| Abstract | Introduction:
Ventricular vocal fold (VVF) phonation can be produced by most people, but sustained ventricular phonation is an uncommon and often uncomfortable method of vocal production. However, among singers of some genres, including metal vocalists, beatboxers, and throat singers, VVF phonation is common and is easily produced without reported discomfort. Although previous studies suggest increased air pressure and flow are necessary to produce and sustain ventricular phonation, there is a paucity of quantitative aerodynamic data in sustained ventricular phonation. Understanding the mechanisms for sustainable VVF phonation can potentially lead to reduced risk of injury for singers learning this technique and can provide future didactic methodologies for pedagogues.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to compare mean airflow and mean peak air pressure between TVF modal phonation and VVF phonation in a trained adult male singer with the ability to comfortably produce VVF phonation in a vocal style similar to Kargyraa throat singing.
Methods:
Using both TVF and VVF phonation at approximately C3 (~130Hz), the singer sustained [a], [i], and [u], repeated the syllables [pa], [pi], and [pu] five times each, and spoke the all-voiced sentence “We were away a year ago.” To compare differences between TVF and VVF phonation types, sound pressure level and airflow of each task were calculated, as well as mean peak air pressure from the middle three of each set of repeated syllables.
Results:
Mean airflow was greater in VVF by a factor of 3 during the repeated syllables, by a factor of 1.5 during sustained phonation, and by a factor of 1.7 during the all-voiced CAPE-V sentence. Mean peak air pressure was also greater in the repeated syllables by a factor of 3. Intensity increased by 5-7 dBSPL in all instances of VVF productions.
Conclusion
Overall, airflow, pressure, and intensity were greater in all tasks during VVF phonation. These findings suggest that for this style of VVF phonation, greater airflow is required to sustain vibration, perhaps partly due to increased intensity during VVF phonation. Future studies will seek to address didactic applications of targeting increased airflow for VVF.
|
|---|