The Vibrator

If I were to go in order; Actuator, Vibrator, Resonator, I would have to spend time expounding on its interdependent relationship to the Vibrator and the relational intrinsic musculature helping it to do its job as it relates to human expression through employment of vocal sound.  You see, we don't just make mono-chromatic noises; through the voice we express delight, sadness, caring, wit, anger, fear etc.  All of these vocalisms draw on the voices ability to raise and lower pitch, vary texture and timbre by managing the amount of breath allowed in the tone, and create dramatic fluctuations in volume.  One can think of all of these vocal acrobatics as engagement of the machine or motor; the voice (motor) runs on released breath.  Hence, Bernoulli's principal.  Like an otter swims, the voice vocalizes; the otter manipulates water, the vocalism manipulates air.  It is how it is manipulated that warrants some discussion.

The "intrinsic" musculature of the throat, as it relates to vocal-ism, is a system of interconnected muscles that respond to the release of air through the vocal cords (thyro-arytenoid, vocal process, vocal folds, glottis).  This system manipulates the opening and closing of the valve at the top of our trachea; the same valve we use to speak, exhale, lift heavy objects and cough.  The varied functionality of this system of muscles is why there are so many approaches to singing technique.  I contend that there are only two approaches to developing or repairing a voice; in my opinion, only one is correct; the other has variations, but is largely the same.  If you take the wrong fork in the pedagogy road, there will be blood.

As it relates to vocalism, however, the focus for the moment will be understanding the basics for how pitch rises and falls in an unimpeded way as the vibrator responds to the passing of air in vocalism, and how this unimpeded singularity of a sorts allows a bubbling and effervescent play of emotions in the tonal vortex that is created in the human desire  and assertion to express something vocally.  The keyword to highlighting the action of this process is equilibrium.

The vocal cords are two bands of muscle tissue that are attachtched at a single point on the inside surface of the adam's apple (thyroid cartiledge).  These muscles pull against the back of the adam's apple when contracting.  Muscles when activated can only contract, they have to be acted upon by the contraction of another muscle to return.  Every muscle has an opposing muscle; think bicep-tricep in the motion of moving ones hand toward and away from the chest.  The opposing muscle to the vocal cords (thyro-arytenoid) is the crico-thyroid muscle.  It is attatched on the inner and bottom edge of the adam's apple and runs downward to the top outer edge of the cricoid cartaledge at the top of the trachea.  So when speaking, there is a playful tug of war going on between these two muscles, sort of like lightly challenging a dog with a chew toy.  After the vibratory process has begun we can intesify the contraction of the vocal cord and relax it; causing the voice to rise and fall in pitch and volume based on the emotional assertion being expressed vocally.

The pitch rising and falling is related to the mass of the vocal cord (string); think of a violin and the the action of the violinist's fingers.  A lower pitch is created by more vibratory surface being allowed into the action, and a reduction of mass causes the pitch to rise; this happens by the action of the crico-thyroid muscle.  How would you warn a young child, who out of curiosity might be reaching to place their hand on a glowing red surface such as an electric stove burner?  How would you impulsively say "Hot!"? Starting at a raised pitch, stretching higher and then lower, not a gentle action, but one that is allowed through equilbrium at the vocal cords; the intensity of the intial action yeilds abit to the release of the the contraction.  As the crico-thyoid allows the mass to reduce,  the cord is allowed to retreat slightly which allows the vibratory mass to reduce (like a glissando on a violin)

If the equilibrium is impeded, the action of the play between the vocal cord (thyro-arytenoid, heavy mechanism) and the crico-thyroid (light mechanism) is confounded and made more difficult by its action being stalled. The equalized balance between the involved parties of this intrinsic musculature of the throat is the seed where healthy vocal ism is either nurtured or destroyed.  The lens through which this action is evaluated and developed is in the observation of the actuator; Bernoulli's principal.  If this action, that has programmed our human vocal-ism from the moment of birth, is impeded in any way, even slightly, we have stepped off the path and into the weeds.  This is what I feel so strongly about in the process of developing the voice; it is  what I embrace when I assert that there are really only two methods by which to develop the voice, and that only one of them is correct.