Coup de Glotte - Tone Production and Vocal 'attack'

Tone Production and Vocal 'attack'

Vocal sound is produced by a column of air passing from the lungs through the larynx while the vocal cords or ligaments are drawn together, leaving narrow spaces through which the air passes in short, rapid pulsations or vibrations. The discipline of training aims to remove all rigidity and strain in the throat while governing the maximum economy of the ratio of breath to tone produced, so that a relaxed and pure tone may float freely on the breath, supported by the trained and elastic pressure of the diaphragm upon the lungs.

When singing a note, it is desirable that the release of breath and the attack of the tone should occur simultaneously and without artifice. When beginning on a vowel, with no added consonant to mask the start of the note, one can hear if there is any undesirable emission of breath or aspirate (Ha) before the production of tone. If the voice is correctly produced the union of tone and breath should be spontaneous, but if it is not, this fault will apply to every note produced even when the effect is masked by a consonant, and will form a basic (and vocally destructive) flaw in the vocal method.