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The Physiological Basis of Chinese Höömii Generation
ARTICLE IN PRESS The Physiological Basis of Chinese Höömii Generation Gelin Li and Qian Hou, Beijing, China Summary: Objective. The study aimed to investigate the physiological basis of vibration mode of sound source of a variety of Mongolian höömii forms of singing in China. Methods. The participant is a Mongolian höömii performing artist who was recommended by the Chinese Medical Association of Art. He used three types of höömii, namely vibration höömii, whistle höömii, and overtone höömii, which were compared with general comfortable pronunciation of /i:/ as control. Phonation was observed during /i:/. A laryngostroboscope (Storz) was used to determine vibration source-mucosal wave in the throat. Results. For vibration höömii, bilateral ventricular folds approximated to the midline and made contact at the midline during pronunciation. Ventricular and vocal folds oscillated together as a single unit to form a composite vibration (double oscillator) sound source. For whistle höömii, ventricular folds approximated to the midline to cover part of vocal folds, but did not contact each other. It did not produce mucosal wave. The vocal folds produced mucosal wave to form a single vibration sound source. For overtone höömii, the anterior two-thirds of ventricular folds touched each other during pronunciation. The last one-third produced the mucosal wave. The vocal folds produced mucosal wave at the same time, which was a composite vibration (double oscillator) sound source mode. Conclusions. The Höömii form of singing, including mixed voices and multivoice, was related to the presence of dual vibration sound sources. Its high overtone form of singing (whistle höömii) was related to stenosis at the resonance chambers’ initiation site (ventricular folds level). Key Words: höömii–ventricular folds–vocal folds–vibration mode–vibration source.
INTRODUCTION Höömii is an ancient polyphonic Mongolian form of singing. The name derives from a Chinese adaptation of the Tuva text “xoomei” (in English: höömii), which means “throat,” ie, “guttural” sound. It is an overtone chanting technique to produce “polyphonic or bi-phonic sound” (bi-phonic, meaning two voices) from contracting skeletal muscles of the larynx. It means that a person can simultaneously produce a mixed sound with high and low sounds to form a rare form of multiple voices. Some scholars believe that the singer used special skills called voice breath to strongly drive the vocal folds with breath to produce stout bubble sound, which is bass part (pitch). As for the treble, it is produced by cleverly using tongue to adjust oral resonance to produce bright treble voices with metal sound (overtone).1 There are also some scholars who believe that höömii employs several mechanisms and uses complex sound principles. Therefore, there is no definite conclusion.2 Foreign scholars started studying much earlier. In 1967, Smith et al3 proposed the theory of physiological basis of double oscillator pronunciation, which states that the articulator characteristics of höömii polyphony are related to the dual vibration sound source. In 2001, Lindestad et al4 used acoustic analysis and high-speed photography of the larynx to study höömii basic tone (Kargyraa). It has been shown that the joint vibration of the ventricular and vocal folds is char-
Accepted for publication March 10, 2016. Conflict of interest: None. Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector. From the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Gelin Li, Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, 95 Yong’an Road, Beijing 100050, China. E-mail: [email protected] Journal of Voice, Vol. ■■, No. ■■, pp. ■■-■■ 0892-1997 © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2016.03.007
acteristic of this sound source. The vibration frequency of ventricular folds is half of that of vocal folds. There is no report on the physiology of höömii pronunciation so far. The pronunciation study group in our department investigated a variety of forms of singing of the Mongolian höömii Khoomei in China, as well as their vibration modes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects The subject is an Inner Mongolian singer, male, born in May 1951. He is a famous performance artist of Chinese Mongolian höömii who originally was a teacher of Inner Mongolia University. In October 2000, he created China’s first ancient Mongolian court orchestra—the Jiangger Orchestra. Choice of sound samples Three types of höömii performance were used, namely vibration höömii, whistle höömii, and overtone höömii, in which the /i:/ vowel sound was selected for recording of the sound samples. The ordinary comfortable /i:/ sound was used as the control. Observation methods The Storz (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) laryngostroboscope was used to visualize ventricular and vocal fold positioning, oscillation, and associated mucosal waves. The soft palate was observed to check if it was vibrating during pronunciation. The CSL 4150 (Kay Pentax, Montvale, New Jersey, USA) speech lab from KAY was used to perform sound collection and acoustic analysis. RESULTS Vibration höömii The ventricular folds contacted the vocal folds and vibrated together during pronunciation, ie, dual vibration sound source mode. A full cycle of mucosa fluctuation is shown as continuous seven images (Figures 1 and 2).
