroglottography: M1 in chest register and M2 in falsetto register. Glottal contact quotients determined using electroglottography were typically lower by 0.27 in M2 than in M1. Vocal tract resonance frequencies were measured by using broadband excitation at the lips and found to be typically lower in M2 than in M1 sung at the same pitch and vowel; R1 typically by 65 Hz and R2 by 90 Hz. These shifts in tract resonances were only weakly correlated with the changes in the contact quotient or laryngeal height that were measured simultaneously. There was considerable variability in the resonance tuning strategies used by the singers, and no evidence of a uniform systematic tuning strategy used by all singers. A simple model estimates that the shifts in resonance frequencies are consistent with the effective glottal area in falsetto register (M2) being 60%-70% of its value in chest register (M1).