Journal of Voice

Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 342-350

1989 Raven Press, Ltd., New York

The Contribution of Aryepiglottic Constriction to

"Ringing" Voice Quality A Videolaryngoscopic Study
with Acoustic Analysis

Eiji Yanagisawa, *Jo Estill, Steven T. Kmucha, and Steven B. Leder

Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven
Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, and *New York, New York, U.S.A.

Summary: Fiberscopic video laryngoscopy was performed on five professional

singers to determine the presence or absence of aryepiglottic narrowing as a
function of voice quality. Each sang "Happy Birthday" and parts of the "Star
Spangled Banner" in six different voice qualities: speech, falsetto, sob (a low
larynx with a vocal tract expanded by relaxing the middle constrictors), twang,
belting, and opera. Several features were found to be common among the
subjects and related to specific qualities, Aryepiglottic constriction was
present in all singers in twang, belting, and opera qualities. Spectrographic
analysis related the constriction to the presence of the "singer's formant." The
presence of this type of constrictive behavior will require further research to
ascertain the possible benefits to those for whom a louder voice is essential and
to understand the relationship of this constrictive maneuver to the natural
closure functions of the larynx. Key Words: Aryepiglottic constriction--Voice
quality--Fiberscopic videolaryngoscopy--Acoustic analysis.

In the absence of organic pathology, a laryngol-
ogist in the routine examination of singers must be
alert to observe any constrictive behaviors of the
larynx. It is commonly believed that singers pre-
senting with what appear to be hyperfunctional
voice qualities are candidates for future problems
and such observations provoke alarm. Thus, when
a trained professional singer displays a tight ary-
epiglottic constriction, as one singer did in a recent
educational film (1), the laryngologist may become
concerned and question the method of the subject's
voice production.
The singer in question was videotaped initially in
1975 by Brewer et al. (2). The recordings at that
time revealed aryepiglottic constriction associated
This work was presented at The Seventeenth Symposium on
Care of the Professional Voice, New York, 1988.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. E. Ya-
nagisawa, 98 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511, U.S.A.
with the production of high-intensity phonations.
Pedagogical wisdom has assumed that laryngeal
constriction inevitably results in voice deteriora-
tion. H o w e v e r , we felt that this voice had not suf-
fered any ill effects from this constrictive behavior.
His profession required daily singing in the U.S.
Army Chorus, in which he is one of the soloists. He
sang many kinds of music, in different qualities,
often on the same evening's program. The interven-
ing 12 years of this type of vocalization has not
resulted in vocal deterioration. While there were no
objective measurements made between the two re-
cordings other than a visual comparison and an au-
ral subjective evaluation, there was no difference
either in sound or in production when the two video
tapes made 12 years apart were compared. Further-
more, the videolaryngoscopic assessment by the
examining laryngologist (E.Y.) was that the subject
was in excellent vocal condition.
The following questions then arose: (a) Is this

