breathing during singing.PDF

8/10/2019 breathing during singing.PDF

1/9

SHOULDER

BL DE

BRE THING BEH VIOR DURING SINGING

ohan Sundberg

Together with Curt von

N TOMY

Euler and the late Roll

eanderson. the author has

carried out a series of investi-

c nons of bre thng beh vor

during the last decade. This

article presents the picture of

phonatory breathing in sing-

rig that has emerged from this

Subglottal pressure is deter-

mined by muscular forces

lasticity forces, and gravita-

l ion. The phonatory function

Johan uiidberg

f the breathing apparatus is

to provide a subglottal pres-

sure. Both in singing and spe ech this pressure is adjusted

according to the intended voc al loudness.

but

in singing it has

need

o be tailored also to pitch; higher pitches need higher p res-

sures than lower pitches. A s subglottal pressure affects pitch.

singers need to develop a quite virtuosic breath control. Some

singers activate the diaphragm only during inhalation and for

reducing suhglottal pressure at high lung v olum es, while

other singers have been found to cu-contract it throughout the

breath phrase.

The tracheal p ull, i.e.. the pulling force ex erted by the tra-

chea on the larynx. is a m echanical link between the breath-

ing and phonatory system s. The m agnitude of this force de-

pends on the level of the diap hragm in the trunk, i.e.. on the

lung volum e, but it is also probably increased by a co-con-

tracting diaphragm . The pedagogical imp lications of these

findings are discussed.

INTRODU TION

By experience, voice therapists and singing teachers know

very well th t n efficient w y to improve phon tion

is t

imp rove the breathing technique. Yet, the breathing technique

can onl

y

generate an overpressure of air in the lungs. Such an

overpressure is needed for bringing the vocal folds into vibra-

tion It is not at all clear why the way in which the

overpressure was achieved should affect the vocal-told lone-

tion. How do the folds know if the overpressure was created

by a contraction of the abdominal wall or of the rib cage? And

why should that matter?

Lately, several advances have been m ade in our under-

standing of the breathing apparatus and its signif icance to

singing. After the pioneering investigations by Proctor, M ead.

and associates. summarized in Proctor (1980). important con-

tributions have been m ade by Hixon and associates (Nixo n.

19 87 ). and during the eighties, the author had the privilege of

carrying out a series of investigations of singers' breathing

together w ith the neurologist Curt von Euler and the late

phoniatrician Rolf Leanderson (Leanderson. Sundherg. 'on

Euler. 19 87 ; Sundherg. Leanderson. von Euler (19 8tfl.

In this overview. I w ill first review the anatomy and physi-

ology of the breathing apparatus, and then sum m arize the

picture that has em erged from this research.

Phonation requires that the air pressure inside the lungs is

raised. This air pressure serves as the m ain physiological con-

trol parameter lr vocal loudness: the higher the pressure. the

louder. The elevation of the lung pre.sure, henceforth the

suhglorral pressure is

achieved by decreasing the volume of

the rib cage. in wh ich the lungs are hanging. There are three

different forces that contribute to this volume: muscular

forces, elasticity lrces, and graviation (see Table I).

Table

Forces Beh ind Suhglo t ta l Pressure

Inha la tory

xhatatory

Muscles

xt. Intercost.

m t.

ntercost.

Diaphragm Abd. Wall

Elasticity

ow LV: Rib Cage

High LV: Rib Cage

Lungs

Gravitation Upright/Sitting

Supine/Hanging

Muscle Forces

Som e of these forces are produced by muscles. The

int r

ins/al muscles

are attached to the ribs, as shown in Figure I

The inspiratory (external) intercostals wideti the rib cage by

l if ting the ribs, and so provide an inspiratory m uscle force.

The expiratory (internal) intercostal m uscles decrease the rib

cage volume.

INTERCOST L MUSCLES

EXTERN L

INTERN L

Figure 1 1

sleriial and internal intercostal m uscles that lift and

com press the ribs during inspiration and expiration, respectively.

(After Seidner W endler. 19)

THE NATS JOURNAL

ANUARY/FEBRUARY 1993


2/9

OBLIQUE

RIBS

R N L

I Q U E

T US

The diaphi agin is

another important breathing m uscle.

