Journalof Voice

Vol. 2, No. 3, pp, 183-194

© 1988Raven Press, Ltd., New York

A Framework for the Study of Vocal Registers

Ingo R. Titze

Voice Acoustics and Biomechanics Laboratory, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Iowa,
Iowa City, Iowa, and Recording and Research Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts,
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.

Summary: Register transitions are divided into two classes, periodicity tran-
sitions and timbre transitions. Periodicity transitions refer to changes in vocal
quality that occur whenever glottal pulses .are perceived as individual events
rather than as a continuous auditory stimulus. Timbre transitions refer to
changes in vocal quality associated with changes in spectral balance. Physio-
logically, these can be quantified with an abduction quotient. The singing reg-
isters appear to be based on timbre transitions resulting from subglottal reso-
nances that interfere with the vocal fold driving pressure. Four of the major
singing register shifts are predicted (in frequency and relative importance) on
the basis of the first subglottal formant. Strategies for register equalization are
proposed on the basis of supraglottal formant tuning (vowel modification) and
adjustments in glottal adduction. Key Words: Register--Register transitions.

The term "register" has been used to describe
perceptually distinct regions of vocal quality.
Abrupt changes in register may occur voluntarily or
involuntarily. In some voices they seem to be less
apparent than in others. If a voice is noticeably reg-
istered, a stair-step effect in quality is perceived.
This is illustrated in Fig. 1, where vocal quality is
plotted against some physiologic or acoustic vari-
able that controls pitch, loudness, or vowel. It is not
important to specify at this point what the physio-
logic or acoustic variable is. It is important, how-
ever, to state that this variable should be able to
change continuously and gradually over some sig-
nificant range. Vocal quality, measured in psycho-
physical terms, then appears to have plateaus (or
near-plateaus) that are connected by abrupt transi-
tions. The transitions are perceptually more salient
than the plateaus. A one-register voice is effectively
a no-register voice because there are no transitions
to draw attention to quality change.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. I. R.
Titze at Voice Acoustics and Biornechanics Laboratory, Depart-
ment of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52242, U.S.A.
Without giving names to all the registers that
have been claimed in the literature [e.g., Large (1),
Hollien (2), or Miller (3)], we propose to classify the
registers in terms of two types of transitions. The
first is a periodicity transition. Below some funda-
mental frequency Fc, which we call the crossover
frequency, the ear seems to be able to detect indi-
vidual pulses in the speech waveform if a major
vocal tract excitation is localized within the glottal
cycle. Above the crossover frequency, the percep-
tion is a continuous tone rather than a series of
pulses. It appears, then, that the major acoustic
variable (and perhaps the only acoustic variable of
significance for this transition) is fundamental fre-
quency. All vocal sounds with localized excitations
and F0 below Fc are perceived as belonging to the
"pulse register" or the "vocal fry." Above F~ there
are other registers, but none have the pulse quality.
The second type of register transition, which we
will call a timbre transition, is characterized by an
abrupt quality change that results from loss or gain
of high-frequency sound energy at the source. An
acoustic variable of importance is the spectral
slope, also known as spectral tilt or spectral rolloff.
It measures the decrease in amplitude of successive

183
184 I . R . TITZE

of "natural" register breaks on the keyboard for

sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses, and several cat-
I egories in between.
Register 1 i
The major objectives of this article are to show
that (a) involuntary timbre transitions result from
resonances in the subglottal system (the trachea),
(b) voluntary timbre transitions result from regulat-
ing vocal fold adduction, and (c) periodicity transi-
tions have a characteristic frequency that depends
"d on formant bandwidth. We begin with the periodic-
o
o ity transitions.

i egister 2 PERIODICITY REGISTER TRANSITION

I
A periodicity transition is illustrated in Fig. 2.
Transition i
I I Results of a perceptual experiment conducted by
>l i<
Keidar (4) are displayed in Fig. 2a. Listeners were
presented synthetic vowel stimuli that differed in
Physiologic or Acoustic Variable fundamental f r e q u e n c y and glottal flow pulse
FIG. I. General characteristic of a register transition•
100
partials of the voice source, usually in decibels per
octave. Using the qualities of musical instruments l i
"~ 80.
as an analogy, a brass instrument has a rich timbre,
with a lot of high-frequency partials (i.e., a small
~ 60 I i i
spectral slope). A flute, on the other hand, has
fewer high-frequency partials, with a greater spec- DI

tral slope. In the human voice, abrupt timbre tran- 40

sitions can be brought about by changes in the clo- ~0
,o
sure conditions of the glottis. The major physiologic 2O
variable would seem to be the degree of vocal fold
adduction. We postulate here that the primo pas- 0 , , i , V'--
saggio and secondo passaggio (the primary and 2O 40 60 80 i00
secondary passages, or transitions) in the male and Fundamental Frequency (Hz)
the female voice are timbre transitions, whereas the (a)
chest-fry transition is a periodicity transition.
In addition to these two basic register transitions,
it is possible that a third type of transition may in-
~ oo I~

volve a shift from vocal fold vibration to whistling A

v
in the larynx. This is pure conjecture at this point,
however. There is virtually no evidence that the
so-called whistle register is anything but vocal fold ] ~ o I~
L.

vibration at a very high pitch. Given the uncertainty

about the physiology of this register, we will ex-
clude it from further discussion in this article. 0

Any eventual theory of vocal registers must take I ~ I

into account the voluntary and involuntary transi- 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
tion phenomena. Timbre transitions can be induced Time (ms)
or inhibited over a large range of fundamental fre- (b)
quencies by skilled vocalists, but they also exhibit a
FIG. 2. Periodicity register transition, a: Identification curve; b:
certain invariance with Fo when unattended to. pressure waveforms corresponding to four frequencies above.
Thus, vocal pedagogues have charted the location (After Keidar, ref. 4.)