342
 AR YEPIGLOTTIC CONSTRICTION
aryepiglottic constriction a legitimate and consis-
tent feature of a particular voice quality or a partic-
ular singer? (b) Is it typical of all types of singing in
general? (c) Is it evidence of abnormal laryngeal
function for which corrective action should be
taken? The purpose of this paper is to answer these
questions by studying five professional singers us-
ing videolaryngoscopy and spectrographic analysis.
METHODS
Subjects
Five professional singers, three male baritones
(ages 38, 45, and 55 years) and two female sopranos
(ages 25 and 30 years), were studied.
Equipment
The following equipment was used in this study:
(a) flexible fiberscope, Olympus ENF-P; (b) rigid
telescope, Nagashima SFT-1; (c) two types of video
cameras, a JVC GX N8U single tube camera and a
Hitachi DK 5050 three-tube camera; (d) video re-
corder, 3/4 in. Sony VO 5600; (e) an Electro-voice
RE-10 unidirectional microphone; (f) color video
monitor; and (g) Kay Elemetrics DSP Sona-Graph,
Model 5500.
Procedure
Using the Olympus ENF-P flexible fiberscope
and two types of video cameras, a fiberscopic vid-
eolaryngoscopy was performed on five professional
singers with simultaneous voice recording. After
adequate intranasal topical anesthesia and adequate
laryngeal visualization, video recordings of the
singers were obtained as each sang " H a p p y
Birthday" and the same sections from "The Star
Spangled Banner" imitating many different per-
formers.
Several common voice qualities were clearly
demonstrated and recorded, including speech, fal-
setto, sob, twang, belting, and opera. Perceptual,
acoustic, and physiologic characteristics of four of
these qualities (speech, sob, twang, and opera)
were investigated in an extensive series of studies
(1973-1979) (3) and all six qualities were compared
acoustically and physiologically in subsequent elec-
tromyographic (EMG) experiments (4-6). One of
the authors (J.E.) was thoroughly familiar with the
fiberoptic characteristics of all of the qualities. In
addition, the perceptual and visual parameters of
each quality were familiar to the subjects and soon
became apparent to the other participants in the
343
study. These qualities were chosen initially (a) be-
cause they are perceptually easy to identify, (b) be-
cause they are universally recognizable across cul-
tures, and (c) because they have long been associ-
ated with specific kinds of music.
The first quality recorded was of ordinary,
speech mode, most often heard from those vocally
untrained citizens who must struggle to reach the
highest notes of the national anthem. The second
quality was that of falsetto, a flute-like, blown tone
one often hears in traditional English boy choirs or
in the upper ranges of men's voices. The third qual-
ity is achieved by imitating a repressed sob. It is
generally quite soft and is produced by lowering the
larynx and expanding the vocal tract with the relax-
ation of the middle constrictors. Rather piercing in
nature, twang is the sound identified with hillbilly or
country-western singing. It can be compared with
the sound of an oboe, the plucking of a banjo string
or autoharp, or the quack of a duck. Belting, a
sound identified with Ethel Merman from the mid-
1930s, and heard today in many Broadway musi-
cals, is the fifth quality. Belting has a much longer
history, however, for one can hear it used in the
traditional, ethnic music of many cultures around
the world, including the singers in our own African-
American gospel choirs. Belting is best described as
yelling, set to music. The sixth quality is the trained
sound associated with Western European opera
singing or the dramatic voices of Shakespearean ac-
tors.
Following the fiberoptic recordings of the sing-
ing, video recordings using either a JVC single-tube
camera or a Hitachi three-tube camera were made
of all subjects performing a m e s s a di voce, a vocal
exercise on a single fundamental frequency in
which the singer begins the tone very softly, in-
creases the intensity to a loud tone, and then de-
creases it again to the initial soft tone (Fig. 1). We
instructed the subjects to choose a comfortable
pitch, and to make the loudest portion as bright and
as loud as possible. Because we wanted the epiglot-
tis to be as forward as possible, we asked the sub-
jects to use the vowel/i/with a fronted tongue that
FF
pp p
FIG. 1. The musical symbol for a rnessa di voce, a vocal figure
where the singer begins softly (pp), progresses to the loudest
intensity (FF), and returns to the initial soft tone (pp), all on the
same fundamental frequency.
Journal of Voice, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1989
344
assured the widest possible exposure of the larynx.
Sound recording was accomplished using a unidi-
