The singing voice reduces to a source plus a shapeable vocal-tract filter

Evidence

The sound source in singing is the acoustic result of the vocal folds vibrat­ ing in the larynx which is sustained by air flowing from the lungs. The sound modifiers in singing are the spaces between the larynx and the lips and nostrils, known as the “vocal tract,” which can be changed in shape and size by moving the “articulators,” for example the jaw, tongue and lips (see Figure 4.32). As we sing or speak, the shape of the vocal tract is contin­ ually changing to produce different sounds. The soft palate acts as a valve to shut off and open the nasal cavity (nose) from the airstream. — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 1339

Categorization

• DEFINE: Crisply introduces the input/system/output model for voice: vocal folds as source, vocal tract as modifiers, soft palate as a nasal valve.
• XREF: Reinforces the input/system/output framework the authors have applied to instruments throughout this chapter — the voice is just another instrument in that same model. — connects to: The voice operates between meaning and sound, resisting reduction to either — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1185