Journal o f Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988

 STUD Y OF VOCAL REGISTERS
shape. They were asked to identify the production
as either pulsed (fry) or nonpulsed. The pulse shape
was varied with respect to open quotient, speed
quotient, and a rounding factor that controlled the
abruptness of closure (5). The stimuli were random-
ized and repeated several times. It was found that
glottal flow pulse shape had a minor effect on the
register perception, even though chest-like and fal-
setto-like flow pulses were part of the battery of
stimuli. Fundamental frequency dictated the per-
ception of fry, with the identification function in
Fig. 2a displaying the typical ogive found in cate-
gorical perception of speech sounds (6).
An explanation for this identification function is
given in Fig. 2b. Two periods of a speech waveform
with a single formant are shown for each of four
fundamental frequencies. These frequencies corre-
spond to the 40-, 60-, 80-, and 100-Hz stimuli in Fig.
2a. For the waveform to be perceived as pulse-like,
we postulate that the formant energy must die out
before a new excitation occurs. In other words,
there should be no significant carryover of acoustic
energy from one cycle to the next. Each excitation
will then be perceived as a separate event.
From a practical point of view, let us decide that
the formant energy is sufficiently damped out when
the envelope of the exponentially decaying sinusoid
has reached 1% of its original value ( - 40 dB). We
can then write
e - B t / 2 -- 0 . 0 1 (1)
where B is the formant bandwidth (rad/s) and t is the
decay time to the 1% value. (Readers not familiar
with the above expression are referred to engineer-
ing textbooks, e.g., ref. 7.) For the first formant
bandwidth of 77 Hz [an average over 10 vowels (8)]
the decay time is 19 ms. This is less than the period
of the 40-Hz signal in Fig. 2b, but greater than the
periods of the 60-, 80-, and 100-Hz signals. We
would expect, therefore, that the 40-Hz signal
would be judged as pulse register 100% of the time
by listeners, whereas the others would be judged as
pulse register less frequently. This is borne out in
Fig. 2a. The 100-Hz signal, for example, was judged
as pulse register only 3% of the time. At its 10-ms
period, the envelope of the decaying sinusoid is
13% of its original value. Thus, a significant amount
of energy is carried into the next period.
The 50% crossover frequency Fc in the identifi-
cation function came at 70 Hz in the Keidar study
(dotted lines in Fig. 2a; the corresponding crossover
185
period is shown with a dotted line in Fig. 2b). Vo-
calizations with F 0 below Fc were judged more of-
ten as pulsed, and those with F 0 above Fc were
judged more often as nonpulsed. In natural speech,
however, the value o f F c could easily be affected by
a number of factors. First, there could be multiple
excitations within the period, as shown in Fig. 3.
Here a secondary excitation renews the formant en-
ergy, thereby extending the total decay time. Such
a secondary excitation may result from successive
partial closures of the glottis. Fc may also be af-
fected to some extent by glottal pulse shape, as pre-
liminary results suggest (4). Finally, it should be
pointed out that damping does not usually remain
constant throughout the cycle. The formant band-
width increases in the open portion of the glottal
cycle (9). Also, the damping is vowel dependent.
For example, the /a/ vowel has about twice the
bandwidth of t h e / u / v o w e l (8). We would predict,
therefore, that pulse register would be perceived at
slightly higher pitches f o r / a / t h a n for/u/.
A series of perceptual studies is needed to deter-
mine the range of Fc. Hollien and Michel (10), for
example, found that 12 male and 11 female subjects
had pulsed phonation ranges from 0 to 60 Hz and
nonpulsed ranges beginning at - 8 0 Hz. This estab-
lishes the 70-Hz crossover frequency within a
-+10-Hz range without specific control over pulse
shape or number of excitations within the cycle.
The effect of vowel needs further investigation,
however.
o
o
Time
FIG. 3. Double-pulse p r e s s u r e waveform.
Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988
186 I . R . TITZE
A confounding factor in the perception of period-
icity is the presence of subharmonics in the speech
waveform, illustrated in Fig. 4. In Fig. 4b, high- and
low-amplitude pulses are shown to alternate,
equally spaced in time. The effect is an amplitude
modulation at Fo/2, a subharmonic frequency. Sub-
harmonic generation can occur when there is left-
right asymmetry in the mechanical or geometric
properties of the vocal folds (11,12). Two or more
independent natural modes compete for dominance
in the vibration pattern. Some phase locking be-
tween the motion of the left fold and the right fold is
required to sustain a periodic signal, but it may re-
quire several openings and closings to establish a
fundamental periodicity. Such periodicity may
show up every second, third, or nth cycle of the
unmodulated waveform.
From a perceptual standpoint, it is important to
judge at what percent modulation the subharmonic
100
80
6O
cl
'~ 4O
~ 20-
(Ai - Ai+I)/(Ai + Ai+l)
(a)
la)
L Consider now the timbre transition, illustrated in
m Fig. 5. Here a sudden change in quality may result
a.
tJ
:d
0
Time
(b)
FIG. 4. Subharmonic periodicity register transition, a: Hypo-
thetical identification curve as a function of amplitude modula-
tion index; b: pressure waveform showing amplitude modulation
at Fo/2 to produce subharmonic frequency.
Journal o f Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988
frequency Fo/n is responsible for the perceived
pitch. Clearly, at 100% modulation the low-
amplitude pulse in Fig. 4b disappears completely,
making the pitch an octave below the pitch for the
unmodulated signal. At 10% modulation, on the
other hand, it is anticipated that the pitch will not be
different from that in the unmodulated case, but a
roughness component will be present. Somewhere
in the vicinity of 50% modulation, a crossover
should occur in the pitch perception. Thus, a rough-
sounding voice may change to a lower-pitched
voice if asymmetries in vocal fold movement be-
come more and more severe. A recent perceptual
study (13) supports this hypothesis. In a pitch-
matching paradigm, the vowel productions of mod-
erately to severely dysphonic patients received sig-
nificantly lower pitch judgments than vowels pro-
duced by mildly dysphonic patients.
The perception of pulse register is likely to occur
if Fo/n <70 Hz. Thus, in the presence of an F0/2
subharmonic, pulse register may be perceived when
F 0 gets below 140 Hz. Similarly, an F0/3 subhar-
monic could give rise to the perception of pulse
at f r e q u e n c i e s below 210 Hz. The so-called
"diplophonic" or " c r e a k y " voices, both character-
ized by vocal roughness, may be perceived as
pulse-like if the frequency is low enough and the
modulation is high enough. A hypothetical identifi-
cation curve, illustrated in Fig. 4a, could become
the basis for some future synthesis studies. For the
Fo/2 subharmonic, the independent variable would
be an amplitude modulation index, such a s ( A i -
Ai+ l)/(Ai "q-Ai+ 1 ) , where the adjacent amplitudes Ai
and Ai+ 1 are shown in Fig. 4b.
TIMBRE REGISTER TRANSITION
from a discontinuity in the derivative of the glottal
flow waveform. This is shown in Fig. 5b, where
four cases of glottal flow and flow derivative are
plotted on the left side, and corresponding shapes of
the glottis are illustrated on the right. In the glottal
shape illustrations, the maximum and minimum
glottis are shown with solid lines, and the prepho-
natory glottis is shown with dashed lines. Although
the progression from top to bottom looks quite con-
tinuous on the flow waveforms and the glottal
shapes, a distinct difference in the flow derivative is
seen between the top two and the bottom two cases.
A sharp negative peak in the flow derivative, fol-
 STUD Y OF VOCAL REGISTERS 187