When relaxed, i t assumes the shape of a vault pointing into

the rib cage. Its edge inserts into the lower contour of the rib

cage, as is shown in Figure 2. When contracting. it is f lat-

tened so that the f loor in the r ib cage is low ered, and i ts

volume is increased. Thus, the diaphragm is an inhalatory

muscle.

R I B C A G E

Figure

2. Diaphragm muscle, the mobile floor of the rib cage. By

contracting, the floor lowers, causing an inspiratory force.

With the body in an upright position. the diaphragm muscle

can be restored to its upward-bul g

ing shape only by means of

the

abdominal wa/I muscles

shown in Figure 3. B y contract-

ing, these muscles press the abdom inal contents upward, into

the rib cage, so that the diaphragm. the floor in the rib cage.

moves upward and the lung volume is decreased. Therefore,

the abdominal wall muscles are muscles for exhalation,

BDOMIN L W LL MUSCLES

F i g u r e 3 Abdominal wall

muscles that move the abdominal wall

inward

so

that the abdominal contents move toward the rib cage.

thus causing an expiratory force. (A fter Seidner Wendler. 19 )

The inspiratory and expiratory intercostals represent a

paired muscle group that produces both inspiratory and expi-

ratory forces. The abdominal wall and the diaphragm repre-

sent a similar paired muscle group for inhalation and exhala-

tion It is possible to breathe using one or both of these

muscles groups. In costal breathing. only the intercostals are

used for respiration. and in ventricular breathing. only the

diaphragm and abdomen are used as respiratory muscles.

T he volume of the abdominal contents cannot easily he

altered appreciably. T herefore. when the d iaphragm contracts,

i t presses the abdominal contents dow nward w hich, in turn,

press the abdominal wall outward. Actually, expansion of the

abdom inal wall during inhalation is a safe sign that the dia-

phragm w as activated. It' . on the other hand, the abdominal

wall remains flat during inspiration, this means that only the

intercostal muscles w ere used. A n expansion of the abdomi-

nal wa ll dur ing phona tion is not necessar i ly a sign of dia-

phragmatic activation. It may equally well result from the

increased lung pressure that is required for phonation. A n

overpressure in the lungs is transmitted downward through a

relaxed diaphragm. Hence, the subglottic pressure will exert

a pressure on the abdominal wall. By contracting the abdomi-

nal wall muscles, this expansion can he avoided.

lasticity Fo rces

A part from these muscular forces, there are also

el sticity

forces. The magnitude of these recoil forces depends on the

amount of air contained in the lungs, or the lung volume. The

effects and their dependence on lung volume are illustrated

schematically in Figure 4.

S U I3 G L O T T A L P R E S S U R E S

P R O D U C E D B Y E L A S T IC IT Y F O R C E S

PRESSURES REQUIRED

FOR TONE SUNG

100

p

80

T O T L

6

RIBCAGE\1

L U NG S

:: F

RC

S U B G L O IT A L P R E S S U R E ( cm H2 0)

Figure

4. S uhglottal pressures caused by the lung-volume-depen-

dent elasticity forces of the breathing apparatus. The elasticity

of

h

lungs

is

always an exhalatory force, while the elasticity of the rib

cage is

exhalator y

at large lung volumes and inhalatory at

low

u n g

volumes. T he lung volume where inhalatory and exhalatory forces

balance each other

is

called the functional residual capacity, or FR('.

T o

maintain a constant suhglottic pressure for a PP or

a

1 1 l o n e t h e

elasticity forces niust he complemented by activation

ii

the breath-

ing muscles that strongly depend on the ever-changing lung volume.

(A fter Proctor. 198 0).

0

0

>

z

JA N U A R Y /F E B R U A R Y 1 9 93

HE N TS JOURN L


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The lungs always attempt to shrink,

somewhat as rubber balloons, when

hanging inside the rib cage. They arc

prevented from doing so by the tact

that they are surrounded by a vacuum.

The lungs exert an entirely passive ex-

piratory force that increases with the

amount of air inhaled. According to

Proctor 1980. this force corresponds

to a pressure that may amount to

around 20 ciii HO after a maximum

inhalation. After a deep exhalation, ills

only a few cm H20.

If the rib cage is forced to deviate

from its rest volume. e.g.. because of' a

contraction of the intercostal muscles, it

strives to return to the rest volume.

