National Center for Voice and Speech

02/05/2026

Submit an Abstract for the Upcoming ICVPB Conference.

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.

02/04/2026

"The geometry of the false vocal fold region during phonation is important to the understanding of the aerodynamics and acoustics of voice. The shape and dimensions of this region during phonation were estimated using laminagraphic tracings of the larynx.

Laminagrams from two previous studies—one with non-singer subjects (Experiment I, Hollien and Colton, 1969) and the other with singers (Experiment II, Wilson, 1972)—were traced, photocopied, and measured. Statistical analysis showed significantly greater false vocal fold height in males than females for both experiments.

The false vocal fold gap was also significantly greater in males than females for Experiment II, but reached only borderline significance for Experiment I. For each gender, most of the linear measures were greater in Experiment I when compared to Experiment II. These differences may be passive in nature (due to actual differences in subject size) or active (due to muscle contraction that displaced the false vocal folds during singing)."

This is the abstract from "The False Vocal Folds: Shape and Size in Frontal View During Phonation Based on Laminagraphic Tracings" by Meena Agarwal, Ronald Scherer, and Harry Hollien. First published in the Journal of Voice, June 2003

02/03/2026

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...

02/02/2026

"There are many other factors that contribute to the elastic properties of the vocal folds, too numerous to discuss in detail. The proper balance of water, sugar, salt, and oxygen, for example, is necessary to maintain stable elastic moduli.

Experimentation on excised human vocal fold tissue (Hirano, 1975; Levi and Titze, unpublished) has demonstrated that live muscle tissue has elastic properties quite different from dead tissue. But even in vivo, the proper chemical balance may be offset by the intake of drugs or any other abnormal physiologic condition.

In addition, temperature is likely to affect the elastic modulus. This has been demonstrated theoretically and empirically for a broad class of materials called polymers, of which human tissue is a subclass. Prolonged phonation may produce a small local temperature increase in the vocal fold tissues. If heat is not properly conducted away from the vocal folds by the vascular system, a change in the elastic properties may occur.

Finally, the elastic properties are subject to developmental changes. We are all too well aware that the vocal instrument, unlike mechanical instruments, does not maintain stable material properties over many decades. This is why it is so important to explore the potential of the vocal instrument and to preserve its flexibility before natural irreversible effects impose their constraints."

From "What Determines the Elastic Properties of the Vocal Folds and How Important Are They?" by Dr. Ingo Titze. First published in the NATS Bulletin, a forerunner to the Journal of Singing, Sept/Oct 1981 issue.

01/16/2026

The yellow is my favorite.

01/14/2026

"Fry and Manen (1957) performed one of the earliest notable studies on HFE (High Frequency Energy). Their work is unique in two respects. First, whereas most of the early studies previously mentioned included HFE only as part of a data plot or data report (giving little to no commentary), these researchers analyzed and reported data specific to HFE in voice. Second, their study consisted of acoustical analysis of the singing voice. This study reported on spectral changes that occurred when singing in the three different moods of “aggressive,” “joyful,” and “fearful.” They found that articulatory changes for these moods “seem to influence mainly the components in the higher frequency range from about 4000 to 8000.” Specifically, they showed that a baritone singing the vowel /i/ at 250 Hz had strong harmonic components up to 8 kHz in the “aggressive” mood, up to 6 kHz in the “joyful” mood, and no measurable components above 4 kHz in the “fearful” mood. No mention is made of how the singer was recorded, but the fact that the harmonics were noticeably altered in samples of isolated voice is intriguing given that most of the work in HFE to date has been on the noise of fricative consonants. These results prompt questions regarding the role of HFE in the perception of a singer or talker’s mood."

from "The perceptual significance of high-frequency energy in the human voice" by Brian B. Monson, Eric J. Hunter, Andrew J. Lotto and Brad H. Story. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, June 2014

01/13/2026

Available.

Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation is the first major textbook written in the field of Vocology. It addresses the fundamental postulates and exercises underlying voice habilitation, the art and science of taking a voice beyond normal conversational skills. It introduces voice m...

01/12/2026

"The pulmonary system of a singer is more like the small stream reservoir in that volume flow of air is often fixed by the lung capacity and the length of the musical phrase to be executed. Increase in available power is therefore regulated mostly by subglottal pressure. If the conversion of aerodynamic power to acoustic power is assumed to be a linear process (output is proportional to input), all amplitudes of vibration in the acoustic system will increase with subglottal pressure. The harmonic amplitudes in the spectrum of the sound will also be scaled equally, leaving the quality of the sound unaltered. (In the strictest sense, linearity cannot be assumed. There are some secondary amplitude-dependent pitch and quality changes, one of which was previously discussed in this column [Jan/Feb 1981].) A skilled singer makes ample use of this regulatory mechanism, not only because subglottal pressure can be adjusted over a wide range (0–60 cm H₂O), but also because it provides maximal independence between loudness and tone quality. (Pressure in cm H₂O equals 1.36 times the pressure in mm of mercury. Recall that one atmosphere is 760 mm of mercury. Hence, a singer can produce nearly one-tenth of an atmosphere in the pulmonary system.)"

from "How Can the Vocal Mechanism be Tuned for Maximum Acoustic Output Power" by Dr. Ingo Titze in the Journal of Singing Mar/April 1981

12/26/2025

Open and shut.

12/25/2025

12/24/2025

"In our opinion, the equivalent of the male singing voice revolution brought about by Duprez in 1831 occurred for females about a century later. Music theater singers like Ethel Merman were searching for a non-operatic (more speech-like) voice quality that would fill a large house without amplification. The quality should also be a better match to jazz instruments (primarily brasses, woodwinds, and percussion) than the heavily string-dominated ensembles and symphony orchestras used to accompany classical singing. Perhaps the voice quality was also to reflect the emancipation of women in the portrayal of stronger and self-determined characters. Traditionally, the adult female speaking voice is a linear extension of the girl voice to a lower pitch, without a dramatic change at puberty to another register that prolongs the closed phase in vocal fold vibration and thereby increases second harmonic energy. Research cited above has shown, however, that in high effort and high pitched singing, phonation with a longer closed phase (shorter duty ratio) becomes the belt when properly reinforced with vocal tract interaction."

from "Source-Vocal Tract Interaction in Female Opera Singing and Theater Belting" by Dr. Ingo Titze, Dr. Albert S. Worley and Dr. Brad Story. Journal of Singing, May/June 2011, pp. 561-572

12/23/2025

Available now.

Book Bundle: Purchase these 4 books together for the best value. When you purchase this selection you will receive the following books: Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation Principles of Voice Production The Continuing Influence of Ingo R. Titze on Voice, Science, and Music: A Fe...