National Center for Voice and Speech

05/21/2026

Registration is open!

Join us for ICVPB 2026 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This conference brings together top voice scientists to discuss voice physiology and biomechanics.

05/20/2026

"This study aimed to characterize the biomechanics of vibrato and non-vibrato phonation in professional singers, focusing on vocal fold oscillation patterns and cuneiform cartilage movements. Ten vocally healthy, professionally-trained, western classical singers were instructed to sustain the vowel [i:] without vibrato, with vibrato, and again without vibrato, for approximately two seconds for each quality. Data were collected via acoustic recordings, electroglottography (EGG), and transnasal high-speed videoendoscopy. After segmentation, glottal area waveforms (GAW) were analyzed, and temporal trajectories of fundamental frequency ( fo) and glottal parameters were compared. Cuneiform cartilage movement was tracked in three spatial dimensions using the videoendoscopic image sequences. The participants maintained a relatively stable mean fo across conditions, with no significant differences in open quotient (OQEGG and OQGAW) and closing quotient (ClQ) regarding vibrato and non-vibrato. During vibrato, most participants showed a higher OQ in vibrato fo minima than in maxima. Vibrato was associated with lower cepstral peak prominence and higher sound pressure level (SPL), and SPL courses inverse to fo modulation. The cuneiform tubercle tracking correlated to fo showed vertical and horizontal movements which followed, in one subject, an epiglottis forward positioning, presumably due to a tilting by cricothyroid muscle activity linked to the vibrato phenomenon."

The abstract from "Investigation of singing with and without vibrato, using high-speed videolaryngoscopy and electroglottography by Isabella Gantner, Sophia Gantner, Marie Köberlein, Jonas Kirsch, Christian Kleiner, Peter Birkholz, Michael Döllinger, and Matthias Echternach. First published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, December 2025.

05/19/2026

Available now.

Fascinations with the Human Voice is an easy-to-read introduction to human vocalization. It is intended for non-scientific and non-clinical readers, with emphasis on the amazing versatility and expressibility available to everyone with the sound-producing organ. It is recommended for patients, stude...

05/18/2026

"It is difficult to ignore the impact that synthetic voices are beginning to have in man-to-man communication. In a day when toys speak to children, automobiles give their instructions and warnings in verbal form, and telephone operators (who have always seemed a bit impersonal) are no longer persons, we are beginning to wonder if speech communication is as genuinely human as we have always believed it to be. Children seem to adjust to talking objects much more readily than adults. They smile and reply enthusiastically when addressed by a friendly-looking or friendly-sounding robot, but adults find themselves a little embarrassed after having said “thank you” to a voice synthesizer giving out a new telephone number or the balance of their bank account.

What has brought about this sudden appearance of all these talking machines? Certainly there has never been a dearth of imagination among poets, writers, and story-tellers to create talking animals, plants, and extra-earthly creatures. However, these always spoke with a voice that somehow belonged to another human being. Voices could be disguised or modified, but a trace of human characteristic remained. Perhaps this is why evil characters in bedtime stories are not altogether frightening. Mother’s voice is comforting and reassuring under all disguises.

Synthetic voices, on the other hand, may or may not have human characteristics. Extensive research in the last century has allowed scientists to focus on the essential information content that is carried by the human voice. It was learned that unnecessary or redundant voice features could be eliminated. Much of this was brought about by the needs of the telephone and broadcast industries to economize on the amount of information transmitted over a voice channel. Unfortunately, elimination or alteration of some “unnecessary” characteristics may also render the speech unnatural. Thus, in a narrow channel (low-information) transmission system, one may understand, for example, what the message is, but not who uttered it (other than perhaps a male or female). In a slightly broader channel (higher-information) system the speaker may be identifiable, but his voice may have a strange quality, may be mixed with a hiss or a buzz, certain phonemes may be slurred, or vitality in the voice may be lacking because of limited pitch variation. "

From "Voice Synthesis: Part I" by Dr. Ingo Titze. First published in the NATS Bulletin, a predecessor to the Journal of Signing. March/April 1984

05/15/2026

Sounds like there is some real tension.