Therefore, the rib cage produces elastic

forces- After a deep costal inhalation, a

passive expiratory Force is generated

that may produce an overpressure of

about 10 cm H

0. Conversely, if the rib

cage is squeezed by the expirator

yin-

tercostal muscles. ii strives to expand

again to reach the rest volume. After a

deep costal exhalation, the resulting

passive expiratory force may produce

an underpressure of about 20 cm H:().

Gravi tat ion Forces

The air pressure in the lungs is at-

fected also by a third kind of force:

gravitation. When we are in an upright

position, the abdominal contents pull

the diaphragm downward and hence

produce an inhalatory force. If we lie

clown on our hack or if. for some rca-

son, we arc hanging upside-down.

gravitation strives to move the abdomi-

nal content into the rib cage and so

produces an exhalatory force.

As there are both cxhalatory and

itihalatory elasticity forces which de-

pend on lung volume, there is a particu-

lar lung volume value for the respira-

tory mechanism at which the passive

inspiratory and expiratory forces are

equal. This lung volume value is called

the functional residual capacity (FRO.

As soon as the lungs are forced to de-

part from FRC by expanding or con-

tracting, passive forces try to restore

the FRC volume. This effect, by the

way, is used when one tries to revive

people by artificial breathing: the

patient's chest is alternately squeezed

and released: when released, elasticity

produces an i nhalatory force.

REGULATION OF

SUBG LOTfAL P RESSURE

Above we have seen that subglottic

pressure is dependent on the activity in

different respiratory muscles, plus the

lung-volume-dependent passive elastic-

ity forces, plus the posture-dependent

influence of gravitation. As illustrated

in Figure 4. the muscular activity re-

quired for maintainin

g

a constant

suhglottic pressure is dependent on the

lung volume because the elasticity

forces of the lungs and the rib cage

strive to raise or to lower the pressure

inside the liing. depending on whether

the lung volume is greater or smaller

than the functional residual capacity.

FRC. When the lungs are filled with a

large quantity of air. the passive exhala-

tion force is great, and it generates a

high pressure. If this pressure is too

high for the intended phonation, it can

be reduced by a contraction of the

muscles of inhalation. The need for this

activity then gradually decreases as the

lung volume decreases, and it reaches

zero at the rest volume, because there

the passive exhalation forces cease.

Be

y

ond this point, the muscles of exha-

lation must take over more and more.

so

that one compensates for the increas-

ing inhalation force of the increasingly

compressed rib cage.

Figure 4 also shows two suhglottic

pressures typically needed for produc-

ing a pianissimo (pp) note and a

fortissimo

fl) note. It is evident that the

demands for compensatory activity of

inspiratory muscles are quite high when

a note is to be sung pp after a niaxi-

mutii inhalation, and conversely, that a

good deal of muscular expiration activ-

ity is required if a note is to be sung

. f f

with lungs that contain only some small

proportion of their full capacity.

When we speak. we generally use

rather small lung volumes, typically the

middle 50

o

what is available

(Watson Hixon. 1995). Under these

conditions, the elasticity forces are not

ver

y

strong. In singing. it is often nec-

essary to use a large portion of the vital

capacity, starting with full lung-

., and

ending with the lungs nearly depleted

(Watson & Hixon. 195). Under these

conditions, the elasticity Forces are con-

siderable. At the sanie time, suhglottal

pressure must be varied with great pre-

cision. Therefore, the demands placed

on the respiratory system in singing are

high.

Subglottal Pressure

and Loudness

Ideally, subglottal pressure is mea-

sured by inserting a fine needle into the

trachea. This is obviously a rather in-

trusive method and not the only one

possible. The lung pressure enters the

mouth as soon as the glottis is open and

the mouth is shut. This is exactly what

happens when we pronounce the conso-

nant

Ipi.

Consequently. it is possible to

measure the air pressure in the lungs

also in the mouth during the

p

i occlu-

sion (Vail den Berg. 1959: Rothenberg,

196: Smitheran & Hixon. 191). An-

other possibility that also causes very

little discomfort is to measure the

esophageal pressure. The subject therm

swallows a thin catheter or a rubber

balloon into the esophagus (van den

Berg. 1962: Draper. Ladefoged. &

Whitteridge, 1962). The pressure thus

captured does not correspond exactly to

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6 THE NATS JOURNAL



4/9

0

2

e sr

?

SJS SRS

the subglottal pressure. because the

contribution from the lung elasticity

does not appear in the esophagus. At

high lung volumes in particular. the

esophageal pressure is, therefore, con-

siderably lower than the subglottal

pressure. This is a problem of minor

concern if only chan ges of subglottal

pressure are of interest.

