1. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Sound
A localized disturbance in an elastic medium
Random disturbance - noise
Organized disturbance - tone
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4. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Sine wave
Most simple tone (cycles per second)
500 Hz
1000 Hz
Pure tones are rare in natural sources
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5. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Two sine waves
Different frequencies
Different amplitudes
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6. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Sine wave
Fourier Analysis indicates:
A single harmonic
No overtones
No partials
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7. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Complex wave
Complex pressure pattern
Complex tonal quality
125 Hz
500 Hz
1000 Hz
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9. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Complex wave
Result of adding sine waves together
This is Fourrier analysis
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10. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Complex wave
Fourier analysis indicates multiple partials or harmonics
This explains the complex perceptual quality – the ‘buzz’
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11. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Complex wave
Larynx produces a complex tone.
Passes through vocal tract
Air space ‘selects’ certain partials to amplify - to ‘resonate’
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13. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Formant
A formant is a resonance of the vocal tract
Formants have ‘pitch’ determined by the shape of the vocal tract
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15. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Vowel
F1 and F2 determine quality of sound – our ears define this as a vowel
Formant frequencies are changed by changes in position:
Tongue, jaw, lips, larynx, soft palate
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The University of North Texas

18. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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The University of North Texas

19. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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The University of North Texas

20. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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21. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Formant Tuning
Lining up formants to partials
Enhances intelligibility
Maximizes intensity
Provides support for vf vibration
Explanation for ‘pure vowel’ concept
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22. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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23. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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24. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Rules for Vowel Tuning
Dropping the jaw raises F1
Lowering the larynx and extending lips lowers all formants
A ‘back constriction’ raises F1 and lowers F2
A ‘front’ constriction’ lowers F1 and raises F2
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25. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Vowel Tuning for the Soprano
Sundberg has reported that a soprano can gain up to 30 dB by tuning F1 to the F0
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26. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
For male singers, F1 is too high to tune with the F0
Male solution lies in the ‘Singer’s Formant’
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27. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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28. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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33. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
Intelligibility
Singers are notoriously difficult to understand
Sopranos are the worst!
It’s not ALL their fault!
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34. The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop Session III – Articulation
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Consonants
Carry more information than do vowels
Classified as to:
Place of articulation
Lips, tongue, teeth, soft palate, etc.
Manner of production
Stops, plosives, fricatives, etc.
Voicing
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37. Places of Articulation
Bilabials
Both lips: [p], [b], [w]
Labio-dentals
Lower lip and upper teeth: [f] and [v]
Lingua-dentals
Tongue tip and upper teeth: [] and []
In Italian [t] and [d]
Lingua-alveolars
Tongue tip and alveolar ridge: [d], [t], [l], [n] and the flipped [r]
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Place of Articulation
Lingua-velars
Tongue and velum: []
Lingua-palatal/alveolar
Tongue blade and alveolar ridge/hard palate: [] and [j], [dz], and []
Lingua-velar
Tongue blade and velum: [k] and [g]
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Manner of Production
Stops and plosives
Air flow halted or begun abruptly: plosives at beginning and stops at end: [d], [k], [p], and [t]
Fricatives
Prolonged sound with noise: [f], [v], [s], [z], etc.
Affricates
Combines a stop and a fricative
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Manner of Production
Oral resonants
Voiced sounds, some considered ‘semi-vowels’: [l], [r], some glides: [j], and [w]
Nasal resonants
[n], [m], [], and [] (has glide quality)
Aspirate
[h]
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Manner of Production
Other sounds from foreign languages:
Three ‘r’ sounds: rolled [ř] and flipped []. Both lingua-alveolar. Uvular [], lingua-uvular. Not used in sung French art song.
Gottal plosive: coupe de la glotte []. Some sources put a bar underneath.
Bi-labial fricatives: Spanish [], []
Additional affricates: [], [kw], [dz], [pf]
German: ichlaut [] and achlaut []
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