Vowel sounds and resonance shifts

[keoladonaghy]

Aloha all. I have some linguistic training, but not enough to know that I can express this accurately, so I will ask Stephen, Robert and others more knowledgeable to correct any misstatements or misrepresentations. I understand that when speaking and singing that the sound of certain vowel is determined in part by the location of the sound/resonance in particular parts of the mouth (crude drawing here: ).

When I first started with SS I noticed that my ability to vocalize some vowel sounds was more difficult than others - perhaps as much as a major third difference between ee/oo and uh/ah. As I progressed my throat got more relaxed, I started getting better head and pharyngeal resonance, and the interval between the vowels started closing. I'm able to hit most vowel sounds (albeit with a light sound) at B4-C5 without straining (well, on good days ). It seems that the sound of the vowel is determined almost exclusively in the shape of my mouth and I don't feel much if any movement in resonance in my chest mouth or head anymore when I switch vowel sounds. Does this sound right or do I need to make some kind of adjustment?

[Robert Lunte]

Hi, welcome to TMV Forum.

This is a discussion about formant and the resulting overtones you can get by shaping the acoustic properties of your mouth, pharynx, lips, etc... phonetics. Maro Tonini, who has a profile on the main site at www.themodernvocalist.com has a fantastic presentation on formants and phonetics. I shared a Master Class with him in Verona, Italy not more then three weeks ago... back to your comment.

The main thing that has happened for you here is that you have shut down constrictions and replaced them with nice, neutral and isolated laryngeal configurations or "setup". Simply by getting balanced and learning to how to stop straining has resulted in the sound placement shifting to better places. A big clue to the difference between your ee/oo formants vs your open vowel formants is that the ee/oo are closed vowels. As such, they trigger constriction more then A, AH & O.

Great vocal technique includes having a grasp and understanding how to sing ee/oo vowels in your belts without triggering constriction. This is done by one of two techniques; 1). covering and 2). dipthongs.

I dont know if this answers any questions for you, but sounds like your doing fine... BTW, if you want to now take your highest notes and make them more edgy and less quiet and flutey... start working on your twang and get our of the balanced configurations.

Hope this helps.

[Steven Fraser]

Aloha all. I have some linguistic training, but not enough to know that I can express this accurately, so I will ask Stephen, Robert and others more knowledgeable to correct any misstatements or misrepresentations. I understand that when speaking and singing that the sound of certain vowel is determined in part by the location of the sound/resonance in particular parts of the mouth (crude drawing here: ).

Keoladonaghy: I looked at the diagram, and it does not really explain itself very well. :-( Here is how to decode what it says:

Phonetic scientists (and linguists) have divided vowels into three general categories, the 'front' the 'mid' and the 'back' vowels, based on where the hump of the tongue is, when viewed from the side. If the hump is forward in the mouth, the vowel is said to be a 'front' vowel. If the hump is in the middle, its a mid... you get the idea.

Also important is the vertical position of the hump, if there is one. On this chart, the position of the vowel symbol is to indicate where the highest point of the tongue is for that vowel.

Here is an important point: this chart does not tell you where the resonances physically exist or may be sensed, but in general where the tongue is placed when those vowels are made. Or said another way, where to position the tongue to get a particular vowel.

The physics of it is very interesting (and somewhat math-intensive) , but can be stated this way:

The entire vocal tract can be thought of as a tube. That tube has dimensions that can be varied somewhat, especially in the mouth section. When the dimensions are changed, the resonances change in predictable ways.

The hump of the tongue divides the vocal tract into three sections, 1) the part 'behind' the hump, (from the glottis to the hump) 2) the more-or-less narrow section at the hump, and 3) the part in 'front' of the hump, that is, from the hump to just outside the lips.

Within this general description, larger (longer, wider) spaces cause lower frequency resonances, and smaller (shorter, narrower) spaces cause higher frequency resonances.

So, when the tongue humps up toward the hard palate in the forward part of the mouth, the pharyngeal section of the vocal tract is connected to the part of the mouth section behind the hump, making that space very long. This makes a low resonance. Also, because of the tongue position, the space in the front of the mouth is very small, making a high resonance. The vowel that results, we call 'ee' (written in IPA /i/ ), has the lowest frequency first resonance, and the highest frequency second resonance. Look on the chart to find where 'ee' is written.

Also, when the tongue is relatively flat, there is not really much of a hump, so the pharyngeal and mouth sections of the vocal tract are connected with a wide space. In this situation, the first resonance is at its highest frequency, and the 2nd is at its lowest frequency. We call that vowel 'ah' (IPA /a/). Look on the chart and find 'ah'.

Similarly, when the hump of the tongue is high, but in the back part of the mouth, the vowel which results we call 'oo' (IPA of /u/). Find 'oo' on the chart.

There are other influences, too, but these are the basics of vowel resonances as they correlate with tongue positions.

I hope this helps. Post any questions this may come to mind, and I will be happy to focus in on details.

[keoladonaghy]

Robert: mahalo for your confirmation regarding what is happening. I only knew that these things felt very right and better than when I started, so your response is a welcome affirmation. This new-found stress-less production is still somewhat new and not second nature yet. Once it has become more natural and I don't have to think about it I will certainly be contacting you and perhaps setting up a Skype session to learn more about twang and other configurations.

Steven: I've seen numerous versions of that kind of chart, and the one I linked to was just one I found on the web. Your explanation of these processes was probably the most concise I've ever read/heard. My exposure to that kind of chart was mostly in reference to Hawaiian and some very slight variations in vowel sounds that are sometimes encountered in the language (mostly they are very consistent). I've never read/heard about the relationship of the tongue and its placement to this process in reference to these kinds of illustrations. It was very enlightening, mahalo.