Sam Meredith Malde Ch. 4

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic laryngeal muscles?  What are their functions?
The extrinsic muscles are muscles that attach to the larynx from the outside and move the larynx up and down in the neck. Intrinsic muscles are connected to the laryngeal cartilages and are responsible for the delicate movements within the larynx.
Describe the cartilages of the larynx.  Include information about structure, size, function. The Cricoid cartilage is shaped like a ring and sits at the top of the trachea and serves as a place for the arytenoid cartilages to attach, the thyroid cartilage is open at the back, has a notch on the front, and has two sets of horns (one on the top, one on the bottom), and works in opposition to the cricoid cartilage; the arytenoid cartilages sit atop the cricoid cartilage and serve as a connection point for the vocal folds; the epiglottis is a tear drop shaped cartilage that sits above the thyroid cartilage and helps regulate the flow of particles into our larynx.

What is cartilage? a tough, elastic tissue with a distinct shape like a bone but more flexible 

What is ligament? A short, flexible, tough, fibrous type of connective tissue that connects bone to bone, bone to cartilage or cartilage to cartilage

What is muscle origin? It is the place where muscle originates and is the part of the muscle that shifts less for contraction

What is muscle insertion? It is where the muscles ends up and is generally more mobile than the origin of the muscle.

What is dynamic equilibrium? when opposing muscles work with each other

What is muscle antagonism? When two muscles are working against each other; co-contraction

What are opposing muscles? Muscles that work in opposite directions. 

What are paired muscles? Muscles that occur on both sides of the body, one the mirror image of the other

What is stabilized physiological tremor rate? The rate of vibration innate to the body that occurs when muscle antagonism is sustained. 

Describe the following muscles (location and function)
1.  posterior cricoarytenoid- Originates from the back of the cricoid cartilage and inserts into the muscular processes of the arytenoid cartilages, and its purpose is to abduct the vocal folds
2.  lateral cricoarytenoid- Inserts into the the muscular processes of the arytenoid cartilages and originates from the sides of the cricoid cartilage and adducts the vocal folds
3.  transverse arytenoid- connects the two arytenoid cartilages by extending straight across the gap between the two arytenoids, brings the arytenoids together to allow for full glottal closure
4.  oblique arytenoid- runs in a diagonal pattern to connect the arytenoids. it brings the arytenoids together to allow for full glottal closure. 

What are the two parts of the Thyroarytenoid muscle?  What are their functions? The vocalis muscle, which is the primary vibrating body of the vocal fold and the external thyroarytenoid, which makes the the vocal folds shorter and thicker

What are the two parts of the Cricothyroid muscle?  What are their functions?  What are their attachments? the two bellies, they stretch the vocal folds by bringing the cricoid closer to the thyroid

How is pitch determined? it is determined by the rate of vibration in a musical instrument

What happens as we descend in pitch? the vibration is slower

Summarize the activities of the 3 laryngeal muscles responsible for pitch. The external thyroarytenoids make the vocal folds shorter, thicker, and looser, lowering the pitch. The vocalis muscles add tension to the vocal folds when then engage, raising the pitch. The cricothyroid muscles make the vocal folds longer, thinner, and tenser, raising the pitch

Define register.  (What happens at the laryngeal level?) a series of tones that have the same vocal production

Name and describe the 4 registers of the voice.  (Please include the subdivisions of modal.) Chest Voice (Thyroarytenoid dominant), Head voice (Cricothyroid dominant), Falsetto/Flute (thyroarytenoids released, only vocal ligaments vibrate), Whistle (thyroarytenoids are completely released, cricothyroid completely engaged), Glottal Fry (Only Thyroarytenoid)

How does heavy vs light differ from loud vs soft? Heavy is a sound that involves thick vocal folds, whereas light is a sound that involves thin vocal folds. Either of these sounds can be loud or soft

In classical singing, we blend the actions of the TA and CT using __dynamic equilibrium________________.

What are the 3 possible types of onset/offset.  Describe them. Glottal Onset--Phonation is delayed momentarily because the folds are closed when airflow reaches them, Aspirate Onset--airflow reaches the glottis before it closes, Balanced Onset--ideal onset Glottal offset--forceful end to the sound like a grunt, Aspirate offset--sounds like a final <h> or sigh, Balanced offset--the vocal folds separate just as the air ceases to flow from the lungs

How do the vocal folds come into vibration? by being continually pushed together and pulled apart by the column of air as explained by elastic recoil and Bernoulli's principle

What causes a breathy sound? the vocal folds being closed to loosely or the arytenoids not being closed

What causes a strident sound? it is the result of heavy vocal production

What causes a tight sound? When laryngeal muscles work too hard to close the glottis

What does the larynx have to do with dynamics? Dynamics are regulated by the speed of the breath flow and the reaction of the vocal folds to that flow

How can intonation be fixed? by not trying to carry the low range too high and vice versa

What causes vibrato? opposing muscles of the larynx working in balance with enough force to create the stabilized physiological tremor rate innate to the body

How can vibrato be controlled? by maintaining balance in the whole body

What are nodules and how can they be prevented? calluses on the membrane covering the vocal folds. they can be prevented by not singing when your voice is tired, not talking over loud background noise and pay attention to your larynx in the context of your whole body.