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Research Article| Volume 3, ISSUE 4, P342-350, December 1989

The contribution of aryepiglottic constriction to “ringing” voice quality—A videolaryngoscopic study with acoustic analysis

  • Eiji Yanagisawa
    Correspondence
    Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. E. Yanagisawa, 98 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511, U.S.A.
    Affiliations
    Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
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  • Jo Estill
    Affiliations
    Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
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  • Steven T. Kmucha
    Affiliations
    Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
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  • Steven B. Leder
    Affiliations
    Section of Otolaryngology, Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, and Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.
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      Summary

      Fiberscopic video laryngoscopy was performed on five professional singers to determine the presence or absence of aryepiglottic narrowing as a function of voice quality. Each sang “Happy Birthday” and parts of the “Star Spangled Banner” in six different voice qualities: speech, falsetto, sob (a low larynx with a vocal tract expanded by relaxing the middle constrictors), twang, belting, and opera. Several features were found to be common among the subjects and related to specific qualities. Aryepiglottic constriction was present in all singers in twang, belting, and opera qualities. Spectrographic analysis related the constriction to the presence of the “singer's formant.” The presence of this type of constrictive behavior will require further research to ascertain the possible benefits to those for whom a louder voice is essential and to understand the relationship of this constrictive maneuver to the natural closure functions of the larynx.
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