This month we’re going to be talking about the larynx and how it powers our voices.

Now, without a carving knife and a willing subject, we’re going to be exploring the feel of the larynx rather than actually being able to see what goes on in our voice box.

Last month we talked about the sounds that are made by the mouth. There are three parts to speech and singing; power, source and filter.

We’ve already talked about the filter – the mouth and the way in which we move the mouth changes the way our voices are heard.

Source and power

The power is the fuel we need to make sounds happen. Like electricity to power a light, for example. It’s a steady flow of something to produce something else. That power comes from the breath we breathe and how we control that. We’ll talk more about that later.

Let’s move onto the source – where it all happens.

Take, for instance, a bellow blow instrument such as the Northumbrian Small Pipes.

Northumbrian pipes don’t have a lot to do with singing but the idea of power, source and filter really is relevant! The power of the instrument is the airflow we put through the drones or pipes. When air flows through the pipes, they make a constant noise. What happens afterwards through the filter (the part where I play the pipes) is where the magic happens.

Check out this week’s video to find out more about this week’s topic.

We will talk more about this in next week’s blog and video so hang around a while and find out more!