ARTICLE IN PRESS 2
Journal of Voice, Vol. ■■, No. ■■, 2016
FIGURE 1. The images started from the left side of each row from top to bottom. vibration sound source. As shown in Figure 3, there are four consecutive images from flash laryngoscope.
FIGURE 2. The image demonstrates that the vocal folds were closed and involved in vibration during pronunciation. Whistle höömii During whistle höömii, the ventricular folds approximated to the midline to cover part of the vocal folds. However, they did not contact each other and produce mucosal wave. But the vocal folds did produce mucosal wave, which was the mode of single
Overtone höömii In overtone höömii, the anterior two-thirds of the ventricular folds contacted each other. The mucous membrane fluctuations appeared at the posterior one-third of the ventricular folds. It also belonged to the mode of dual vibration sound source. The mucous membrane fluctuations in the ventricular folds are shown in Figures 4–6. DISCUSSION Höömii is a performance form with characteristics of mixed high and low voices. There are two categories of important method. The first one is overtone vocalization of “Islamic Spengler” Treble höömii (Mongolian phonetic as Ysgeree, Tuva called it Sygyt), which is similar to domestic overtones höömii. The second one
FIGURE 3. The images started from the left to the right in chronological order.
ARTICLE IN PRESS Gelin Li and Qian Hou
Physiological Basis of Chinese Höömii Generation
3
FIGURE 4. The images started from the left side of each row from top to bottom.
FIGURE 5. The image shows that the vocal folds were closed and involved in vibration during pronunciation. is pronounced as deep “Hari Hey La” bass höömii (Mongolian called it “Harhiraa,” Tuva called it “Kaji La”), which is similar to country singers’ vibration höömii. The original höömii was intended for treble voices to be squeezed out, which was literally translated as whistle voice. The general characteristic of the singing technique is the arching of the tongue to form a small
cavity resonance at the front compartment of the mouth. The high harmonic voice produced by this method is more obvious, which is similar to domestic whistle höömii. Scholars nowadays generally accepted that bass höömii uses the ventricular folds to participate in the pronunciation, which is the result of the ventricular and vocal folds vibration simultaneously.4,5 Our preliminary research supports that vibration höömii is a physiological process in which the ventricular and vocal folds participate together. 6,7 However, with treble höömii (Ysgeree), the physiological basis of this kind of pronunciation patterns is simultaneous vibration of the anterior onethird of the ventricular folds and the whole vocal folds.8 Finally, the high-pitched whistle höömii is based on the vocal folds vibration. The ventricular folds do not vibrate at all. They approximated to the midline to demonstrate the morphological characteristics of the resonance chambers’ starting unit, which can help treble section resonance according to experimental phonetics.9,10 In conclusion, the ventricular folds participate in the physiological processes of pronunciation in all three performance types of Mongolian höömii. The mixed voices and multivoice tone were related to the dual vibration sound source. The high overtone form of singing (whistle höömii) is related to severe stenosis of the resonance chambers’ initiation site (ventricular folds level). REFERENCES
FIGURE 6. The image shows the screenshot of laryngostroboscope during pronunciation of the /i/ vowel sound.
1. Jiang X. The treasure in the ethnic music library treasure – “Khoomei” explore. Frontier 2010;17:271. 2. Gerelt B. The types and vocal skills of Khoomei. Chinese Music. 2007;3:66– 70.
ARTICLE IN PRESS 4 3. Smith H, Stevens KN, Tomlinson RS. On an unusual mode of chanting by certain Tibetan lamas. J Acoust Soc Am. 1967;41:1262–1264. 4. Lindestad PA, Sodersten M, Merker B, et al. Voice source characteristics in Mongolian “throat singing” studied with high-speed imaging technique, acoustic spectra, and inverse filtering. J Voice. 2001;15:78–85. 5. Xu X. Studies of overtone singing in the West. J. Cent. Music Coll. 2010;2:98–105. 6. Hertegard S. What have we learned about laryngeal physiology from high-speed digital videoendoscopy? Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005;13:152–156.
