The field of biological acoustics has witnessed a steady increase in the research into overtone singing, or “throat-singing,” in which a singer utilizes resonance throughout the vocal tract to sing melodies with the overtones created by a vocal drone. Recent research has explored both how a singer vocalizes in order to obtain rich harmonics from a vocal drone, as well as how further manipulations of the vocal apparatus function to filter and amplify selected harmonics. In the field of phonetics, vowel production is quantified by measuring the frequencies of vocal tract resonances, or formants, which a speaker manipulates to voice a particular vowel. Thus, an investigation of throat singing is closely linked to human speech production. Formants are usually detected in vowel spectra obtained using Fast Fourier Transform algorithms (FFTs). An alternative method that provides much higher frequency resolution is external excitation of the vocal tract and measurement of the pressure response signal at the mouth’s opening, which can be used to calculate the acoustic impedance spectrum. We demonstrate the use of such an “acoustic impedance meter” to measure the formant frequencies of common vowels as well as the oscillatory modes of simple resonant pipe systems. The impedance meter accurately measures fundamental pipe modes and a variety of formant frequencies with an uncertainty of 1 Hz. Finally, we assess how the impedance meter may be used to measure the unique resonances achieved by qualified throat singers.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2001. Graduate Programme in Music. / Typescript. Includes the following original compositions (leaves 93-219): I remember the north wind over the water in January 1986 : for female choir & bowed vibraphone ; Prelude to Step down off the last whale : for tenor recorder, 2 Hohner Melodicas, trumpet B♭, piano, contrabass ; Portent from Step down off the last whale : for voice, 2 Hohner Melodicas, bowed piano ; A tree with bare branches thought itself to be a man : for voice, 2 Hohner Melodicas ; The butchershop quartet : for 4 male subtone singers ; Dark noon : for 3 voices ; Agnus Dei : for subtone-harmonic choir ; A calling so it would seem (A child's finger paint in rain) : for eight harmonic voices ; Skull music (for Dark noon) : for eight subtone-harmonic voices ; Father I just found a meterorite : for solo B♭ trumpet ; Be still there, be still here : for flute, B♭ clarinet/bass clarinet ; vibraphone/glockenspiel, piano, violin, cello ; The word music--poems. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-89). Discography: leaf 90. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ66380.

Thesis (M.S.)--Central Connecticut State University, 1999. / Thesis advisor: James V. Arena, Ph. D. " ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemistry." Includes bibliographical references (leaf 48).

Thesis (M. Med. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

Litteraturen beskriver larynxmask som ett skonsamt alternativ till intubation med endotrakealtub. Tidigare studier visar dock att det inte är ovanligt med halsbesvär postoperativt, i form av halsont och/eller heshet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka förekomst och karaktär av halsbesvär postoperativt efter användning av två olika larynxmasker. Författarna genomförde en pilotstudie där nitton vuxna patienter, både män och kvinnor, som erhållit Pro-Breathe® eller I-gel® larynxmask under anestesin ingick. Patienterna intervjuades 60 minuter respektive 24 timmar efter uttagandet av larynxmasken. Intervjun bestod av två slutna frågor om halsont och heshet samt en öppen fråga om hur det kändes i halsen. Den öppna frågan visade att andra typer av halsbesvär förekommer, bland annat irritabilitet, svårigheter att svälja, torrhet och svullnadskänsla. Pilotstudiens metod lämpade sig att använda och svarade mot studiens syfte. Resultatet visade att olika typer av halsbesvär var vanligt postoperativt. Åtta av tio patienter som haft Pro-Breathe® samt sju av nio patienter som haft I-gel® hade någon typ av halsbesvär. / The literature describes the laryngeal mask as a gentle alternative to intubation with endotracheal tube. Previous studies show that it is not unusual with throat discomfort postoperatively, in terms of sore throat and/or hoarseness/dysphonia. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and nature of throat discomfort postoperatively after the use of two different laryngeal masks. The authors conducted a pilot study in which nineteen adult patients, both men and women, who received Pro-Breathe® or I-gel® laryngeal mask during anesthesia was included. The patients were interviewed 60 minutes and 24 hours after the laryngeal mask were removed. The interview consisted of two sealed questions about sore throat and hoarseness/dysphonia and one open question about how it felt in the throat. The open question showed that other types of throat discomforts occurred, including irritability, difficulty swallowing, dryness and swelling sensation. The method of the pilot-study was suitable to use and responded to the study's purpose. The results showed that different types of throat discomfort were common postoperatively. Eight out of ten patients who received Pro-Breathe® and seven out of nine patients who received I-gel® had some type of throat discomfort.

M.Mus. Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2008 / This report forms part of the output of a research team investigating the phenomenon of overtone singing as practiced by the women of the Ngqoko Women’s Ensemble in the village of Ngqoko outside the town of Lady Frere in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This essay examines various systems of musical notation in terms of their possible application in the transcription process of overtone singing as found amongst these women. A selection of their music is transcribed using the formulated notational systems and the effectiveness of these systems is compared. A recommendation as to which system of notation is most effective for documenting this type of music is made. Utilising the soundworld of the Ngqoko recordings, an original piece of music is composed as part of this submission.

The field of biological acoustics has witnessed a steady increase in the research into overtone singing, or “throat-singing,” in which a singer utilizes resonance throughout the vocal tract to sing melodies with the overtones created by a vocal drone. Recent research has explored both how a singer vocalizes in order to obtain rich harmonics from a vocal drone, as well as how further manipulations of the vocal apparatus function to filter and amplify selected harmonics. In the field of phonetics, vowel production is quantified by measuring the frequencies of vocal tract resonances, or formants, which a speaker manipulates to voice a particular vowel. Thus, an investigation of throat singing is closely linked to human speech production. Formants are usually detected in vowel spectra obtained using Fast Fourier Transform algorithms (FFTs). An alternative method that provides much higher frequency resolution is external excitation of the vocal tract and measurement of the pressure response signal at the mouth’s opening, which can be used to calculate the acoustic impedance spectrum. We demonstrate the use of such an “acoustic impedance meter” to measure the formant frequencies of common vowels as well as the oscillatory modes of simple resonant pipe systems. The impedance meter accurately measures fundamental pipe modes and a variety of formant frequencies with an uncertainty of 1 Hz. Finally, we assess how the impedance meter may be used to measure the unique resonances achieved by qualified throat singers.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Ethnomusicology and Musicology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 372-386). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR29325

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