,-.100 -10 The critical separation is between the second and

third case. It can be quantified by an abduction quo-
~ 80- -1?. tient Qa, defined by Titze (15) as a measure of the
O
O effective separation of the vocal processes. Qa is
da
.~ the ratio of the prephonatory glottal halfwidth Co at
[..., 60- . - 1 4 ~,~
I I ' the vocal processes to the amplitude of vibration A
0 at the center of the glottis (see bottom right case in
"~ 40- -16
Fig. 5b for definition). The minimum glottal area
and minimum flow depend not only on the prepho-
"~20- c~ natory separation Co, but also on the amplitude of
vibration. A small A can fail to reduce the glottal
N -9-0 chink created by a large Co. By taking the quotient
-2 -I 0 i
Qa = Co~A, the combined effect of both variables
Abduction Quotient Qa=~o/A
can be assessed. The quotient is the kinematic
(.) equivalent of a DC/AC ratio for a glottal flow wave-
form. Negative values of Qa are permissible if we
./%~ F,.,, q,,._~. ~ + ~
interpret them as describing pressed phonation. Al-
though the tissue cannot overlap, as negative values
of Co would suggest, vertical deformation (squish-
ing) of the tissue during collision has an effect sim-
ilar to overlap.
Figure 5a shows the timbre transition in the per-
ceptual domain. Percentage identification of voiced
sounds having a rich timbre (chest register) is plot-
ted against the abduction quotient Qa. The curve is
QR.2 still hypothetical, but some confirmation of its
shape can be obtained from the data of Colton (16)
and Keidar et al. (17). In the Keidar et al. study,
~J.IlXEI two vocalists, a male and a female, produced a se-
ries of vocal qualities that could easily be identified
(b) by a panel of listeners to be either chest register or
FIG. 5. Timbre register transition a: Identification curve as a falsetto register. As expected on the basis of previ-
function of abduction quotient; b: flow waveforms, flow deriva-
tives, and glottal configurations corresponding to four abduction ous work (16,18,19), there was a direct correlation
quotients above. between spectral slope and perceived register. The
difference in spectral slope between those produc-
lowed by a sudden return to the baseline, is ob- tions identified >80% as rich timbre (chest register)
served whenever there is uniform closure over the and those identified >80% as poor timbre (falsetto
entire glottis in a horizontal sense. This occurs register) was - 6 dB/octave on the average for both
whenever the vocal fold processes are in contact the male and the female subject (note the right-hand
(top two cases, right side). The degree to which the scale in Fig. 5a for the two data points in the mid-
processes are then pressed together may alter the die). This difference was determined by averaging
pulse shape and the open quotient further, but the the spectral slope over four octaves of the filter
flow discontinuity effect has been saturated. frequencies selected by Keidar et al. for frequency
On the other hand, separation of the vocal pro- band analysis. It must be remembered, however,
cesses allows for a gradual reduction of the glottal that a single spectral slope measure captures only
area (and hence the glottal flow) in the posterior the gross features of the source spectrum. The low-
glottis, as seen in the bottom two cases (exagger- frequency harmonics are affected differently from
ated for visual clarity). The degree of the separation the higher ones by the glottal waveshape (14).
will again alter the pulse shape and the open quo- By further relating spectral slope to abduction
tient, but the continuity (roundness) effect of the quotient on waveforms produced with a computer
flow derivative has been saturated. (See ref. 14 for model (15), we were able to predict Fig. 5a. This
an extensive discussion of the flow derivative.) curve is presently more of a hypothesis than proven

Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988

188 I . R . TITZE
fact. Further perceptual experiments are needed to
map out this identification function of timbre regis-
ters directly on the basis of the abduction quotient.
We predict that the crossover point will be some-
where between Qa = 0 and Qa = l (dotted lines). It
is interesting to note that an abduction quotient
slightly greater than zero produced a maximum
loudness level at constant subglottal pressure in ex-
cised canine larynges (20). This suggests that per-
haps a mixture between the chest register and the
falsetto register is ideal for maximizing vocal loud-
ness at a given subglottic pressure and fundamental
frequency. The " f l o w " mode of phonation, de-
scribed by Sundberg and Gauffin (35) as being pref-
erable to either breathy or pressed, may lie close
to this crossover point.
A major unresolved issue in the study of registers
is the consistency with which involuntary timbre
transitions can be located at specific fundamental
frequencies. Timbre transitions appear almost like
normal modes in vibrating strings, plates, or mem-
branes. On a neuromuscular basis, one would not
expect difficulty in control of adductory-abductory
movement to be confined to several finely tuned
regions within the frequency range. Why, for exam-
ple, is a major involuntary timbre transition so con-
sistently found in the region of -300-350 Hz for
both males and females? In singing terminology,
this region is called the primopassaggio (first pas-
sage, or transition) for females and the secondo pas-
saggio (second passage, or transition) for males.
The two passages seem to reflect the same phenom-
enon, a breaking into or out of the chest register.
Speakers and singers of both sexes tend to shift
register between D 4 (294 Hz) and F 4 (349 Hz). The
transition can be smoothed out by training, as is
done in the operatic and lieder styles of singing, or
it can be accentuated and employed artistically, as
in yodeling and some country-western styles.
Two hypotheses are worthy of testing in the
search for a physiologic or acoustic explanation of
the invariance of involuntary timbre transitions.
The first is that subglottal resonances inhibit or fa-
cilitate vocal fold vibration. Vibratory modes in the
tissue would be influenced by acoustic modes in the
trachea. The second hypothesis is that intrinsic
muscle forces, in particular the cricothyroid and
thyroarytenoid forces, cannot maintain a proper
balance in certain regions of the frequency range.
We will not develop the second hypothesis in this
article because (a) it has lower priority in our cur-
rent thinking and (b) it requires more background in
Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988
muscle physiology than can be conveniently cov-
ered here.
SUBGLOTTAL RESONANCES AND
INVOLUNTARY TIMBRE TRANSITIONS
Some discussion of the effects of subglottal res-
onances on the vibration pattern of the vocal folds
was offered by van den Berg (21) and more recently
by Titze (22). Acoustic pressures below the vocal
folds are believed to be phased in such a way that
they interfere constructively with the intraglottal
driving pressures for rich timbre (chest register) and
destructively for poor timbre (falsetto register). Van
den Berg appeared to have a good case for this on
the basis of his 300-Hz measurement of the first
subglottal formant on cadavers. The measurement
was either in error or inappropriate, however, for
later measurements on live subjects have estab-
lished a 500- to 600-Hz range for the first formant
frequency in the trachea (23,24). Based on these
revised measurements, and in particular the most
recent 510-Hz measurement reported by Cranen
and Boves (24), we will now provide evidence that
timbre registers are linked to resonance phenomena
in the trachea.
Figure 6 shows several cases of constructive and
destructive interference between subglottal pres-
sure and vocal fold movement. In all cases, excita-
tion and decay of the first subglottal formant are
shown with solid lines. The abscissa is labeled in
periods of F~, the lowest subglottal resonance fre-
quency. Superimposed (in dashed lines) is one pe-
riod of the glottal area for six different values of F 0
that correspond to specific fractions of F~. The
range is from Fo = (2/7)F~ to Fo = 3F~. The six
cases were carefully chosen to reflect maximum
constructive and destructive interference between
subglottal pressure and vocal fold vibration. The
illustration is based on a conceptualization that was
previously introduced by the author (22). Each
waveform begins at glottal closure, where the for-
mant energy is renewed and the subglottal pressure
is maximum. The peak value of 10 cm H20 is typical
in the data reported by Miller and Schutte (25) for a
bass-baritone professional singer. It seemed to re-
main nearly constant over an entire octave in their
study. Exponential decay of the pressure amplitude
is based on a damping coefficient of 0.1, calculated
from data by Cranen and Boves (24) and Miller and
Schutte. The glottal area function is a truncated si-
nusoid and has been assigned an open quotient of
 S T U D Y OF VOCAL REGISTERS 189

