Camryn-McCoy Chapter 4

 There were a lot of things in this chapter I thought were surprising and interesting! First, the vocal folds are SO SMALL. Literally the size of a DIME in women and a QUARTER for men?! I don't know why I thought they'd be bigger than that, but still! The vocal folds are responsible for sound production, and can produce a sound loud enough to be heard over a symphony orchestra. That is insane to know just a tiny portion of our vocal folds create such a strong, powerful sound. Another subject I want to touch on is the glottal onset. Listening to the example given, the attack of the note sounds really harsh. When reading about this, I was surprised to see that these onsets can lead to vocal nodules. On the opposite side, an aspirate onset lacks energy, and sounds airy/breathy. There's little no none air support and flow in the voice. In doing this an excessive amount, it can also lead to voice problems, such as "chronic incomplete glottal closure and muscular tension dysphonia". After reading these sections, it made me more aware how important it is to have a balanced onset so that these complications don't develop over time.

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