As men tioned. suhglottal pressure is

the main physiological parame ter for

variation of vocal loudne ss. Figure 5

il lustrates this. It shows the so und level

and the underlying subglottal pressure

in a singer who alternates between

cithitolone

and

suhito piano

at a con-

stant pitch. Both sound level and

subglottal pressure are changed quickly

and in synchrony between tw o rather

stationary values such that squarewave-

l ike patterns emerge. The louder poi-

ions of the tone are associated w ith

higher pressures.

p

L U

TiME

s

Figure 5. V ariation of suhglottal pressure

during variation of vocal loudness. The top

curve shows sound level, the middle curve

e s o p h a g e a l

rid the bottom curve

f u n d a m e n t a l Ir c q u e n c v

It is noteworthy that different indi-

viduals seem to need different

subgloual pressures for achieving the

same loudness. Figure 6 illustrates this,

showing the sound level obtained for a

subglottal pressure of 10 cm H:O by

different male singers. The figure also

shows the relevance of vocal technique:

the sound level obtained in pressed

phonation. i.e.. with an exaggerated

glottal adduction, is much lowe r that in

neutral phonation. Differences in vocal

technique may not he the on ly reason

for the inter-individual variation show n

in the fi ,ure. It is equally poss ible that

the vocal folds are stiffer in some indi-

viduals, and that this implies the need

for higher subglottal pressures.

MEAN SF1 OBTAINED FOR P

s1

kP

SUBJECT

Figure 6

C omparison of the sound level

obtained by different singers for a suhglottal

pressure of

10 cm 1-1:0. The two suhects

RS and JS used different modes of phona-

tion: pressed and neutral, i.e.. with and with-

out exaggerated glottal adduction: this had

clear consequences for the result.

Subglott aI Pressure and Pitch

In singing, variation of suhglottal

pressure is required not onl y

when

loudness but also when pitch is

changed (Cleveland Sundherg.

1985). When w e increase pitch, we

stretch the vocal folds. It seems that

stretched vocal folds require

it

higher

driving pressure than taxer vocal folds

Titze. 1989). Thus, higher subglottal

pressures are needed for high pitches

than for low pitches.

Figure 7 il lustrates this. Here, the

singer was performing a se ries of alter-

nating rising and falling octaves. It can

he observed that the higher pitch was

produced w ith a much higher pressure

than the lower pitch. The wrinkles in

the pressure curve are signs of the

happy fa ct that the subject was alive:

they reflect his heart beats. The

wrinkles in the fundamental frequency

curve correspond to the vibrato.

3 0 0

H

T

l

T

n f l

TIME

Figure

7

Variation of subglottal pressure

observed when a professional singer per-

formed a series of alternating rising and

falling octaves. The top curve sh ows

esophageal pressure, and the bottom curve

fundamental frequency. The wiggles in the

top curve reflect pressure variations caused

by blood circulation in the aorta, while

those of the bottom curve depend on the

vibrato.

Figure

8 shows

the suhglottal pres-

sure of it

professional baritone singing

soft, medium. and loud ascending chro-

niatic scales

. It can he seen that pres-

sure consistently rises with pitch. This

relationship is typically found in s ing-

ers. S uhglottal pressure is always the

main tool for loudness variation, but

for each pitch the singer has to adjust

the scale, working with high pressures

at high pitches and low pressures at

low pitches.

2 0 [

. . X

1::iLT

0

1ND,'.I,IENTAi. FREQUENCY (i-ti)

Figure 8. Pitch and loudness dependence

iii suhglottal pressure measured as oral

pressure during p1-

occl u sion

for the tones

in ascending chromatic scales from E

5

to

E

h

4

sung at low, middle, ndhigh vocal

loudness, as sung by a professional male

s i n g e r

The above has very important conse-

quences for singers. They have to tailor

the suhglottat pressure for every note.

taking into consideration both its loud-

ness and its pitch. Thus, each new pitch

has to he w elcomed by its own pressure

in the respirator

y

apparatus. Given the

fact that hitche

s

tend to change con-

stantl

y and rather freq uently in music.

we can imagine that the breathing sys-

tem keeps its ow ner busy during sing-

i n g

As if this were not enough, there is a

musically highly reles ant comp licating

effect of suhgloltal pressure. It affects

the pitch: other things being eq ual, a

raised suhglottal pressure raises the

pitch. This mean s that an error in the

suhglottal pressure is manifested not

only as an e rror in loudness, w hich,

perhaps, may be of limited concern, but

also as an error in pitch, which, of

course. may be a d isaster for a singer.