Journal of Voice, Vol. ■■, No. ■■, 2016 7. Guzman M, Lanas A, Olavarria C, et al. Laryngoscopic and spectral analysis of laryngeal and pharyngeal configuration in non-classical singing styles. J Voice. 2015;29:e121–e138. 8. Bailly L, Bernardoni NH, Muller F, et al. Ventricular-fold dynamics in human phonation. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2014;57:1219–1242. 9. Echternach M, Traser L, Richter B. Vocal tract configurations in tenors’ passaggio in different vowel conditions-a real-time magnetic resonance imaging study. J Voice. 2014;28:e261–e262, e268. 10. Arunachalam R, Boominathan P, Mahalingam S. Clinical voice analysis of Carnatic singers. J Voice. 2014;28:e121–e128, e129.
INTRODUCTION Höömii is an ancient polyphonic Mongolian form of singing. The name derives from a Chinese adaptation of the Tuva text “xoomei” (in English: höömii), which means “throat,” ie, “guttural” sound. It is an overtone chanting technique to produce “polyphonic or bi-phonic sound” (bi-phonic, meaning two voices) from contracting skeletal muscles of the larynx. It means that a person can simultaneously produce a mixed sound with high and low sounds to form a rare form of multiple voices. Some scholars believe that the singer used special skills called voice breath to strongly drive the vocal folds with breath to produce stout bubble sound, which is bass part (pitch). As for the treble, it is produced by cleverly using tongue to adjust oral resonance to produce bright treble voices with metal sound (overtone).1 There are also some scholars who believe that höömii employs several mechanisms and uses complex sound principles. Therefore, there is no definite conclusion.2 Foreign scholars started studying much earlier. In 1967, Smith et al3 proposed the theory of physiological basis of double oscillator pronunciation, which states that the articulator characteristics of höömii polyphony are related to the dual vibration sound source. In 2001, Lindestad et al4 used acoustic analysis and high-speed photography of the larynx to study höömii basic tone (Kargyraa). It has been shown that the joint vibration of the ventricular and vocal folds is char-
Accepted for publication March 10, 2016. Conflict of interest: None. Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector. From the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Gelin Li, Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, 95 Yong’an Road, Beijing 100050, China. E-mail: [email protected] Journal of Voice, Vol. ■■, No. ■■, pp. ■■-■■ 0892-1997 © 2016 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2016.03.007
acteristic of this sound source. The vibration frequency of ventricular folds is half of that of vocal folds. There is no report on the physiology of höömii pronunciation so far. The pronunciation study group in our department investigated a variety of forms of singing of the Mongolian höömii Khoomei in China, as well as their vibration modes. MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects The subject is an Inner Mongolian singer, male, born in May 1951. He is a famous performance artist of Chinese Mongolian höömii who originally was a teacher of Inner Mongolia University. In October 2000, he created China’s first ancient Mongolian court orchestra—the Jiangger Orchestra. Choice of sound samples Three types of höömii performance were used, namely vibration höömii, whistle höömii, and overtone höömii, in which the /i:/ vowel sound was selected for recording of the sound samples. The ordinary comfortable /i:/ sound was used as the control. Observation methods The Storz (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) laryngostroboscope was used to visualize ventricular and vocal fold positioning, oscillation, and associated mucosal waves. The soft palate was observed to check if it was vibrating during pronunciation. The CSL 4150 (Kay Pentax, Montvale, New Jersey, USA) speech lab from KAY was used to perform sound collection and acoustic analysis. RESULTS Vibration höömii The ventricular folds contacted the vocal folds and vibrated together during pronunciation, ie, dual vibration sound source mode. A full cycle of mucosa fluctuation is shown as continuous seven images (Figures 1 and 2).
ARTICLE IN PRESS 2
Journal of Voice, Vol. ■■, No. ■■, 2016
FIGURE 1. The images started from the left side of each row from top to bottom. vibration sound source. As shown in Figure 3, there are four consecutive images from flash laryngoscope.