[ entire outward movement (first half of the open

1-0 "-~'-~t F-3F ':1530I-Iz phase) and negative pressure during the entire in-
0 '[I!
I \ t:l 0 1
ward movement (second half of the open phase).
The F 0 = F~ case, on the other hand, shows the
opposite situation. We conclude from this that sub-
10 :~ rc-zrt-to~,o r~ glottal resonance reinforces vocal fold vibration at
l: I
Jit F o = (3/5)F~ and impedes it at F o = F;. For F~ =
510 Hz, the favorable fundamental frequency is 306
Hz and the unfavorable frequency is 510 Hz. A sim-
o l0 :x F - F ' = s t o r l :
III
ilar pair of frequencies exist in the lower part of the
frequency range, at F 0 = (2/7)F; and F0 = (2/5)F;,
which corresponds to 146 and 204 Hz, respectively.
10
Above F0 = 2F;, there is only constructive inter-
i \ 71-'~ r -~/6F.'=ao8a: ference because the strong first negative dip in Ps is
0 avoided in the opening phase by the short funda-
ta., mental period. Two cases of positive reinforcement
'tO are shown at the top of Fig. 6, corresponding to
\ ,'7"~-',
/ / !
Fo-~/6rt'-2o'-n:
\~. frequencies of 1,020 and 1,530 Hz.
0 / ' \ To quantify the resonance effects vis4t-vis regis-
ter perception, we seek to first evaluate the change
10 "K" ¢ . 7 - ~ .'" - - FO'2/?F 1'
in amplitude of vibration that is brought about by
\ ~ /t : x x =14.6 i'Iz the reinforced or diminished driving pressure on the
0 . . . . . " ~,., ~ "" vocal folds. In a recent theoretical study of vocal
fold vibration (26), an expression for the aerody-
namic driving pressure in the open glottis was de-
0 i 2 3 4 rived. Excepting some minor correction terms, this
P e r i o d s of F 1
i driving pressure can be written as

FIG. 6. Phase relationships between the pressure waveform of Pg = Pi + (P~ - Pi)( 1 - a2/al) (2)
the first subglottal formant F ; (solid lines) and the glottal area
waveform (dashed lines) for systematically increasing fundamen-
tal frequency Fo (bottom to top). where Pi is the input pressure to the vocal tract
(supraglottal pressure), a 1 is the glottal entry area,
0.5 for simplicity. (Future discussions will include a and a 2 is the glottal exit area. The glottal conver-
varying open quotient and skewed area pulses.) gence ratio az/a 1 changes from a value near zero at
Positive reinforcement of vocal fold vibration is the beginning of opening to a value near 1.0 (or
achieved when the subglottal pressure P~ is positive slightly greater than 1.0) prior to closing. The trans-
during opening and negative during closing. In other glottal pressure Ps - P i is therefore most effective
words, when the vocal folds are moving outward, in driving the vocal folds in the early part of the
Ps should help to push them outward, and when the opening phase, where (1 - az/al) ~ 1. This is also
vocal folds are moving inward, Ps should help to where Ps has the greatest amplitude in most of the
suck them inward. (We are referring here only to cases shown in Fig. 6. Increased damping through-
the time-varying part of Ps. A large DC component out the open phase reduces the effect of subglottal
exists, of course, that keeps the overall subglottal resonance in the closing phase. Thus, for a simpli-
pressure positive throughout the cycle. This DC fied analysis, we can neglect the closing phase for
component does not affect the arguments presented two reasons: (a) Less of the transglottal pressure is
here.) Note that conditions of constructive and de- applied to the medical surface of the folds, and (b)
structive interference exist for alternate cases most of what would be applied has already been
shown. Stippled regions show where the pressure damped out.
affects the movement during the opening portion of For the present, we will effectively decouple the
the cycle and hatched regions show where the pres- supraglottal system by letting P i = 0, This will al-
sure affects the closing portion. For example, the F 0 low treatment of the effects of tracheal resonance
= (3/5)F~ case shows positive pressure during the without vowel dependence. Thus, the involuntary

Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988

190 I . R . TITZE

transitions will be exposed. In a following section, a
brief description will be given of how supraglottal
resonances can be used to tune out undesirable sub-
glottal effects by vowel modification.
Using the impulse momentum principle of me-
chanics, the integrated force over ~he opening phase
can be related to the change in average momentum
over the same interval. This is written as
LT Pg dt = A(M~)
•s O
where LT (length x thickness) is the medial surface
over which the p r e s s u r e P g is acting to produce the
driving force, M is the vocal fold mass, ~ -- 2~A/~r
is the average velocity of a sinusoidal displacement
Asin~ot from t = 0 to t = Td4, ~ is the radian
frequency, and A is the amplitude of vibration. We
see that the change in amplitude &4 is proportional
to the integrated driving pressure rg.
Since we have few data on the precise variation
of (1 - a2/afl in Eq. 2, and on the vibratory mass M
and the surface area LT, it is difficult to obtain exact
calculations of &4. An order of magnitude estima-
tion is possible, however, with the following ap-
proximations. Since az/a 1 is negligible over most of
mm. It appears, therefore, that the vibratory pat-
tern may be affected significantly by the time-
varying components of the subglottal pressure.
Rothenberg (27) found interactions between vocal
fold movement and supraglottal pressures that
seemed to change the amplitude of vibration by as
much as a factor of 2. This was based on observed
changes in the shape of electroglottographic signal.
Given that the pressure variations above and below
the glottis are similar in magnitude (25), the agree-
ment between Rothenberg's results and our predic-
tions is not surprising. Changes in the amplitude of
the electroglottographic signal at natural register
boundaries have been further documented in recent
studies (28).
The entire response curve of zEA as a function of
F 0 is shown in Fig. 7. The two major peaks and two
major valleys correspond to the bottom four cases
shown in Fig. 6. The frequencies of the peaks are
146 and 306 Hz (approximately D3 and D4, respec-
tively), whereas the frequencies of the valleys are
204 and 510 Hz (approximately G ( and C5, re-
spectively). The peaks are the frequencies where
the amplitude of vibration increases maximally ow-
ing to subglottal reinforcement, even though the
lung pressure and all other adjustments stay the
same. In particular, if the prephonatory halfwidth ~0
is kept constant (no change in arytenoid spacing),
C3 C4 C5 C6
0.8" I I I

