Vocal cord

“ The abductors act to keep the bands apart during respiration, while the function of the adductors and tensors is to bring the bands into position for speech or singing. They are, since phonation is at will, voluntary muscles; but it is an interesting fact that the laryngeal muscles of either side invariably act together. It has been shown that it is not possible to move one vocal cord without the other at the same time executing the same movement. It is thus shown that the laryngeal muscles are, to a less extent, under the control of the will than are those of either hand or eye. ”

“ In the chest register the vibrations of the vocal cords are slow and heavy; the vocal tract being in its relaxed, open adjustment, the larynx sinks slightly and, the vibrations taking place in their nearest proximity to the chest, they are communicated to it. ”

“ The voice will follow the thought as surely as the hand will reach the object aimed at. The extreme anterior part of the nares, or head cavity, is the chamber of resonance farthest from the vocal cords. Therefore, if the voice be directed through that chamber of resonance all the others must be passed in reaching it, and hence all must be accessible to the vibrating column of air. It is a law of acoustics that any given cavity of resonance will resound to that pitch to which its size corresponds, and to no other. ”

“ It is not always confined to the vocal cords, but usually extends to the walls of the pharynx and the body of the tongue. The vocal cavities, the pharynx and mouth, exert such a marked influence on tone quality that the least degree of rigidity produces an effect that is instantly noticeable to the trained ear. These parts of the vocal mechanism which are so largely responsible not only for perfect vowels, but for perfect tone quality as well, must at all times be so free from tension that they can respond instantly to the tone concept. ”

“ The greatest mechanical wonder, however, is that the voice, and that which is apparently one and the same sound, should under different circumstances emanate from sources so entirely different in their construction as the vocal cords to the trachea and those to the œsophagus, the viscera of the kidneys, the bladder and the lungs, etc. This fact also accounts for the mystery which, like an impenetrable veil, has hung over the features of the voice. Who has ever thought of looking for the spirit of the voice to reveal itself from beneath the tongue? ”

“ We have just learned that the pitch of sound depends on the rapidity of the vibrations. This depends on the length of cords and their tightness for the shorter and tighter a string is, the higher is the note which its vibration produces. The vocal cords of women are about one-third shorter than those of men, hence the higher pitch of the notes they produce. In children the vocal cords are shorter than in adults. ”

“ The vocal cords must, in their action, be free from the disturbance of uncontrolled breath action below them, or the hindrance due to misdirected effort above them. To direct consciousness to the vocal cords is to cramp them and prevent that free vibration and that perfect relaxation of the throat without which pure tone and true pitch are impossible. ”

“ It is simply the anterior specialized portion of the trachea, located at the base of the tongue, and in mammals is honored as the voice organ, whereas in birds it is distinguished as the fluting apparatus, the instrument that really produces the varied vocalization of the bird realm. But the music is not the product of vocal cords, as is the case in the human larynx, for at the upper end of the avian larynx there is a slit or fissure, somewhat elliptical in form, and set in the fork of the hyoid bone, which constitutes the bifurcated root of the tongue. ”

“ No doubt by closing the lips in silent humming I am in some way concentrating attention to the sensori-motor sphere of phonation and articulation, and by reactive association with the auditory sphere reinforcing the tonal sensations in the mind. The vocal cords (ligaments) themselves contain very few nerve fibres; those that are seen in the deeper structures of the cords and adjacent parts mainly proceed to the mucous glands. ”

“ An artificial larynx may be made by using elastic bands to represent the vocal cords, and by placing above them chambers which by their resonance will produce the same effect as the cavities lying above the larynx. ”

“ It is not surprising, therefore, that precisely those vibrations of the vocal cords, precisely those shapings of the cavity of the mouth, and those positions of the lips, often occur which we observe in the utterance of our vowels, and that among the child-noises produced unconsciously and in play are found almost all our consonants and, besides, many that are used in foreign languages. ”