TAKING CARE OF A SINGING VOICE by Emeka Ibe

How Your Voice Works

Although you may not realize it, the production of voice involves a complex set of tasks requiring the coordination of many muscles and sensory nerves. Simply producing a simple syllable such as \a\ involves the use of rib and stomach muscles in coordination with the diaphragm to control airflow combined with muscles in the neck, voice box, upper throat, and mouth to modulate that air into sound. Sensory feedback from nerves in the throat and voice box, as well as sensory cues from the nerves of hearing also are involved in the processing of that sound to form the proper syllable. All of this complex coordination is performed instantly, subconsciously, and continuously during speech.

As the system is complex, there are many things that can go wrong with it. Anything from scarring of the vocal cords to lung problems can produce hoarseness. Below is a conceptual framework for how the human voice is created.

The human voice can be looked at as if it were a set of tunes played from a complex musical instrument. The basic setup for the production of voice involves three components. The first is the power generator. This consists of the lungs, which produce a column of air with a certain force. The force or pressure produced depends on the capacity of the lungs to store air prior to exhalation, and the strength of the muscles used to exhale that air. Problems with lung capacity or muscle strength can weaken the power generator, and may lead to certain kinds of hoarseness.

Hope you enjoyed reading the above and do stay tuned in as more will be coming on this in subsequent articles