The
human voice consists of
sound made by a
human being using the
vocal folds for
talking,
singing,
laughing,
crying,
screaming etc. The human voice is specifically a part of human sound production in which the vocal folds (vocal cords) are the primary sound source. Generally speaking, the mechanism for generating the human voice can be subdivided into three parts; the lungs, the vocal folds within the
larynx, and the articulators. The
lung (the pump) must produce adequate airflow and air pressure to vibrate vocal folds (this air pressure is the fuel of the voice). The vocal folds (vocal cords) are a vibrating valve that chops up the airflow from the lungs into audible pulses that form the laryngeal sound source. The muscles of the larynx adjust the length and tension of the vocal folds to ‘fine-tune’
pitch and
tone. The articulators (the parts of the
vocal tract above the larynx consisting of
tongue,
palate,
cheek,
lips, etc.)
articulate and
filter the sound emanating from the larynx and to some degree can interact with the laryngeal airflow to strengthen it or weaken it as a sound source.