rectional Electro-voice RE-10 microphone held by
the subject approximately 5 cm from the mouth.
The microphone was connected directly to the
video recorder.
Spectral analyses of the m e s s a di voce were made
from the audio portion of the video recordings to
determine the acoustic effect of the presence or ab-
sence of aryepiglottic constriction. The signal was
extracted from the original video recording and fed
into the Kay Elemetrics DSP 5500 Sona-Graph
through a Marantz tape recorder. Three analyses
were made: a narrow-band spectrum of the loudest
and softest portion of the m e s s a di voce, a power
spectrum from the center of each portion, and a
measure of the relative sound pressure level differ-
ence between them (Table 1).
All video tapes were studied and reviewed by
each of the authors independently and selected
prints made of significant observations.
RESULTS
When the subjects changed qualities rapidly, the
laryngologists observed rapid changes in the posi-
tion and contour of the larynx. Because all five sub-
jects were consistent in these laryngeal shifts, it was
evident that different voice qualities were associ-
ated with specific gross postures of the larynx. Be-
sides the sharp shifts in laryngeal position, there
were changes in the length of the exposed vocal
folds, a change in the anteroposterior (AP) plane of
the vocal folds, and an obvious aryepiglottic con-
striction for all subjects in the three loudest voice
qualities: belting, twang, and opera and in the high-
est intensities of the m e s s a di v o c e .
In all cases in the aryepiglottic constriction, the
epiglottis or the tubercle of the epiglottis appeared
to move posteriorly, while the arytenoids seemed to
T A B L E 1. Fundamental frequencies and relative SPL
differences between maximum and minimum sections o f
the m e s s a di v o c e by subject
Relative SPL (in dB)
Subject fo (in Hz) Min. Max.
J.S. 247 -7 13
S.O. 440 - 18 - 11
A.B. 311 -20 -12
T.C. 233 - 22 - 13
M.H. 349 - 18 -9
Journal of Voice, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1989
E. Y A N A G I S A W A E T A L .
move anteriorly and/or to tilt caudally as the ary-
epiglottic sphincter narrowed the vestibule to the
larynx. The movement could be likened to the be-
ginning of a swallowing maneuver, but arrested in
midcourse.
In order to examine the vocal folds at closer
range, one of the subjects (J. S.) was asked to repeat
the different voice qualities using a Nagashima rigid
telescope. Even though the rigid telescope severely
limits the subject's movements, there were still
sharp differences in the supraglottic postures ac-
companying various voice qualities. To summarize
the observations in the qualities recorded in this
study, there appeared to be three types of relation-
ships between the aryepiglottic sphincter and the
vocal folds, as can be seen in Fig. 2A-F.
Type I is the familiar, normal speech quality (Fig.
2A), with the upper margins of the true vocal folds
approximated in a closed position. In Type II, the
vocal folds are more exposed, as seen in falsetto
quality (Fig. 2B) and sob quality (Fig. 2C). In sob
quality, the larynx was considerably lower than in
falsetto quality, and the plane of the vocal folds
appeared to have lowered posteriorly. In addition,
the vocal fold length in sob quality was thus com-
pletely exposed. Another known difference with
falsetto quality is the stiffness of the cover (7,8).
For either quality, the "stiffness" could not be de-
termined in our study.
In Type III, which includes the three loudest
qualities, twang (Fig. 2D), belting (Fig. 2E), and
opera (Fig. 2F), all present with a narrowing of the
aryepiglottic sphincter and a decrease in the visible
length of the vocal folds. In twang (Fig. 2D), there
was a decrease in the anteroposterior diameter of
the aryepiglottic orifice as the arytenoids and the
epiglottis approximated; a decrease in the fluidity of
the mucosal wave was noted. In belting (Fig. 2E),
the approximation of the arytenoids and the epiglot-
tis occurred to an even greater extreme with a ro-
tation of the arytenoids anteriorly, thus decreasing
the distance between the apex of the arytenoids and
the epiglottis. The larynx appeared to be closer to
the camera, suggesting that the larynx was higher in
the focal tract. The vocal folds in some instances
were totally obscured. In the opera quality (Fig.
Diff. 2F), these findings persisted concurrent with a low-
ering of the larynx and an increase in the fluidity of
-6
+7 the mucosal wave on the true vocal fold surface.
+8 As noted above, aryepiglottic constriction was
+9 observed to be a feature of the loudest part of the
+9
m e s s a di vo ce. To examine the acoustic character-
 AR YEPIGLOTTIC CONSTRICTION 345