A singer must, therefore, tune

suhglottal pressure quite accurately in

order to sing all notes in tune. Accord -

ingly, one finds very well-formed

suhglottal pressure patterns iii profi-

cient singers. Figure 9 illustrates this. It

shows the pressures produced by

it

bari-

tone singing an asccnoling triad on the

tonic chord and a descend ing triad on

J A N U A R Y /F E B R U A R Y 1 99 3

H E N A TS J O U R N A L


5/9

for en

and Women

S O N G S F O R L O W V O I E

in a com fortab le r ange

18 Vocal Solos with Piano Accompaniment.

Transcribed and Edited by Leonard Van Camp.

Includes accompaniment cassette.

Fol lowing the success of Songs for Bass in a comfortable Range (05201,

05201 A, 05201 B ), Leonard Van C amp has devised this valuable selection

of songs sui table for both low-voiced male an d fema le s ingers.

the dominant seventh chord. No te that

the singer did no t give the top pitch the

highest pressure. Instead, the peak pies-

sure is g iven to the f i rst note af ter the

top note. This no te is the f i rs t that ap-

pears over the new chord a nd. there-

fore, it represents the m usical peak of

th is phrase. Con sequent ly . the singer

gives this note the main stress

(Sundherg. 199).

1 0 0

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fJ J1JJ.J,JJJjfuiJjJ j.

j

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0r

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.JJI.iJ{lj\]JJJJJ

vAt-

200

150 r-

'C O

TIME

Figure 9

Pitch and loudness dependent

variation

of

suhglottal pressure in singing.

The top, middle, and bottom curves repre-

sent sound level, oral pressure during (p1-

occlusion, and fundamental frequency in a

professional baritone singer performing an

exercise with an ascending triad up to the

twelf th on the tonic chord followed by a

descending doni i nant seventh triad.

The skil l required for an accurate re-

produ ction of this exercise is obv iously

very h igh. and i t is even greater i f the

tones are sung s taccato rather than

legato. In staccato, the vocal folds must

open the glot t is during the s i lent seg-

men ts. For th is to he p ossib le without

wasting air , suhglottal pressure m ust he

reduced to zero dur ing the si lent in ter-

vals. As a consequence, the singer has

to switch from the target value that wa s

required for the pitch to zero during the

si lent in terval, and then up to the new

target value which is dif ferent from the

previous one . A failure to reach the tar-

get pressures is m anifested as a pi tch

error . Th is p i tch error becom es qu i te

substan tial in loud sing ing, part icularly

at h igh pitches. From the point of v iew

of breath an d p i tch co ntro l, th is ex er -

cise is clearly virtuosic.

It is interest ing to com pare this type

of pressure con trol wi th that required

for speech . This is il lustrated in Figure

10. It shows suhglottal pressure in neu-

tral and emphatic speech. Neutral

speech is characterized by the absence

of heavy stress ; in this type of spee ch,

it is suff icient to signa l stress b

y funda-

mental frequency and syllable duration.

Co nsequen t ly , there is l it t le n eed for

loudness variat ion, and the subgloual

pressure curve i s smoo th. In emot ive

spee ch. by contrast, loudn ess also is

used for s ignal ing s t ress. Therefore,

sudden increases of sub glottal pressure

are need ed, as i l lustrated in the graph.

JO E

TE

OUP

-

C

TIME(sec)

.05

TE

05

U

LU- .-------

I I ECU

Figure 10

Suhglottal pressure during

neutral and emphatic speech. The upper and

tower curves represent fundam ental fre-

quency and subglottal pressure. The under-

l ined words were emphasized. Emp hasis is

realized by increases of

siihglottal pressure.

(After Liehermait. 1

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THE NATS JOURNAL



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crucial to pitch: the higher the p itch, the

smal ler th is gap. I t is narrowed by con-

traction of the cricothyroid muscles, the

major agents for pitch control. Therefore.

under conditions of constant

pitch

w e

expected

the

CT muscle to contract to

different degrees dep ending on the p osi-

t ion of the diaphragm.