05/14/2026

Registration for ICVPB is now open!

October 7-8, 2025: The International Conference on Voice Physiology and Biomechanics (ICVPB) returns in 2026 with two intensive days dedicated to advancing the fundamental science of human voice production.

05/13/2026

Objectives
Clinical assessment of laryngeal somatosensation is limited by the lack of precise tools to directly stimulate the larynx and quantify sensorimotor responses. This study validated a blue light laser method for laryngeal somatosensory testing in vocally healthy adults and developed acoustic measures to quantify vocal responses to controlled laryngeal perturbations.

Methods
In this prospective validation study, a 445-nm diode blue light laser was delivered through a channeled flexible laryngoscope to the arytenoid mucosa. Single subablative pulses (1–10 W, 30 ms) were applied during quiet breathing or sustained phonation to determine perceptual and reflexive sensory thresholds, discrimination acuity, and laryngeal perturbation responses. Acoustic recordings during perturbations were analyzed in Praat using custom software to extract continuous fundamental frequency variability and quantify perturbation magnitude and recovery.

Results
Participants demonstrated reliable perceptual detection and laryngeal reflexive responses to laser stimulation. Mean perceptual sensory threshold was 1.46 W (SD = 1.17) and mean laryngeal response threshold was 4.62 W (SD = 2.04). Sensory ratings were higher during stimulation than foil trials (p < 0.001). Sensory perception increased with stimulation intensity (~0.3 points per 1 W; p < 0.001), and higher wattage increased odds of eliciting a laryngeal response (OR = 1.38; p < 0.001). Discrimination accuracy averaged 78.5% (OR = 1.45; p = 0.002). Laser stimulation during phonation produced measurable acoustic perturbations (peak SD(f0) = 19.35 Hz; recovery = 0.48 s).

Conclusion
Blue light laser stimulation is a feasible and precise method for evaluating laryngeal somatosensation and vocal sensorimotor responses.

from "Validation of the TruBlue Light Laser for Laryngeal Somatosensory and Perturbation Testing" by Adrianna C. Shembel, Ted Mau, Youri Maryn, Elizabeth Young, Julianna Smeltzer, Lesley Childs, and Shumon Dhar. First published in The Laryngoscope and accepted for podium presentation at the American Laryngological Association, April 2026

05/12/2026

Available now.

This book was created to honor Ingo on his 70th birthday. It is a compilation of essays and thoughts (some humorous and some strictly scientific) about Ingo and his influence in the field of voice and science. ISBN: 978-0983477167. Copyright 2013 If you have any questions on ordering books or book s...

05/11/2026

"It is likely that the term “covered sound” originated as a result of experimentation with covering the mouth end of various resonators, including brass and wood instruments. In singing we usually don’t cover our mouth with the hand, but we can cover it by rounding the lips. The effect is basically similar to lengthening the vocal tract, even though we do not physically change the length.

Our second rule states, then, that all formant frequencies decrease uniformly with lip rounding and increase with lip spreading. In combination with larynx height adjustments, lip rounding or spreading can be very effective in darkening or brightening the vowels.

In addition to vowel modification, lip rounding and larynx lowering may also achieve a better (or worse) matchup between the harmonics of the source and the formants to increase (or decrease) acoustic output power. A good discussion of this is given by Sundberg (1977). Increasing acoustic output power with formant tuning is very sensitive to the fundamental frequency (pitch), however, and no single answer can be given with regard to its efficacy. It is usually a trial-and-error process for a given vocalist to determine which modification produces the most power on a specific pitch."

from "Rules for Vowel Modification" by Dr. Ingo Titze. First published in NATS Bulletin, a predecessor to the Journal of Singing, Jan/Feb 1984

05/08/2026

Sounds like a bit of a blow-up.

05/07/2026

Registration for ICVPB 2026 is open! Be sure to use EARLYBIRD before May 15 to get your early bird pricing.

Join us for ICVPB 2026 in Salt Lake City, Utah. This conference brings together top voice scientists to discuss voice physiology and biomechanics.