How to Sing Louder

There are two separate elements governing volume in singing: what happens at the vocal fold level and what happens in the resonating system of the vocal tract after the sound waves travel upward.

Laryngeal Factors:

Factors at the vocal fold level affecting loudness include subglottal air pressure, glottal resistance and amplitude of vocal fold displacement from the midline during each vibratory cycle.

Glottal resistance is increased with greater closed quotient. As closed quotient increases, subglottal air pressure increases. Closed quotient is increased when the intrinsic muscles of the larynx (the thyroarytenoids (TA), lateral cricoarytenoids (LCA), and interarytenoids (IA)) contract more strongly. This ability can be developed through vocal training.

As the vocal folds vibrate open and closed they convert aerodynamic energy into acoustic energy containing a source sound that includes the fundamental or pitch and many partials.

The longer the vocal folds remain closed in this cycle of open-closed (closed quotient), the greater the degree of subglottal air pressure. When the air is finally released into the glottis, velocity will be greater.

The longer the vocal folds remain in the closed phase, the more air pressure builds and the stronger the resulting explosion of air into the glottis becomes.

In soft phonation, the closed phase is shorter and air pressure does not build as much, so the explosion of air into the glottis is weaker. In loud phonation, the closed phase is longer and air pressure builds more, resulting in more velocity and a stronger explosion.

Volume is also correlated to amplitude. Increased airflow increases the amplitude of the resulting glottal wave. The greater the amplitude of the glottal wave, the greater the amount of air escaping with each opening of the folds, and the more intense that energy is.

The higher the air pressure is, the more resistance is needed in the vocal folds to hold the air back. Increased air pressure translates to increased intensity.

amplitude ([ae]m-pl[I]-t[u]d):  A measurement that indicates the movement or vibration of something (such as a sound wave or a radio wave).

Vocal Tract Factors:

Resonance choices can increase both perceived and real volume. Higher harmonics create a brighter and more ringing sound that is perceived as louder.  Developing the singer’s formant, otherwise known as twang, (the cluster of F₃ to F₅) through vocal training increases the singer’s ability to be heard over loud accompaniments. Training with the pharyngeal, twang, or Voce di Strega sounds, created by a narrowing of the epiglottis, increases ring and perceived volume.

Formant tuning- adjusting vowel formants to more closely align with a nearby harmonic- produces a boost in the energy of that harmonic, increasing perceived volume.

VOCAL FOLD VIBRATION

To vibrate efficiently:

• The vocal folds must adduct or approximate by meeting at the midline to create an efficient onset. If the folds do not adduct because of improper vocal technique, vocal fold swelling, or lesions, the edges of the folds do not meet and phonation will be breathy and inefficient.
• The vocal folds must maintain appropriate tension and length, which are constantly adjusted to meet the demands of changing pitch.
• Vocal fold mass adjusts to meet the demands of pitch; more vibrating vocal fold mass is required to create lower pitches, and less vibrating mass is needed for higher pitches. The cricothyroid (CT) and thyroarytenoid (TA) muscles and mucosa govern this process.

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