How to Sing Better: Resonators and Articulators

Notice in the image below the difference between the two cavities or containers of air (the pharynx and mouth) as the tongue forms the [i] vowel and the [ɑ] vowel. With [i] the constriction or hump of the tongue is very high; there is very little space in front of the tongue (mouth resonator) and a great deal more space behind the constriction of the tongue (pharynx resonator).

With the [ɑ] vowel the tongue is flat, so there is more of the mouth resonator activated.

The frequency or pitch of the vibrating air changes whenever there are changes in a container’s size, shape, wall density, or opening. This means we can affect formants, and thereby affect vocal tone or timbre.

Ways we can change the size, shape, wall density, or opening of the resonator include:

• Dropping the jaw.
• Spreading the lips wider. OR, pushing the lips forward, like a kiss.
• Tensing and squeezing the pharyngeal walls.
• Moving the tongue forward or back; moving the constriction, or hump, of the tongue higher or lower.
• Raising or lowering the larynx.
• Raising or lowering the soft palate.

1. Dropping the jaw: The pharynx (behind the tongue constriction) gets smaller, and the mouth (in front of the tongue constriction) gets bigger. The frequency of air vibration in the pharynx rises (smaller container-higher pitch) and the pitch of air vibration in the mouth lowers (larger container-lower pitch).

2. Lip position: pushing the lips out (like a kiss) or widening the lips in a lateral grin: In the kiss position, both containers get bigger, (longer) and the formant frequency of both containers lowers (larger container-lower pitch).

3. Moving the tongue forward: the pharynx (behind the tongue constriction) gets larger, and the frequency or pitch of F₁ becomes lower (larger container-lower pitch). However, the mouth (in front of the tongue constriction) gets smaller. The frequency or pitch of F₂ becomes higher (smaller container- higher pitch).

4. Raising the larynx: The pharynx (behind the tongue constriction) becomes smaller, and the mouth (in front of the tongue constriction) also becomes smaller. When you spread the lips laterally and raise the larynx, both containers get smaller, F₁ and F₂ raise (smaller container-higher pitch). This is the vocal tract formation of belt.

5. Lowering the larynx: The pharynx (behind the tongue constriction) becomes larger, and the mouth (in front of the tongue constriction) also becomes larger. The frequency or pitch of both F₁ and F₂ becomes lower (larger container-lower pitch). Classical singers often impose the larynx for greater oscuro.

6. Raising the soft palate: This would increase the container size of both resonators, dropping F₁ and F₂. Classical singers often raise the soft palate for greater oscuro.

Formant frequencies change when we alter the size and shape of the resonator, and thus the cavity of air they resonate in.  For example:

When you sing the same pitch but open or close the vowel by moving the tongue higher or lower you change F₁. As we change vowels from closed to open- [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ] for front vowels, [u], [o],[ʊ], [ɔ], [ɑ], back vowels- F₁ frequencies increase.

When you sing a sequence of vowels from closed to open, the first formant will start at the lowest frequency for the most closed vowels (tongue closest to the hard palate), and progressively rise as the tongue lowers toward the open vowel/flatter tongue.

At a certain point, if the pitch remains constant but the vowel changes, F₁ vowel frequencies could become higher than the fixed harmonic frequency, thus crossing over the harmonic.

In the image below you can see F₁ frequencies becoming higher as we progress through vowels from closed to open: [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ]. Notice that the open vowels also show more energy in the higher harmonics.

We locate the formants by first singing the vowel, then performing a vocal fry on the vocal tract shape of the same vowel. The strong bands of energy are the harmonics and more diffuse areas of energy indicate formant frequencies.

You can see F₁ frequencies becoming successively higher as we progress through vowels from closed to open: [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ].

F₁ Frequencies  Rising: Front Vowels Closed to Open [i], [ɪ], [e], [ɛ], [æ] (tongue moves from low to high)

Lower F₁ frequencies correlate with an open throat because there is more pharyngeal space due to a higher tongue. The [i] vowel, for example, requires a high tongue constriction, which means more pharyngeal or throat space.

This is somewhat counter-intuitive to what many singers perceive as an open throat- which is a backed-up tongue!

The more open a vowel is (low tongue), the higher F₁ is. This is true for both front and back vowels, although F₁ and F₂ are closer together with back vowels. [ɑ] and [æ] have the highest first formant frequencies; the tongue is at its lowest/flattest position for these vowels.

When you sing the same pitch while changing the vowel by moving the tongue forward or backward you change F₂. As the tongue moves forward, F₂ frequencies increase due to the smaller size of the mouth resonator. As the tongue moves backward, F₂ frequencies decrease due to the larger size of the mouth resonator.

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