FIG. 2. Categorization of videoendoscopic observations into three types of relationships between the aryepiglottic sphincter and the
vocal tolds: Type l: (A) normal speech with true vocal folds approximated in a closed position. Type lI: falsetto quality (13) and sob
quality (C) with vocal folds exposed and with no apparent vocal fold closure. In sob, the larynx is in a lower position. Type III: twang
(D), belting (E), and opera (F) qualities with tightened aryepiglottic sphincter. In belting, the larynx is slightly higher. In opera quality
(F), the larynx is slightly lower.

istics of the m e s s a di voice, spectrograms were
made of the loudest and softest parts of the vocal
maneuver as performed by these subjects. The anal-
ysis was made using the Kay Elemetrics DSP Sona-
Graph. In Fig. 3A-J, the lower trace is the narrow-
band spectrogram of either the loudest or softest
segment of the m e s s a di voce. In the upper left cor-
ner is the power spectrum averaged over the period
of time between the two markers in the narrow-
band spectrogram. The arrow is a 3 kHz marker. In

Journal of Voice, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1989

346 E. Y A N A G I S A WA ET A L .

!1 '

1 ~ 3 4 S I ? 8 1 2 3 4 5 II 7 I;
Frequeney (in Frequency (In Ida)

6
..... o___ i . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . l .........
z 4 ..... i ........ ~ ~ ~--- ~ z
tu i
3
Ill

u.
2

A TIME (11NO)
TIME 18 sec)

5 "

3
2

1 2 3 4 S I 7 | 1 2 3 4 S $ 7 8
Vrequenoy (In In'l~) Frequency (in Idt,t)
.~- 7 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

c 6 - .......... !

>-
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
z
tu 4 ~
tu 1

g :o
o
to

"- ~ . . . . . . . . . . . i . . . . . u_

C TiME (8 sec)
I.%
IJ T IME (8 see)

~s 5
4
<3 3
2
1

! 2 3 4 5 S 7 8 ! 2 3 4 S I 7 |
Frequency (~ ~) Ftequenny (in I n ~
7 .......... :r

TIM~ (S sec) F TIME (8 sec)

FIG, 3. Spectral prints of the m e s s a di v o c e . The lower trace is the narrow-band spectrograph of one segment of the vocal maneuver.
In the upper left corner, the power spectrum is averaged over the period of time between the two markers in the narrow-band
spectrograph. In the upper right corner is the corresponding video image. (A) Baritone J.S.--loudest section; (B) J.S.--softest section;
(C) soprano S.O.--loudest section; (D) S.O.--softest section; (E) baritone A.B.--loudest section; (F) A.B.--softest section; (G) baritone
T.C,---loudest section; (H) T.C.--softest section; (I) soprano M.H.--loudest section; (J) M.H.--softest section. See facing page for G-J.

Journal of Voice, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1989

 AR YEPIGLOTTIC CONSTRICTION 347

+, I +, 1
5

< 3 3

i' 1

1 2 3 4 s is 7 I I 2 3 4 5 k~l 7 8
Frequency (in kHz) F r e q u e n c y (in )

c S ........ . . . . "~' . . . . .
c 6 .......... +,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .++.~ +

4 ......... +7 . . . . . . . +::
t.iJ
g p,_.,
lu
w
o: 2
u,.
u.
I

G -----+ TIU E (8 sec) H TIME (8 IqlC)

-g 5

<
_. 3

1 2 3 4 s i~e ? i 1 2 3 4 5 I 7 I
Frequency (In ) F r e q u e n c y (in kHz)
~- 7 . . . . . . . . . . .
U -- " ii
~. . . . . . . + +:+++ c 6 . . . . . . . . [

- ++ ,5 ~ + +~ + i

>+- 5 >- 5 . . . . i
(..) U i
z Z 4
uJ ul

0 3

ii a: 2 ....

I
" 1 .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +
I
!