the opening phase (owing to high glottal conver- \

gence), we can let P g = P~ and integrate graphically [ I)4
0.6-
over the stippled portions shown in Fig. 6. Numer-
ical values of the impulse can thus be obtained. 0.4-
Then, from Eq. 3, we calculate D3
0.2- - /~ ,04
(,rtLT~ fTo/4
zEA= \2--M-~/.,0 P~dt (4)
0.0
provided L, T, and M are known. The value of LT Q)
can be approximated at 1 cm 2 (1.4 cm length × 0.7 'o -0.2 -
cm thickness). This value will be nearly constant at
all frequencies, since length and thickness are in- -0.4
versely proportional (owing to conservation of tis-
sue volume). We assume also that the product M~o -0.6
is constant for all frequencies, i.e., that the vibrat- 05
ing mass changes inversely with o). By letting M --0.6 , i , i , ' ,
0.1 g at 100 Hz, changes in amplitude can be com- 0 400 800 1200 1600
puted at each frequency of interest. For example, a F 0 in Hz
AA of 0.8 mm is computed for the 306-Hz case in
FIG. 7. Predicted change in vibrational amplitude as a function
Fig. 6. This can be highly significant, given that of fundamental frequencydue to subglottalpressure variations in
typical vibrational amplitudes are on the order of I the vocal fold driving pressure.

