Ingo R. Titze 1

1 University of Iowa, National Center for Voice and Speech and Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Iowa

Voice therapy and voice training have always been guided by principles of voice production that include efficient conversion of breath energy to sound energy. Practitioners have generally broken down the production system into (1) the breathing component, (2) the voicing component, and (3) the articulation and resonance component, training the components somewhat independently. If breath flow is steady and adequate, it was thought, voicing can be added upon (superimposed); likewise, if voicing is steady and controlled, articulation can be superimposed. Recent scientific discoveries suggest that the components are much more intertwined and that superimposition is not guaranteed. Breathing and voicing strategies that work with one vocal tract shape (a specific vowel or vowel caricature in singing) may not work equally well with another vocal tract shape. Source-vocal tract interaction plays a significant role. A compounding factor is that humans have the ability to engage or disengage this interaction. Vocal power, efficiency, and stability are all dependent on the degree of interaction used by the vocalist, either by choice or by habit. This presentation will elucidate the new theoretical developments of interaction between breathing, voicing, and articulation.