T IM E 18 sec) T IM E (8 sec)

FIG. 3 G-J

the upper right corner is the corresponding video his m e s s a d i v o c e (Fig. 3A), there was a high peak
image of the larynx taken within the time of the two near 3 kHz with a sharp falloff thereafter. In the soft
markers in the narrow-band spectrograph. section (Fig. 3B), the energy peak at 3 kHz was
All five subjects used only one vowel,/i/, with the considerably lower.
fronted tongue to allow maximum visualization of For the soprano (S.C.) in the loud section, the
the glottis. Each was allowed to choose his own center of the formant was at 3 kHz, and almost as
most comfortable fundamental frequency 0Co), high as the first formant. In the quiet section, there
which was sustained throughout the duration of the was a sharp falloff after the first formant and little
messa d i v o c e . For all subjects, there was more acoustic energy in the higher partials (Fig. 3C, 3D).
acoustic energy associated with a narrowing of the The spectra of the baritone (A.B.) (Fig. 3E, 3F)
aryepiglottic orifice and less acoustic energy when parallel those of J.S. in that there was a sharp fall-
the epiglottis was elevated and the orifice widened. off at 3 kHz in the loudest section and again a lower
From an analysis of relative SPL differences, it acoustic energy peak in the quiet section.
was found that four of the five subjects increased The baritone (T.C.) (Fig. 3G, 3H) displayed his
their SPL in the maximum section, while one (J.S.) highest peak at 2 kHz with a decrease in acoustic
had a higher SPL in his minimum section (Table 1). energy for the subsequent higher partials. How-
For the baritone (J.S.) in the loudest portion of ever, the overall increase in amplitude of the par-