Journal o f Voice, Vol. 2, N o . 3, 1988

 STUD Y OF VOCAL REGISTERS
the abduction quotient ~o/A decreases and the per-
ception of register changes toward the richer timbre
(Fig. 5a). The notes around D 3 and D4 should there-
fore be optimally suited for chest register produc-
tion. For slightly higher frequencies, it is seen in
Fig. 7 that the vibrational amplitude decreases
quickly, causing the abduction quotient to increase
and the register to shift toward a poorer timbre. The
notes around 200 Hz (G3~) and those in the region of
400--800 Hz (about G4-Gs) should therefore be less
suitable for chest production. Tenors are well aware
of this, the region from G 4 to C 5 being the most
difficult for production with rich timbre (chest
voice).
It is conceivable that all of the major register tran-
sitions identified by vocal pedagogues for singing
(see ref. 1 or 3 for reviews) can be accounted for by
the first subglottal resonance. If we consider an ap-
proximate 10-20% difference in tracheal length be-
tween basses and sopranos, the peaks and valleys
will all have a spread of this percentage. In musical
terms, it would correspond to 2-3 semitones, which
agrees with the observed spread in involuntary reg-
ister transitions. Furthermore, if we consider the
involuntary transitions to take place somewhere be-
tween the peaks and valleys in Fig. 7, i.e., near the
zero crossings, we would predict a total of four
transitions. Three transitions would be in the male
two-octave range C3-C 5 (note scale on top) and two
in the female two-octave range C4-C 6. One transi-
tion overlaps both genders. The common transition
is the secondo p a s s a g g i o for males and the p r i m o
passaggio for females. It is the major chest to fal-
setto transition following D 4.
Two of the transitions might be called facilitory
and two inhibitory for chest voice. Thus, the D3-G3e
and the D4-C 5 transitions are inhibitory (downward
in Fig. 7), whereas the Gae-D4 and the Cs--C6 tran-
sitions are facilitory (upward in Fig. 7). Much at-
tention is paid to the inhibitory transitions in voice
training because they have a greater potential for
vocal debilitation. Both types of transitions need to
be smoothed out, however, for even vocal produc-
tion over a wide frequency range. We now address
some of the techniques employed in this smoothing-
out process.
VOLUNTARY TRANSITIONS AND
REGISTER EQUALIZATION
There appear to be at least two ways in which
timbre transitions can be executed voluntarily: (a)
191
by changing adduction o r (b) by changing lung pres-
sure. An increase in lung pressure will increase the
amplitude of vibration, thereby reducing the abduc-
tion quotient and enriching the timbre. A m e s s a di
voce exercise, a gradual crescendo followed by a
decrescendo, may involve a timbre change if con-
trol of amplitude and adduction are not well coor-
dinated. As amplitude of vibration increases in the
crescendo segment, the vocal folds should be ab-
ducted slightly to keep Qa constant. Conversely, as
amplitude decreases in the decrescendo segment,
the vocal folds should be adducted slightly. Other-
wise, the m e s s a di voce is likely to involve pressed
voice and breathy voice at the loudness extremes.
As yet, no obvious neuromuscular mechanisms
have been discovered that would prevent adduc-
tory-ab.ductory maneuvers to be executed with pre-
cision over the entire frequency range. Should there
indeed be none, adductory control could be used to
equalize the involuntary register transitions brought
about by subglottal resonance. In the facilitory tran-
sitions, where there is a natural tendency toward a
richer timbre, the vocal processes would be spread
apart slightly to offset the increasing amplitude of
vibration as the pitch is raised. Alternatively, or
additionally, the thyroarytenoid (vocalis) muscle
could be relaxed gradually to allow the inferior
part of the vocal fold to abduct (29,30). For exam-
ple, the adjustment could begin to take place some-
where around C4 and continue in varying amounts
t h r o u g h F4, with maximum equalization at D 4 (Fig.
7). In the inhibitory transition, a gradual increase in
adduction may be necessary to offset the decreasing
amplitude of vibration. This adjustment could begin
at F 4 and continue past C5.
Some limitations may be encountered with this
equalization technique, especially at high funda-
mental frequencies. Increased adduction, together
with a reduced vibrational amplitude, may cause a
"strangulation" effect. Even though the timbre
may be equalized reasonably well, the output power
may dwindle because there is too little airflow. At
this point, the singer usually resorts to both subglot-
tal pressure increase and vowel modification to
boost the output power and tune out the undesirable
subglottal resonances. After Sundberg (31), the
vowel modification process has been called "for-
mant tuning." Supraglottal resonances, unlike the
subglottal resonances, are highly adjustable by ar-
ticulatory changes. Even within a given vowel cat-
egory, the first and second formant frequencies (F 1
and F2) can vary by as much as 50-100%. This
Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988
192
makes formant tuning an attractive way to equalize
the subglottal registers.
To illustrate the point, Fig. 6 can be used to de-
scribe the effect of supraglottal resonances on vocal
fold vibration if the polarity of the damped expo-
nentials is reversed, i.e., if the formant patterns are
flipped upside down. The physical reason for this is
that the supraglottal pressure is maximally negative
at glottal closure, whereas the subglottal pressure is
maximally positive. One can get an intuitive feeling
for this opposite polarity by recognizing that an air
condensation and air rarefaction take place below
the glottis and above the glottis, respectively, as the
vocal tract air column attempts to maintain its for-
ward motion through glottal closure. Excellent ex-
amples of this are provided by Koike (32), Kitzing
and Lffqvist (32), and Miller and Schutte (25). All
of the frequency ratios established in Fig. 6 will
therefore apply to the supraglottal system, except
that constructive and destructive cases are inter-
changed. However, since F1 is highly adjustable,
there are no invariant frequencies where transitions
occur.
Consider an example of register equalization by
formant tuning. The difficult region between 400
and 800 Hz in Fig. 7, which results from F 0 being in
the vicinity of F~, can be equalized by placing F 1 in
the same region. A number of vowels, particularly
t h e / z / , / u / , / e / , and/~/vowels, can be used for this
purpose. Baritones and tenors know that these
vowels, rather than the so-called corner vowels/i/,
/a/, and/u/, are easiest to produce in the high part of
their ranges.
A more complete picture of the register-vowel
interaction can be obtained by locating the peaks
and valleys of Fig. 7 on the classic Peterson and
Barney vowel chart (34). This is done with dashed
vertical lines in Fig. 8. F 2 is plotted again<st F1 for a
number of clusters of American English vowels.
The locations of phonetic symbols represent aver-
age adult male values for F 1 <600 Hz and average
adult female values for F 1 >600 Hz. This division
was created to highlight vowel modifications in the
upper part of the respective ranges. Note that the
four male vowels/~/,/u/,/o/, and/e/lie very close to
the F~ vertical line, suggesting that register equal-
ization is readily accomplished with these vowels.
The corner vowels, on the other hand, are far re-
