Vocal Masculinization: Resonance

What does it mean to have a masculine perceived voice?

A lot of it comes down to resonance! Resonance is all about the size and shape of the vocal tract. The vocal tract is the space that the sound from your vocal folds travels through before leaving your mouth. This includes your larynx, pharynx (throat), tongue, jaw, soft palate, nasal cavity, and lips. When we change the position of any part of the vocal tract, we change the resonance.

Already when you’re talking, you’re constantly changing the shape of your vocal tract to achieve different vowel sounds and consonants.

In order to get a more masculine or dark vocal quality, you need to increase the size of the vocal tract.

By lowering the larynx and thinking of an “uh” vowel, you can get a darker sound!

Exercise:

Try saying “Uhhhhhhh”, like you’re at the end of a long day and completely exhausted. Notice how the position of your larynx and tongue changes, resulting in that dark sound!