Journal o f Voice, Vol. 3, N o . 4, 1989

348 E. YANAGISA WA ET AL.
tials in the 2,500--4,000 Hz bandwidth is still evi-
dent. In his softest section, there was little high
acoustic energy beyond the first formant.
The soprano (M.H.) (Fig. 3I, 3J) in her loudest
section displayed almost equal energy across the
whole bandwidth of the "singer's formant," from
2,500 Hz to the sharp drop in acoustic energy at
4,000 Hz. In her softest section, again, there was
little energy beyond the first formant.
DISCUSSION
The feature of aryepiglottic narrowing is part of
the sequence of movements associated with swal-
lowing, where the true folds close, followed by clo-
sure of the false folds, after which the aryepiglottic
muscle contracts in a purse-like fashion, following
which the tubercle of the epiglottis fits down over
the top of the adducted false folds (9).
That the constriction associated with swallowing
should be a part of the twang or belting qualities is
easy to accept for those voice professionals who
consider both qualities to be an "improper" use of
the voice. For them, in light of their bias, it is more
difficult to accept that constriction should accom-
pany "good" operatic quality. However, the asso-
ciation of aryepiglottic narrowing with "good" tone
is not a new concept. A review of the literature
revealed reference to aryepiglottic constriction in
singers as early as 1855, when Garcia reported it to
the Royal Society of London (10). He observed:
Various simultaneous causes modify the qualities of
the voice: 1, according as the glottis partially or en-
tirely closes the passes between the explosions, it
produces veiled or brilliant sound; 2, the tube which
surmounts and surrounds it also greatly affects the
quality of the voice; by its contractions it gives bril-
liancy to it and by its widening volume; 3, the epi-
glottis also plays a very important part, for every
time it lowers itself, and nearly closes the orifice of
the larynx, the voice gains in brilliancy; and when,
on the other hand, it is drawn up, the voice immedi-
ately becomes veiled.
In all cases, our observations of these subjects
confirmed Garcia's observations. During soft, quiet
phonation, the aryepiglottic orifice widens, and the
epiglottis is raised (Fig. 3B, D, F, H, J). When the
voice intensity is increased, the aryepiglottic orifice
narrows, and the epiglottis lowers over the supra-
glottic opening (Fig. 3A, C, E, G, I). Concurrent
with this movement, there appears to be an approx-
Journal of Voice, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1989
imation of the tubercle of the epiglottis and the
arytenoid cartilages.
While no formal perception test was made, in the
spectral analysis, all subjects presumably increased
in loudness, since there was more amplitude in the
higher partials between 2,500 and 4,000 Hz, that
bandwidth of the spectrum to which the ear is most
sensitive. The baritone (T.C.) (Fig. 3G) showed an
increase in amplitude of all partials in the 2,500-
4,000 Hz bandwidth with aryepiglottic narrowing,
but unlike the others, his highest peak was at 2,000
Hz. The normal frequency for F 2 for the vowel/i/is
higher, nearer 2,500 Hz. However, this subject has
had extensive training in lowering his larynx and
may be confirming the data of Sundberg and Nord-
strom (11), who found that with larynx lowering,
the second formant could drop in frequency by 500
Hz. In his quiet section, T.C. displayed little acous-
tic energy beyond F1, indicating that, indeed, his
larynx may be so low as to be in sob quality. There
were similar spectra displayed in the Colton and
Estill (3) study when their subject singers were in
the low larynx, sob quality.
In the analysis of SPL differences (Table 1), four
of the five singers increased in SPL with their loud-
est segment by 7-9 dB. The SPL data of one subject
(J.S.), who did not show an increase in SPL in the
maximum section, was at first inexplicable, until
one looked again at the power spectrum and the
corresponding laryngeal picture. When he shifted to
the minimum section, he also retracted his false vo-
cal folds markedly, widening the glottis to a degree
not displayed by the other subjects. It is conceiv-
able that his airflow may have increased, thus
achieving a higher SPL. In addition, he raised the
amplitude of the fundamental frequency and this
may also have contributed to an increase in SPL.
He is the most proficient of the five subjects and
may be displaying a pianissimo with a sound level
that might carry to the back of a concert hall, a
desirable objective for any singer. A future study of
this phenomenon might be useful to singers and
teachers alike.
Many investigators have studied the epiglottis,
the arytenoids, and the aryepiglottic folds. One of
the first video documentations of aryepiglottic nar-
rowing as a characteristic of "good" tone was re-
ported by Brewer, Colton, and Estill (2), and more
recently documented by Hirano (12).
In his modeling of the voice, Paget (13) experi-
mented with a rubber tube resonator shaped to pro-
duce the v o w e l / a / a n d found that,
 A R YEPIGLOTTIC C O N S T R I C T I O N
. . if the tube was further pinched immediately in
front of the opening of the reed tube, a definitely
nasal twang was given to the vowel sound. This con-
firmed my personal observations that the typical
American twang is not due to nasal resonance but to
a constriction of the pharynx."
The contribution of aryepiglottic constriction to
brilliance and loudness
The acoustic correlates of aryepiglottic constric-
tion has been considered by several investigators.
Sundberg (14), in explaining the generation of the
"singer's formant," a concentration of acoustic en-
ergy around 3 kHz associated with the "ringing"
voice quality, demonstrated that when the larynx
tube is smaller than one-sixth the cross-sectional
area in the pharynx, the larynx tube acts as a sep-
arate resonator. Rothenberg (15) theorized that with
