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This chapter investigates the effect of the lowering of the larynx in humans, providing an articulatory/acoustic perspective on the evolution of speech. It uses Mermelstein's model of the geometry of the human male vocal tract, a model in which the contours correspond to the actions of the muscles involved in speech. In the experiment, the area of the acoustic space that is accessible by a model of the male vocal tract — a space similar to the maximum vowel space — is compared with the accessible area of the female vocal tract. Simulation results show the female vocal tract is better than the male tract for producing distinctive speech sounds. This indicates that there is an evolutionary advantage to a vocal tract that has a pharyngeal and an oral cavity of equal length, as in the case of the female tract. It is argued that a different evolutionary explanation for the lower position of the male larynx needs to be found, the theory of size exaggeration as proposed by Tecumseh Fitch and his colleagues being a likely candidate.

This chapter begins by discussing the parts and functions of the human instrument of speech — the vocal tract. It talks about how the auditory system perceives sounds. It then discusses articulatory phonology and the organization of the speech code. The chapter introduces the way the speech code works, specifies the issues regarding its origins, and its diversity in human languages.

This chapter examines whether the purpose of the evolution of the vocal tract is for specialized speech. It describes descent of the larynx during human evolution and the evidence that Neanderthals reversed the trend to a low laryngeal position. It discusses the role of the hyoid bone and the contribution of the brain to speech and language. This chapter also suggests that the human ability to speak developed from existing anatomy and capabilities and that the development of the vocal tract that allows human to produce the sounds of speech is fortuitous.

This chapter presents another kind of the artificial system in which, by contrast with Chapter 6, it will not be assumed that the agents are capable from the outset of retrieving articulatory representations of the sounds which they hear. This capacity will be learned through generic neural architecture. The chapter also makes use of a model of the human vocal tract for vowel production, specifies the analogy between artificial and human systems. It shows that the statistical regularities which describe the vowel systems of populations of artificial agents are very similar to those of the vowel systems of human languages.

This chapter considers how the three parts of the vocal tract—tongue, hyoid bone, and larynx—can be prevented from disrupting the singing voice. Much of the vocal tract is occupied by the tongue, which is composed of a bundle of muscles and attached to the hyoid bone, from which the larynx is suspended by a membrane. When not properly tamed, these three instruments can become the terrible triplets of the vocal tract and cause problems in the singing voice. Voice timbre is primarily determined by three factors: how the motor source delivers air, what happens at the level of the larynx, and how sound is modified as it passes from the larynx through the resonator tube. It is clear that phonation is the result of myoelastic (muscular) and aerodynamic (moving air) events involving subglottic pressure, airflow, and vocal-fold approximation. An aim of vocal pedagogy should be to avoid complex conscious maneuvers that must be learned by the throat, tongue, and mouth.

This chapter discusses the importance of diction and vocal technique in singing. The production of vocal sound deals with the acoustic phenomena of vowel differentiation. Physiologically, laryngeal configuration and vocal tract configuration require correspondence if a sung vowel is to be clearly delineated. Trying to “add diction” to preexistent vocal sound violates the processes of both the tone and vowel differentiation. If permitted, the vocal tract filter (the resonator tube that extends from the vocal folds to the lips) will reinforce the acoustic potential inherent in each vowel by assuming the natural shapes of the resonance cavities appropriate to that vowel. The mouth and pharynx will match laryngeal vowel formation. Good singing is the result of laryngeal action and the corresponding shapes of the resonator tube. One may adopt a “diction” approach as the basis of good vocal pedagogy only if it means that vowel definition and consonant occurrences are produced phonetically, thereby inducing matching laryngeal and vocal tract adjustments.

This chapter reviews the history of the interaction between theories of evolution and phonology. It starts by looking at very early work on the origins of speech and then proceeds to present the (absence of) influence of theories of sound change on Darwin’s thinking about biological change, as well as Darwin’s and other late 19th-century ideas about evolution of speech and language derived from their ideas on biological evolution. It then reviews the debate, which has lasted for about a century, on the influence of vocal tract anatomy on the sound systems that humans can use, and whether the vocal tract has played a crucial role in evolution. Finally, it reviews the more recent use of evolutionary theory for understanding cultural processes, and specifically those of phonological change and emergence of systems of signals.

This chapter discusses the universally accepted position of the open throat (gola aperta) in singing. The potential for varying the shape of the vocal tract (the resonator tube that acts as an acoustic filter to the laryngeally generated sound) seems almost endless. The position of the larynx itself, the pharynx, the velum, the tongue, the lips, the mandible, all offer innumerable possibilities for modification of the resonator chambers, by responding with behavior determined by techniques for “opening the throat.” The chapter considers two gola aperta concepts that represent one of the watersheds of vocal pedagogy. Some singers avoid any direct attention to sensation in the neck or laryngeal regions, while others attempt a conscious control over the dimensions of the pharyngeal resonator and over laryngeal positioning. Inasmuch as both camps are convinced of the correctness of their pedagogical positions, the question is how a singer caught in the middle of this conflict makes a decision about how best to “open the throat”.