moved from the F~ line.
The (2/7)F~, (2/5)F~, and (3/5)F~ lines all lie in the
/i/ and /u/ vowel spaces. Some equalization could be
expected in this 150- to 300-Hz region with these
Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988
I . R . TITZE
4000 \ t J , J
~ ] I .I / -
ooo / ,.
2000 .~
N
1000
500 I I I i I
400 800 1~00
F I in Hz
FIG. 8. F2-FI vowel chart showing criticalfrequencies (dashed
lincs) wherc peaks and valleys in Fig. 7 occur. Slightly curved
diagonal lines indicate where double formant tuning is possible.
(After Peterson and Barney, rcf. 34.)
vowels, but it is more likely that adductory equal-
ization will be dominant here, given that the vowel
selection is rather poor.
In the upper part of the female range (500-1,000
Hz), there is a gradual and sustained facilitory tran-
sition out of the 500-Hz valley in Fig. 7. Here the
tuning of F1 to F[ can gradually be replaced by tun-
ing to F 0. Tuning to F o is not to equalize registers so
much as to increase output power (30). The vowels
best suited for this are the brighter vowels/~e/,/A/,
and/a/in Fig. 8. Note the wide range of F1 for these
vowels, well over an octave. Thus, F1 = F0 can be
maintained over most of the upper female range
with these vowels.
A double-tuning effect can be achieved by letting
F1 = F0 and F2 = 2F0, the second harmonic. This
condition is represented by the lower of the two
curved solid lines of Fig. 8. If for every fundamen-
tal frequency a vowel is used that falls on one of
these lines, significant boosting of the output power
may be possible. For example, at G5 (784 Hz) the
vowel/A/lies near the F 2 = 2F 1 curve. This vowel
can be modified and blended into the/~e/vowel to
cover the entire Ds---D 6 o c t a v e (587-1,175 Hz) with-
out detuning either the first or the second harmonic.
This double tuning can also be used in the 300- to
500-Hz range, but only for the closed vowels/u/and
/U/. By lowering the larynx, the/~/vowel could pos-
 STUD Y OF VOCAL REGISTERS
sibly qualify if F 1 is appreciably lowered by this
action.
The second double-tuning curve (upper sloping
line in Fig. 8) is characterized by F 1 = F 0 and F2 =
3F0. Here the vowel must be some mixture between
/e/ and /~e/ for females in the upper range, but the
fundamental frequency range is limited to - 8 0 0 Hz.
For the tenor high C, however, the condition seems
to be ideal if the neutral vowel/o/is used. Here the
unwanted subglottal resonance can be canceled
with F 1 while the third harmonic can resonate to-
gether with Fo. The vowel can be gradually blended
into the /u/ vowel for lower fundamental frequen-
cies. This may be related to the " c o v e r e d " sound
sometimes mentioned in pedagogy.
Much more research is needed to quantify the
many other resonance possibilities. In theory, n for-
mants can be tuned to m harmonics, yielding a dou-
ble-infinite set of possibilities. In practice, of
course, only a handful make any sense. Further-
more, personal preference in sound quality may
steer the vocalist away from overuse of vowel-
modified productions. In such a case, register
equalization by adductory control is still an option,
as discussed earlier. In many styles of singing, no
equalization is preferred, particularly when the ver-
bal message takes precedence over a smooth tim-
bre.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
This has been an exploration of one hypothesis
about vocal registers, namely, that subglottal reso-
nances induce the involuntary register transitions.
In particular, the primo and secondo passaggi in the
singing voice would appear to achieve their invari-
ance in frequency by the relatively constant length
of the trachea. The hypothesis has been shown to
have strong support in a number of areas. First, the
location of the register transitions is predicted ac-
curately. Second, the number of transitions and
their relative importance are predicted, as far as the
author can glean from the literature. In particular,
the difficulty that vocalists encounter in carrying
the chest voice from F 4 to C5 is explained rather
well on the basis of tracheal resonance. Third, the
technique used by vocalists to equalize the registers
by adductory control or by vowel modification fit
well into the scheme. Fourth, voluntary register
changes are not affected by the involuntary transi-
tions.
There are some phenomena related to registers
193
that are not explained by this simple hypothesis.
For example, the fact that involuntary register tran-
sitions from chest voice to falsetto voice are often
accompanied by large upward jumps in fundamental
frequency is not explained. Also not explained is
the apparent need to deactivate the thyroarytenoid
muscle for fundamental frequencies above F 4 (29).
We are currently investigating another hypothesis
that a physiologic limit in the maximum active
stress in the thyroarytenoid muscle may dictate a
transition from chest register to head register, and
ultimately to falsetto. Such a transition would be
superimposed on the series of transitions described
here. Thus, an acoustic and a neuromuscular gene-
sis of vocal registers could coexist.
The transition into pulse register (vocal fry)
stands apart from all the other transitions in its or-
igin. It appears to be an interaction between for-
mant bandwidth and fundamental frequency. When
formant energy is damped out completely before a
new vocal tract excitation occurs within the glottal
cycle, individual pulses are perceived. The percep-
tion is basically independent of the shape of the
glottal pulse. Subharmonic frequencies in a voice
signal may also lead to the perception of vocal fry,
but formal experiments are needed to confirm this.
Finally, a word about register terminology is in
order. The term "chest register" is appropriate in
light of the current findings. Given that tracheal res-
onances carry energy into the upper thoracic re-
gion, there should be little objection to labeling the
phenomenon according to a sensation experienced
by the vocalist. The term " m o d a l " is particularly
unfortunate because modes of vibration have a spe-
cific, but rather different, meaning in acoustics and
other fields of physics. This author prefers "pulse
register" to "vocal fry" or other names that have
been invented. Pulses are indeed perceived and
pulses are observed in\the waveforms. "Falsetto
register" gets this author's vote because it is such a
unique word. It can hardly be confused with any
other word in speech or voice science. Even though
it conveys no sensory information, it has been
around long enough that everyone can relate to it.
Finally, "head register" does not get a particularly
high score in the author's view. It does convey sen-
sory information, but because it is likely to be some
mixture of chest and falsetto register, it does not
identify an independent phenomenon. On the other
hand, if singers can easily and consistently relate to
it as a distinct production, another label does not
hurt. Whenever possible, scientists and pedagogues
Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 3, 1988
194 I.R.
w o u l d d o w e l l to c la r if y t h e i r l a b e l s in t e r m s o f sup-
plementary acoustic and physiologic information.
Acknowledgment: This work was supported by a grant
from the National Institutes of Health, no. NS 16320-08.
The author appreciates the assistance of David Druker,
Sue Ann Philippbar, and Linnie Southard in preparation
of the figures and manuscript.
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