those conditions, the laryngeal tube is no longer
coupled with the supraglottic vocal tract, but inter-
acts more strongly with the vocal folds. Bartho-
lomew (16) analyzed the voices of several " g o o d "
singers and found that all contained acoustic energy
in the spectrum around 2,800 Hz. He reasoned de-
ductively that
. . . . this leaves only the larynx as the source of this
ever-present frequency Beyond doubt, the larynx
itself is responsible for its generation, probably by
acoustic reflections between the rima glottidis (the
slit between the stretched cords at the bottom of the
laryngeal chamber), and the top rim of the laryngo-
epiglottal funnel (the rim formed by the top edges of
the epiglottis and the aryteno-epiglottal fold)
In an extensive study by Colton and Estill (3), 30
observers described Voice Mode 3 (twang quality)
as "bright." As documented by fiberoptic observa-
tions, aryepiglottic narrowing was a feature of
twang quality, and acoustic analysis of the tones the
observers heard for Voice Mode 3 showed high am-
plitudes in the upper partials. The vowel in all of the
qualities in the perception study were for the vow-
el,/a/.
Lichte (17), in a perception study of synthesized
tones, found than when the upper partials were
higher in amplitude, i.e., the partials in the spec-
trum displayed a positive slope, the result was a
tone perceived as "brighter" Conversely, when
the spectrum had a negative slope, the sound was
perceived as "softer and darker." Helmholtz (18)
described a "ringing, clear tinkling as of little
bells," in the presence of the higher partials from
2,640-3,168 Hz as a function of the ear being tuned
349
to these frequencies and having "nothing to do with
the characterisation of vowels."
As for the perception of loudness and "ringing,"
the bandwidth from 2,800--4,300 Hz is that area of
the acoustic spectrum that corresponds to the res-
onance frequency of the outer ear canal and where,
for fundamental frequencies below 1,000 Hz, there
can be a 15-20 dB advantage in sound transmitted
to the middle ear without an increase in vocal effort
on the part of the speaker or singer (16,19,20).
Constriction
It appears that aryepiglottic constriction is a nor-
mal correlate of the "ringing," "singer's formant"
accompanying efficient loud vocalization. Constric-
tion as a necessary condition for voicing is compat-
ible with accepted acoustic theory. There would be
no vowel distinctions without the constriction of the
tongue at different parts of the vocal tract, nor
would there by any consonants between vowels
without various kinds of constriction along the vo-
cal tract Perhaps the constriction that is deleterious
to vocal health is that constriction occurring di-
rectly at the level of the vocal folds, themselves, as
seen in the constriction of effort closure or cough-
ing, simultaneous with vocalization
In view of the association of aryepiglottic con-
striction observed accompanying our " b e s t " opera
voice quality, and considering there is evidence that
aryepiglottic constriction can contribute to an
acoustic advantage, and if singers display this fea-
ture with no ill effects (for one subject, after more
than 12 years of professional voice use), then per-
haps we should re-examine and reasses our ideas of
constriction as a negative feature of laryngeal be-
havior. Perhaps aryepiglottic narrowing should be
part of the training for those professionals who need
to increase the projection of their voices
However, one question persists. The aryepiglot-
tic sphincter mechanism is a vital part of the swal-
long maneuver, that most protective of normal vo-
cal behaviors. The video films of all singers studied
showed vocal fold vibration free of false vocal fold
adduction. What did these singers do to separate
aryepiglottic constriction from ventricular fold con-
striction.
Further study is needed to understand the effects
of aryepiglottic narrowing on vocal fold vibration,
as well as on the differences in neurological func-
tion between high-intensity vocalizations and the
natural closure mechanisms of the larynx.
Journal of Voice, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1989
350 E. Y A N A G I S A W A E T A L .
CONCLUSIONS
Five professional singers were examined to de-
termine whether aryepiglottic narrowing was a
function of a particular singer, a specific voice qual-
ity, or evidence of abnormal voice production that
should be corrected. Each sang "Happy Birthday"
and the same parts of the "Star Spangled Banner"
in six different voice qualities.
Different qualities recorded by each of the sub-
jects showed similar characteristics of supraglottic
postures of the larynx. There were three types of
behavior noted for the six qualities recorded: (a) the
normal phonation of speech or modal quality; (b)
the open, more exposed view of the folds, with little
or no closure, as seen in falsetto and sob qualities;
and (c) a tight aryepiglottic constriction that accom-
panies the three loudest qualities (twang, belting,
and opera).
An acoustic analysis o f a m e s s a di voce from each
of the subjects showed the presence of energy in the
bandwidth around 3 kHz (the "singer's formant")
when the aryepiglottic sphincter was narrowed, and
less energy when the spincter was relaxed and
open. Garcia's observations of 1855 associating
aryepiglottic constriction with brillance and an open
aryepiglottis with a softer tone were thus con-
firmed.
Acknowledgment: The authors are indebted to Stephen
P. Crump and to Laurie Fischer for their assistance in the
use of the K a y Elemetrics DSP Sona-Graph, Model 5500
at their offices in Pinebrook, NJ. Their assistance in the
use of this newest model not only saved considerable
time, but assured that the analyses of the acoustic prop-
erties of the rnessa di voce would be as accurate as pos-
sible. Jo Estill did acoustic analysis on all of the subjects.
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