This chapter considers the “unseen” vocal instrument, that is, the vocal folds cannot be directly viewed. The finger of the pianist can be placed in exactly the desired position on the keyboard, the proper angle of the wrist can be demonstrated, and the posture of the elbow as it relates to the body and to the forearm can he manually adjusted. Physical aspects of string playing can be monitored visually. Lips and fingers of the wind player are readily observed. Other instruments, it is thought, are visible, while the voice remains unseen. In general, what cannot be seen is not easily understood. The descriptive language of vocal pedagogy often becomes subjective and mystical. While it is true that the complete resonator tube is not accessible to external viewing, a large percentage of the vocal tract is visible. External observation, coupled with information about physical function and a knowledge of vocal acoustics, can assist in raising the teaching of singing beyond subjective speculation and reliance on mythological language.

Trans and gender-expansive (TGE) singers experience music-making challenges specific to their vocal instruments. This chapter is devoted solely to choirs and the TGE students who sing in them. A brief opening discussion contextualizes how vocal music can be a gendered art form. Challenges and potential solutions are described for singers participating in single-gender choirs. The middle section of the chapter focuses on inclusive vocal pedagogy, including discussions of congruence of voice identity and gender identity, voice part identification, and the application of Universal Design for Learning to choral classrooms. Voice masculinization and voice feminization are described, with a focus on how they might impact singers’ voices. Healthy group vocal technique exercises are discussed, with examples provided in Appendix D. Additional suggestions for inclusive choral techniques include ideas for standing and seating rehearsal arrangements and working with heteronormative and cisnormative texts.

This chapter focuses on the “incorrupt jaw and tongue” of St. Anthony of Padua, known for his legendary ability to use vocal timbres and histrionics in preaching. Thousands of devout pilgrims come to visit the ornate shrine of St. Anthony in the Italian city of Padua. Several parts of his vocal mechanism, which functioned so mellifluously 750 years ago, have become objects of religious veneration in the cathedral at Padua. The saint's “incorrupt” tongue has endured not only physically but spiritually, and the thoughts expressed by that ancient vocal instrument continue to speak to us today, in part because of the “golden delivery” that came from efficient physiologic and acoustic use of his vocal tract. One doesn't have to be a believer to recognize that ideas conveyed through specific vocal timbres evoke strong emotional and spiritual responses.

This chapter considers the notion of thinking phonetically when singing. Some vocal pedagogies maintain that there is one ideal position of the mouth and pharynx during singing, only minimally altered in changing vowels and tessitura, but they seldom agree as to how that is accomplished. For one group of teachers, that ideal position may be the lateral “smiling” posture of the mouth; for another group, the hung “idiot” jaw is the aim; for others, raising and distending the upper lip to achieve the proper “resonance.” In contradistinction to these viewpoints, greater emphasis is currently placed on the phonetic relationships of the speaking and singing voices, as well as the acoustic formations of phonemes. This chapter suggests that the chief value for the singer in thinking phonetically is not in the improvement of language sounds but in the recognition that the constantly changing postures of the vocal tract for vowel definition, represented by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols, contribute directly to the timbre of the voice and participate in producing what singers term a “resonant” voice. Use of the IPA symbols requires the singer to view “voice production” in acoustic, rather than laryngeal, terms.

This chapter discusses the effect of tongue position on the singing voice. Attached to the hyoid bone, the tongue extends forward to the lips, thus occupying nearly the entire vocal tract (chief resonating system). The tongue is the most important of the articulators, and the shape it assumes and the space it occupies in the resonator tube help to determine the acoustic and phonetic aspects of any phonatory event. The changing relationships of the buccal and pharyngeal resonators, which are necessary for vowel definition, are largely determined by the changing positions of the mobile tongue within the resonator tube. Varying tongue positions can influence the nature of vocal timbre. An improperly positioned tongue within the vocal tract results in vowel distortion, tongue tension, and resonance imbalance. This chapter presents the results of a study showing that an “unruly” tongue can cause inefficient acoustic filtering of the vocal tract and affect the singing voice.

This chapter considers how the tongue, neck, and jaw cause tension in singers, along with some pedagogical ways of controlling them. The tongue occupies much of the vocal tract and can alter the spatial arrangements of the buccopharyngeal (mouth-pharynx) cavity, which is the chief resonance chamber of the voice. The neck, in which the chief instrument of phonation is housed, is a complex of muscular systems attaching to the head and to the torso. What one does with the nuchal muscles (back of the neck) and muscles of the submandibular area (below the jaw) influences laryngeal function. The jaw is capable of both lateral and perpendicular movements, and hence can affect the entire phonatory operation.

Language is probably the most complex form of universal communication. A finite set of words enables us to express a mere infinite number of thoughts and ideas, which we set together by obeying grammatical rules and compositional, semantic knowledge. This chapter addresses how human language abilities have evolved and how they develop. A short introduction to linguistics covers the most important conceptualized aspects, including language production, phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. The brain considers these linguistic aspects seemingly in parallel when producing and comprehending sentences. The brain develops some dedicated language modules, which strongly interact with other modules. Evolution appears to have recruited prelinguistic developmental neural structures and modified them into maximally language-suitable structures. Moreover, evolution has most likely evolved language to further facilitate social cooperation and coordination, including the further development of theories of the minds of others. Language develops in a human child building on prelinguistic concepts, which are based on motor control-oriented structures detailed in the previous chapter. A final look at actual linguistic communication emphasizes that an imaginary common ground and individual private grounds unfold between speaker and listener, characterizing what is actually commonly and privately communicated and understood.