A little bit about speech science
I know you are so curious about what I'm learning in school and how I'm putting Mom and Dad's generous tuition payments to use. I know you all are anxious to learn and broaden your horizons also. Well this post is just for you--it's in the form of Q&A about some of the things I've learned and want to share with you.
Q&A regarding the science of speech:
What is pitch? It's how high or low a sound is (e.g. different notes on a keyboard represent different pitches)
What is frequency? The same thing as pitch. It's measured in Hertz (Hz). (e.g. A above middle C on a keyboard is 440 Hz)
How do you measure how loud something is? by it's intensity, in decibels (dB)
What causes sound? movement, something has to create an vibration. that's what sound waves are... vibrations
What makes speech sound? people's vocal chords. little muscles in your voice box make the vocal chords stretch so that when air gets blown through your wind pipe the vocal chords, (or vocal folds) vibrate.
What changes when people sing high or low notes? how stiff the vocal chords are and how much air is being forced between them. If they are really stretched and taut they will vibrate at a higher frequency; if they are more lax they will vibrate at a lower frequency.
What makes vocal folds lose or tight? a bunch of little muscles: some are actually in your vocal folds, others attach the vocal folds to cartilage or bone so that there is something secure to pull or push from.
How do we make different sounds (vowels and consonants) if our vocal folds are always giving a similar output (varied only by pitch and loudness)? Your mouth and throat have a ton of muscles that make your wind pipe wider or narrower in different sections, especially within your mouth (which is the very end of your vocal tract). Tongues really ought to get the most credit. Each vowel is produced by your tongue making a unique shape. Tongues also help create most of our consonant sounds too (e.g. pressing against your teeth and top of mouth to produce a /t/ sound).
Q&A regarding the science of speech:
What is pitch? It's how high or low a sound is (e.g. different notes on a keyboard represent different pitches)
What is frequency? The same thing as pitch. It's measured in Hertz (Hz). (e.g. A above middle C on a keyboard is 440 Hz)
How do you measure how loud something is? by it's intensity, in decibels (dB)
What causes sound? movement, something has to create an vibration. that's what sound waves are... vibrations
What makes speech sound? people's vocal chords. little muscles in your voice box make the vocal chords stretch so that when air gets blown through your wind pipe the vocal chords, (or vocal folds) vibrate.
What changes when people sing high or low notes? how stiff the vocal chords are and how much air is being forced between them. If they are really stretched and taut they will vibrate at a higher frequency; if they are more lax they will vibrate at a lower frequency.
What makes vocal folds lose or tight? a bunch of little muscles: some are actually in your vocal folds, others attach the vocal folds to cartilage or bone so that there is something secure to pull or push from.
How do we make different sounds (vowels and consonants) if our vocal folds are always giving a similar output (varied only by pitch and loudness)? Your mouth and throat have a ton of muscles that make your wind pipe wider or narrower in different sections, especially within your mouth (which is the very end of your vocal tract). Tongues really ought to get the most credit. Each vowel is produced by your tongue making a unique shape. Tongues also help create most of our consonant sounds too (e.g. pressing against your teeth and top of mouth to produce a /t/ sound).
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