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Episode 71: Various vocal fold vibes
🕑 Added 2022-08-19 02:39:09 +0000 UTCPartway down your throat are two flaps of muscle. When you breathe normally, you pull the flaps away to the sides, and air comes out silently. But if you stretch the flaps across the opening of your throat while pushing air up through, you can make them vibrate in the breeze and produce all sorts of sounds -- sort of like the mucousy reed of a giant meat clarinet. (You’re welcome.)
In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about the vocal folds! They’re often called vocal cords, but as they’re attached along the long side rather than just the two ends like a guitar string, we’re using the more precise “folds” (just be thankful they’re not called “vocal flaps”!) We talk about the many cool types of vibrations you can make with your vocal folds: pushing out an extra puff of air (aspiration), turning off your vocal folds while still talking (whisper), making them high and tight (falsetto), low and airy (breathy voice), and low and crackly (creaky voice, aka vocal fry). We also talk about the ways that various languages draw on different configurations of these vibrations to distinguish between words (such as “sip” and “zip”; Thai, Tai, and Dai; and more) or for stylistic effect (such as newscaster voice).
Announcement:
We’ve teamed up with linguist/artist Lucy Maddox to create a fun, minimalist version of the classic International Phonetic Alphabet chart, which you can see here (plus more info about how we put together the design). It looks really cool, and it’s also a practical reference tool that you can carry around with you in a convenient multi-purpose format: lens cloths!
We're going to place ONE (1) massive order for aesthetic IPA chart lens cloths on October 6, 2022. If you want one, be a patron at the Lingthusiast tier or higher on October 5th, 2022, timezone: anywhere in the world. If you’re already a patron at that tier, then you’re set! (That's the tier where you also get bonus episodes and the Discord access, we've never run a special offer at this tier before but we think this time it'll be worth it!).
Click here for the full show notes, which includes links to things mentioned in this episod
Comments
Lingthusiasm
Aha, that explains it then!
Marissa Graham
Bass clarinet is DEFINITELY a big chonkier with a big chonky reed!
Lingthusiasm
Oh wait, maybe I'm remembering the bass clarinet, there used to be someone I knew who played that and I was impressed by how it sat on the floor and had a big curved bell
Marissa Graham
No, they're pretty close in size to a clarinet! English horn is a bit bigger, bassoon is the BIG one. But all double reeds are pretty small, depending on which dimensions you're counting by. Saxophone reeds are bigger than clarinet reeds though, at least for a tenor sax which is the only one I ever played.
Lingthusiasm
Oh whoa, today I learned! But oboes themselves are huge right?
Marissa Graham
Gretchen and Lauren, I promise you that oboe reeds are not bigger than clarinet reeds! Oboe reeds are tiny little guys!
