Extrinsic Laryngeal Muscle Activity With Different Diameters and Water Depths in a Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercise.

PURPOSE: Surface electromyography (sEMG) has been used to evaluate extrinsic laryngeal muscle activity during swallowing and phonation. In the current study, sEMG amplitudes were measured from the infrahyoid and suprahyoid muscles during phonation through a tube submerged in water. METHOD: The sEMG amplitude values measured from the extrinsic laryngeal muscles and the electroglottographic contact quotient (CQ) were obtained simultaneously from 62 healthy participants (31 men, 31 women) during phonation through a tube at six different depths (2, 4, 7, 10, 15, and 20 cm) while using two tubes with different diameters (1 and 0.5 cm). RESULTS: With increasing depth, the sEMG amplitude for the suprahyoid muscles increased in men and women. However, sEMG amplitudes for the infrahyoid muscles increased significantly only in men. Tube diameter had a significant effect on the suprahyoid sEMG amplitudes only for men, with higher sEMG amplitudes when phonating with a 1.0-cm tube. CQ values increased with submerged depth for both men and women. Tube diameter affected results such than CQ values were higher for men when using the wider tube and for women with the narrower tube. CONCLUSIONS: Vocal fold vibratory patterns changed with the depth of tube submersion in water for both men and women, but the patterns of muscle activation differed between the sexes. This suggests that men and women use different strategies when confronted with increased intraoral pressure during semi-occluded vocal tract exercises. In this study, sEMG provided insight into the mechanism for differences between vocally normal individuals and could help detect compensatory muscle activation during tube phonation in water for people with voice disorders.

Can a natural singing voice be enhanced through digital processing? Implications of voice training and vocology in singers / ¿Se puede mejorar una voz de canto natural a través del procesamiento digital? Implicaciones del entrenamiento de la voz y la vocología en cantantes

Introduction. The traditional way of facilitating a good singing voice has been achieved through rigorous voice training. In the modern days, however, there are some aspects of the singing voice that can be enhanced through digital processing. Although in the past, the frequency or intensity manipulations had to be achieved through the various singing techniques of the singer, technology today allows the singing voice to be enhanced from the instruments within recording studios. In es-sence, the traditional voice pedagogy and the evolution of digital audio processing both strive to achieve a better quality of the singing voice, but with different methods. Nevertheless, the major aspects of how the singing voice can be manipulated are not communicated among the professionals in each field.Objective. This paper offers insights as to how the quality of the singing voice can be changed physiologically through the traditional ways of voice training, and also digitally through various instruments that are now available in recording studios.Reflection. The ways in which singers train their voice must be mediated with the audio technology that is available today. Although there are aspects in which the digi-tal technology can aid the singer's voice, there remain areas in which the singers must train their singing system in a physiological level to produce a better singing voice

Introducción. La forma tradicional de facilitar una buena voz para cantar se ha lo-grado mediante un riguroso entrenamiento de la voz. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, existen aspectos de la voz cantada que pueden mejorarse mediante el procesamiento digital. Aunque en el pasado las manipulaciones de frecuencia o intensidad tenían que lograrse a través de las diversas técnicas de canto del cantante, la tecnología actual permite ahora mejorar la voz del canto desde los instrumentos dentro de los estudios de grabación. En esencia, la pedagogía de la voz tradicional y la evolución del procesamiento de audio digital se esfuerzan por lograr una mejor calidad de la voz cantada, pero con métodos diferentes. No obstante, los principales aspectos de cómo se puede manipular la voz cantada no se comunican entre los profesionales de cada campo respectivo. Objetivo. Este artículo ofrece información sobre cómo la calidad de la voz cantada se puede cambiar fisiológicamente a través de las formas tradicionales del entrena-miento de la voz, y también digitalmente a través de varios instrumentos que ahora están disponibles en los estudios de grabación. Reflexión. Las formas en que los cantantes entrenan su voz deben estar mediadas por la tecnología de audio que está disponible en la actualidad. Aunque hay aspectos en los que la tecnología digital puede ayudar a la voz del cantante, quedan áreas en las que los cantantes deben entrenar su sistema de canto a nivel fisiológico para pro-ducir una mejor voz al cantar.