The first experiment was to have

singers phona te a t d i f fe rent lung vo l -

umes. The cricoth

roid contraction w a s

measured

in terms

of

the

EM U signal

that

was captured by a needle electrode

inserted into

the

muscle. It turned out

that the CT contracted more vigorously

when the diaphragm w as in a low posi-

t ion than w hen i t was in a h igh pos i -

tion.

Thus, the tracheal pul l increased

the need for CT contract ion. ' :

The next experiment was to have the

singers perform pitch jumps apply ing

first the flaccid diaphragm technique and

then the co-contracting diaphragm tech-

nique. A v isual feedba ck was used to

assist the sub jects in contro l l ing di i i -

phragm at ic cont ract ion : the

diaphrag-

matic activity was presented to them in

terms of an

oscilloscope

heani that repre-

sented the pressure di f ference across

their diaphragm . When the singers used

the co-contracting diaphragm technique.

i .e.. when they increased the diaphrag-

matic contraction for the high note, the

CT show ed a h igher degree o f act ivi ty

than when they performed the same task

using the f laccid d iaphragm technique.

This suggested that the co-contract ing

diaphragm increased the trachea l pul l

during phonation. In other words it

showed that the breathing st rategy af -

fected the voice control mec hanism.

In another exper iment we analyzed

the ef fect of diaphra

g matic co-contrac-

tion Oil the voice source. The voice

source is the sound created by the pul-

sating transglottal air flow. Its character-

ist ics have important consequences for

the pe rsonal voice t imbre. Again, visual

feedback was provided to facil i tate the

subjects' contro l of d iaphragm atic con-

traction. They were asked to make

pitch glides first with a flaccid dia-

phragm tech nique. and then with a en-

contract ing diaphragm technique. The

resul ts suggested that the co-co ntract-

ing diaphragm reduced glot ta l adduc-

t ion. i.e.. the degree to w hich the voca l

folds are pressing against each o ther.

This had consequences for the voice

timbre. The amplitude of the lowest

partial of the voice spectrum was

greater when the subjects appl ied the

co-contracting diaphragm technique. In

other words, this experiment suggested

that the breathing technique af fected

voice t imbre becau se of a mecha nical

effect the

tracheal pul l , which appea red

to reduce g lottal adduction.

As tracheal pu l l increases w ith lung

volume, we could expect that glottal ad-

duction is less forceful at high than at low

lung volumes. Conversely, the adductory

force needed for

phonation

can h e

as-

sumed to be greater

at

high than at low

lung

volumes. This assumption was sup-

ported by results from an experiment car-

ried out by Shipp. Morrissey. & Haglund

1985).

They est imated the a dduct ive

force f rom EMG data in nonsingers and

found that i t was greater at h igh lung vol-

times,

at

least at high pitches.

The benefit of phonating with re-

duced glot ta l adduct ion is

not hard to

real ize. An exaggerated glot tal adduc-

l ion implies pressed ph onation, the type

of phonat ion tha t speakers genera l ly

resort to tinder conditions of high pitch

and loudness: the voice sounds

strained. I f the voc al folds are f i rmly

adducted, subglottal pressure needs to

be h igh , o therw ise the a i r f low wi l l he

arrested by the glottis. A typical ex-

am ple is the voice qual i ty we produce

when

we p honate w hi le l i ft ing an e x-

t remely hea vy burden. This is clear ly

not the type of voice quality that music

l isteners want to pay for.

Rec ently, results from ano ther experi-

ment appeared to shed som e more l ight

on this matter. A professional mezzo-so-

prano singer exhibited an interest ing

breathing pattern during one of he r stan-

dard vocal warming-up exercises. The

exercise is shown in F igure 12 together

with curves represent ing fundamental

frequency, transdiaphragmatic pressure.

and esophageal pressure. It can be seen

that when per tbmi ing th is exercise, the

subject v igorously contracted her d ia-

phragm during the production of the con-

sonant 1p]. Corresponding contractions

did not seem to

happen during the per-

formance o f other exam ples. albeit faint

reflections of this pa ttern could occasion-

ally be observed also in a performance of

a coloratura passage.

