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Differences in Respiratory Systems of Singers
The respiratory system provides humans with basic function, especially the ability to breathe and supply oxygen to our bloodstream. Alongside the main function of respiration, the respiratory system is also vital in sound production from the vocal tract. The general mechanism of sound production is: air is expelled from the lungs through the trachea and into the larynx, where vocal folds are vibrated and resonate sound through the nasal and oral cavities. These mechanistic processes can be manipulated to produce different sounds, pitch, and volumes.
Professional singers possess advanced breath control and respiratory skills to aid in specific sounds and resonations produced by their voices. The respiratory system is crucial in sound production as the air released from the respiratory system vibrates the vocal cords (Sumerags et al., 2023). Alongside functional aspects of the respiratory system playing a part in vocals, supporting structures like the pharynx, larynx, and trachea can play a role in sound resonation as well (Sumerags et al., 2023). While there are differences in the respiratory systems of individuals in general, I was curious to see respiratory differences specifically within the scope of professional singers.
It was shown that the overall vital capacity of the lungs is smaller in female singers compared to male singers (Traser et al., 2022). This is consistent with the overall findings within non-singers as well as women typically have smaller torsos and therefore less available room for the lungs. Along with sexual differences in lung volumes, statistically significant differences have been found in the tracheal length, diameter, and volume, with males having larger values in each measurement than females (Sumerags et al., 2023). In addition, differences in phonation time have been demonstrated between sexes, with males typically having longer phonations, correlating to a lower pitch, which is also found in males compared to females (Traser et al., 2017). Subglottal pressure, shown to be correlated with pitch (Traser et al., 2017), is created by inhalation; this demonstrates a relationship between pressure and lung capacity, as the more air that can be taken into the lungs, the larger the glottal pressure that can be created. Not only does the glottal pressure correlate with pitch, but a higher subglottal pressure can also lead to a higher degree of loudness, shown by the correlation between glottal pressure and sound pressure. This leads to the assumption that the increased lung capacity of males can lead to longer and louder phonation than that of females that possess a lower lung capacity.
Besides the respiratory differences between different sexes of singers, there are also differentiations between the types of singers within each gender. The categorized types of singers within males are tenors, baritones, and basses. In females, the types of singers are sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, and altos. There are significant differences in bronchial length, area, and volume between altos and mezzo-sopranos, with mezzo-sopranos having greater values in these variables. Similarly, bronchial diameter and volume differed between sopranos and altos with sopranos having the larger values (Sumerags et al., 2023). It has been proposed that laryngeal space may be related to the vocal type in people with the highest pitched type of each sex, sopranos and tenors having the largest space (Sumerags et al., 2023).
In my painting, I wanted to highlight how the respiratory system allows us to sing and create music. I did this by writing “the original instrument” on top of my lung painting surrounded by music notes.
References
Cowgill, J. G. (2009). Breathing for singers: a comparative analysis of body types and breathing tendencies. Journal of Singing, 66(2), 141.
Sumerags, D., Jain, N., Pilmane, M., & Sumeraga, G. (2023). Assessment of professional singers using laryngeal, respiratory, and airflow measurements. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 49(4), 170–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/14015439.2023.2270592
Traser, L., Knab, J., Echternach, M., Fuhrer, H., Richter, B., Buerkle, H., & Schumann, S. (2017). Regional ventilation during phonation in professional male and female singers. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, 239, 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resp.2017.01.006Links to an external site.
Traser, L., Schwab, C., Burk, F., Özen, A. C., Bock, M., Richter, B., & Echternach, M. (2022). Differences of respiratory kinematics in female and male singers – a comparative study using Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.844032
The respiratory system is essential for human life. It allows us to breathe to supply our body with oxygen and is also vital in sound production from the vocal tract. Sound production occurs when air is expelled from the lungs to the trachea into to the larynx. Vocal folds are vibrated and sound resonates through the nasal and oral cavities. Changes in this process results in different sounds, pitches, and volumes.
Differences in the physical bodies of males and females results in differences in male and female respiratory systems. Males have a high overall vital capacity in the lungs than females due to a typically larger torso size. Males also have a larger tracheal length and diameter than females. The phonation time in males is higher in women which is correlated to a lower pitch. Subglottal pressure has shown a correlation to pitch. The larger the glottal pressure the lower the pitch is and higher the degree of loudness is. Males generally have a higher subglottal pressure than females due to their larger lung capacity.
There are also differentiations between the types of singers in each gender. The differentiations are related to bronchial length, area, volume, and diameter between singers of the same gender. A larger laryngeal space may be connected to a higher pitch in both genders.