FIGURE 2. The image demonstrates that the vocal folds were closed and involved in vibration during pronunciation. Whistle höömii During whistle höömii, the ventricular folds approximated to the midline to cover part of the vocal folds. However, they did not contact each other and produce mucosal wave. But the vocal folds did produce mucosal wave, which was the mode of single
Overtone höömii In overtone höömii, the anterior two-thirds of the ventricular folds contacted each other. The mucous membrane fluctuations appeared at the posterior one-third of the ventricular folds. It also belonged to the mode of dual vibration sound source. The mucous membrane fluctuations in the ventricular folds are shown in Figures 4–6. DISCUSSION Höömii is a performance form with characteristics of mixed high and low voices. There are two categories of important method. The first one is overtone vocalization of “Islamic Spengler” Treble höömii (Mongolian phonetic as Ysgeree, Tuva called it Sygyt), which is similar to domestic overtones höömii. The second one
FIGURE 3. The images started from the left to the right in chronological order.
ARTICLE IN PRESS Gelin Li and Qian Hou
Physiological Basis of Chinese Höömii Generation
3
FIGURE 4. The images started from the left side of each row from top to bottom.
FIGURE 5. The image shows that the vocal folds were closed and involved in vibration during pronunciation. is pronounced as deep “Hari Hey La” bass höömii (Mongolian called it “Harhiraa,” Tuva called it “Kaji La”), which is similar to country singers’ vibration höömii. The original höömii was intended for treble voices to be squeezed out, which was literally translated as whistle voice. The general characteristic of the singing technique is the arching of the tongue to form a small
cavity resonance at the front compartment of the mouth. The high harmonic voice produced by this method is more obvious, which is similar to domestic whistle höömii. Scholars nowadays generally accepted that bass höömii uses the ventricular folds to participate in the pronunciation, which is the result of the ventricular and vocal folds vibration simultaneously.4,5 Our preliminary research supports that vibration höömii is a physiological process in which the ventricular and vocal folds participate together. 6,7 However, with treble höömii (Ysgeree), the physiological basis of this kind of pronunciation patterns is simultaneous vibration of the anterior onethird of the ventricular folds and the whole vocal folds.8 Finally, the high-pitched whistle höömii is based on the vocal folds vibration. The ventricular folds do not vibrate at all. They approximated to the midline to demonstrate the morphological characteristics of the resonance chambers’ starting unit, which can help treble section resonance according to experimental phonetics.9,10 In conclusion, the ventricular folds participate in the physiological processes of pronunciation in all three performance types of Mongolian höömii. The mixed voices and multivoice tone were related to the dual vibration sound source. The high overtone form of singing (whistle höömii) is related to severe stenosis of the resonance chambers’ initiation site (ventricular folds level). REFERENCES
FIGURE 6. The image shows the screenshot of laryngostroboscope during pronunciation of the /i/ vowel sound.
1. Jiang X. The treasure in the ethnic music library treasure – “Khoomei” explore. Frontier 2010;17:271. 2. Gerelt B. The types and vocal skills of Khoomei. Chinese Music. 2007;3:66– 70.
ARTICLE IN PRESS 4 3. Smith H, Stevens KN, Tomlinson RS. On an unusual mode of chanting by certain Tibetan lamas. J Acoust Soc Am. 1967;41:1262–1264. 4. Lindestad PA, Sodersten M, Merker B, et al. Voice source characteristics in Mongolian “throat singing” studied with high-speed imaging technique, acoustic spectra, and inverse filtering. J Voice. 2001;15:78–85. 5. Xu X. Studies of overtone singing in the West. J. Cent. Music Coll. 2010;2:98–105. 6. Hertegard S. What have we learned about laryngeal physiology from high-speed digital videoendoscopy? Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005;13:152–156.
Journal of Voice, Vol. ■■, No. ■■, 2016 7. Guzman M, Lanas A, Olavarria C, et al. Laryngoscopic and spectral analysis of laryngeal and pharyngeal configuration in non-classical singing styles. J Voice. 2015;29:e121–e138. 8. Bailly L, Bernardoni NH, Muller F, et al. Ventricular-fold dynamics in human phonation. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2014;57:1219–1242. 9. Echternach M, Traser L, Richter B. Vocal tract configurations in tenors’ passaggio in different vowel conditions-a real-time magnetic resonance imaging study. J Voice. 2014;28:e261–e262, e268. 10. Arunachalam R, Boominathan P, Mahalingam S. Clinical voice analysis of Carnatic singers. J Voice. 2014;28:e121–e128, e129.