Figure

1 2 . F u n d a m e n t a l fr e q u e n c y , p r e s s u r e

difference across the diaphragm, and

esopha-

geal pressure in

a professional mezzo so-

prano singer performing one of her warming-

u p e x e r c is e s , a d e s c e n d i n g s c a l e r e p e a t in g t h e

word lpi:us] on each sale tone. The peaks in

the transdiaphragniatic pressure re veal vigor-

ous contraction of the diaphragm during the

occlusion for the consonant

[ p 1 .

A still more

forceful contraction of expiratory muscles

raises subglottal pressure to

emphasize the

[pi-explosion. The diaphragmatic contrac-

t io n s c a n b e a s s u m e d t o i n c r e a s e t h e t ra c h e a l

pull and so reduce glottal adduction.

*Ano

hcr

interesting conclusion

of this

f inding

can also

he m entioned: the lung solunie

m u s t

b e taken

into account in

EM G investigat ions of the cr icothyroid mu scles: a slo pi tch gl ide

would provide a poor hsis for conclusions regarding the

ro le of these m uscles in t h e

control of pitch.

Twelve riettas

VIN ENZO RIGHINI

Edited by

TWE LVE AR IETI'AS

DWIN

PENHORWOOD

lbih Voir d

eatured at the International Vocal Congress

in Philadelphia, the 12 ARIETTASwerc written

VIN .ENZ ) Ri ,HINI

by

Mozart's rival, Righini. Many of the themes

show an affinit

to Mozart; one has a Be etho-

venesque qual i ty:

s e v e r a l foreshadow Rossini

and B ell ini; and others hint of the Romantic.

A I

English translations and performing sugges-

t ions are included in this edition.

1 0 . 9 5

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v

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9/9

An interpretation of the goal of this

exercise is the following. By contract-

ing the diaphragm during each [p], the

tracheal pull was increased before the

onset of each scale tone. This would

tend to counteract a trend to increase

glottal adduction. Thus, this exercise

may

have the goal to prevent phonation

with exaggerated vocal fold adduction.

It seemed that this particular exercise

was associated with a breathing pattern

that used an increased tracheal pull to

abduct the vocal folds for each new

scale tone (Sundberg & aL, 1989). If

this interpretation is correct. the result

suggests a paramount importance of the

conditioning of the vocal folds during

warming-up exercises.

Two comments should be added. We

have seen that the vertical position of the

diaphragm atThcts the CT activity re-

quired to maintain a pitch. This means

that when instructing the CT muscles

how vigorously to contract, the neural

system has to take into account not only

the target pitch and the subglottal pres-

sure, but also the diaphragm position,

which depends on the constantly chang-

ing lung volume. This indicates that

singing is a truly complex task.

It was mentioned that the tracheal

pull changes with the position of the

diaphragm, i.e.. with lung volume. It

was also mentioned that the tracheal

pull seems to include an abducting

component. sothat a forceful tracheal

pull produces a clear abducting force. If

singing students tend to exaggerate ad-

duction under conditions of loud sing-

ing at high pitches, the tracheal pull

may

he a useful tool for them to vocal-

ize properly. One possibility may he the

co-contracting diaphragm technique.

Another possibility is to practise high,

loud, or otherwise difficult tones only

after a deep diaphragmatic inhalation.

In any case, it appears that the diffi-

culty of singing loud high tones is

greater toward the end of a phrase.

when the tracheal pull is faint, than at

the beginning of a phrase. when the tra-

cheal pull is stronger.

ON LUSIONS

There are great differences in the

demands on suhglottal pressure control

in speech and singing. In speech,

suhglottal pressure is used mainly for

loudness control, whereas in singing,

suhglottal pressure must be tailored

with regard to both pitch and loudness.

Because a change in suhglottal pressure

causes an increase in fundamental fre-

quency, singers need to match the target

suhg

lottal pressures with accuracy.

Moreover, in speech loudness and pitch

are typically interdependent, so that a

rise in loudness is associated with a rise

in l'undamental frequency. While the

elasticity forces are moderate in speech

because of the narrow range of lung

volumes used, they represent an impor-

tant force affecting suhglottal pressure

in singing. The tracheal pull represents

a clear, mechanical connection between

the breathing technique and the

phonatory mechanism. It seems that it

can he used in vocal pedagogy.

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Johan Sundberg

is Pro/essor of Music

/tc'oustmc's. Department of Speech Coin-

t?iUflu'aIioil citic/ Music A coustic's, Royal

Institute of Thchnolo

gv, Stockholm,

Ssi'eden,

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1993

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