Knowra Vocal register Vocal register A range of vocal pitches produced with a relatively consistent pattern of vocal-fold vibration. Registers differ in how the vocal folds vibrate and how the voice sounds.
Modal voice : The ordinary speaking and singing register produced by vibrating vocal folds with substantial contact during each cycle. It is the central register from which many singers shift into other patterns.
Vocal folds : Paired tissue folds in the larynx that vibrate to produce voiced sound. Their changing mass, tension, and contact shape register-specific vibration.
Head voice : A singing term for a lighter, higher vocal quality, often associated with efficient vocal-fold vibration at elevated pitches. Singers use it to describe a high-register sensation or sound, though definitions vary.
Vocal fach : A system for classifying classical singers by voice type, range, timbre, and repertoire suitability. A fach classifies a singer broadly; it is not a pattern of vocal-fold vibration.
Vocal fry register : A low-pitched register characterized by slow, irregular pulses of vocal-fold vibration. Its distinctive pulsing contrasts with the more continuous vibration of modal voice.
Larynx : An organ in the throat that houses the vocal folds and helps produce voice. It contains the structures whose actions produce vocal registers.
Chest voice : A singing term for a fuller, lower vocal quality commonly associated with modal phonation. It names a familiar lower-register quality rather than a universally fixed vibratory mechanism.
Vocal timbre : The perceived tone quality that distinguishes sounds with similar pitch and loudness. Timbre describes sound quality, which can change without a register change.
Falsetto : A high vocal register commonly produced with thin vocal-fold vibration and limited contact between the folds. It is a familiar high register with a different vibratory pattern from modal voice.
Fundamental frequency : The rate at which a periodic sound wave repeats, perceived in voiced sound as its pitch. Register ranges are described partly by the pitches they produce.
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