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Vocology

Vocology

Overview
Vocology is the science of enabling or endowing the human voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

 with greater ability or fitness.. Its concerns include the nature of speech and language pathology
Speech and language pathology
Speech-Language Pathology specializes in communication disorders.The main components of speech production include: phonation, the process of sound production; resonance, opening and closing of the vocal folds; intonation, the variation of pitch; and voice, including aeromechanical components of...

, the defects of the vocal tract
Vocal tract
The vocal tract is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source is filtered....

 (laryngology
Laryngology
Laryngology is that branch of medicine which deals with disorders, diseases and injuries of the vocal apparatus, especially the larynx. Common conditions addressed by laryngologists include vocal fold nodules and cysts, laryngeal cancer, spasmodic dysphonia, laryngopharyngeal reflux, papillomas,...

), the remediation of speech therapy and the voice training
Voice training
Voice training may consist of professional training in any of the following fields:* Vocal pedagogy for singing, particularly opera* Debate* Public speaking* Dialect training for actors who need to speak in a particular dialect or accent...

 and voice pedagogy of song
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 and speech
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...

 for actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s and public speakers.
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Quotations

Only in America.

I can't believe that having said what I said was interpreted as having been what I said when I said it, because I said it where I said it, when I said it, and who I said it to.

I can't believe what I said about myself. What I said in my own private conversations with myself to an ESPN producer are my business, and I had no business saying them to someone else.

If a bullfrog had wings it wouldn't bump his behind every time he hopped.

Martin Luther King took us to the mountain top: I want to take us to the bank.

Thank god for money.

Encyclopedia
Vocology is the science of enabling or endowing the human voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

 with greater ability or fitness.. Its concerns include the nature of speech and language pathology
Speech and language pathology
Speech-Language Pathology specializes in communication disorders.The main components of speech production include: phonation, the process of sound production; resonance, opening and closing of the vocal folds; intonation, the variation of pitch; and voice, including aeromechanical components of...

, the defects of the vocal tract
Vocal tract
The vocal tract is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source is filtered....

 (laryngology
Laryngology
Laryngology is that branch of medicine which deals with disorders, diseases and injuries of the vocal apparatus, especially the larynx. Common conditions addressed by laryngologists include vocal fold nodules and cysts, laryngeal cancer, spasmodic dysphonia, laryngopharyngeal reflux, papillomas,...

), the remediation of speech therapy and the voice training
Voice training
Voice training may consist of professional training in any of the following fields:* Vocal pedagogy for singing, particularly opera* Debate* Public speaking* Dialect training for actors who need to speak in a particular dialect or accent...

 and voice pedagogy of song
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 and speech
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...

 for actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s and public speakers.

Vocology has evolved recently from inter-relationships between speech science, medicine, theatre training and vocal pedagogy. Vocology can also be viewed as a parent science to the medical field of Laryngology in a relationship similar to that between audiology and otology. For example, an audiologist might perform an initial assessment of an individual's hearing ability. If necessary, the otologist could refer the individual to an otologist for medical and/or surgical intervention. Similarly, a vocologist might perform an initial assessment of the qualities of a voice and determine an initial intervention plan. If necessary, the vocologist may refer the voice user to a layrngologist for medical and/or surgical treatment. Confusion may stem from the fact that practitioners of otology and laryngology often practice in both fields as an otolaryngologist, commonly referred to as an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor. Thus the need for separate fields for initial assessment is frequently underestimated. However, complexity of the physiology and neurology at work in both systems necessitate individualized study for practitioners in each field.

The study of vocology is recognized academically in taught courses and institutes such as the National Center for Voice and Speech
National Center for Voice and Speech
The National Center for Voice and Speech , is a multi-site research and teaching organization dedicated to studying the characteristics, limitations and enhancement of human voice and speech. The NCVS is located in Salt Lake City, Utah with the Lead Institution located at the University of Utah...

, Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...

 at Rider University
Rider University
Rider University is a private, coeducational and nonsectarian university located chiefly in Lawrenceville, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States...

, The Grabscheid Voice Center at Mount Sinai Medical Center, the Vox Humana Laboratory at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, an academic affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is a 1,076-bed, full-service community and tertiary care hospital serving New York City’s Midtown West, Upper West Side and parts of Harlem....

 and the Regional Center for Voice and Swallowing, at Milan's Azienda Ospedaliera Fatebenefratelli e Oftalmico, and recently at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Also reflecting this increased recognition is that when the Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics & Phoniatrics and Voice merged in 1996 the new name selected was Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology.

Meaning and Origin of term


Vocology was invented (simultaneously, but independently) by Ingo Titze
Ingo titze
Ingo R. Titze is a Vocal Scientist and Executive Director of the National Center for Voice and Speech at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He is a Professor at the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Iowa and is also the author of several written works...

, and an otolaryngologist at Washington University, Prof. George Gates. Titze defines Vocology as "the science and practice of voice habilitation, with a strong emphasis on habilitation". To habilitate means to “enable”, to “equip for”, to “capacitate”; in other words, to assist in performing whatever function that needs to be performed". He goes on that this "is more than repairing a voice or bringing it back to a former state ... rather, it is the process of strengthening and equipping the voice to meet very specific and special demands".

See also

  • Human Voice
    Human voice
    The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

  • Speech
    Speech
    Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...

  • Vocal loading
    Vocal loading
    Vocal loading is the stress inflicted on the speech organs when speaking for long periods.- Background :Of the working population, about 15% have professions where their voice is their primary tool. That includes professions such as teachers, sales personnel, actors and singers, and TV and radio...

  • Vocal rest
    Vocal rest
    Vocal rest is the process of resting the vocal folds by not speaking or singing, which typically follows vocal disorders or viral infections which cause hoarseness in the voice, such as the common cold or influenza. The purpose of vocal rest is to hasten recovery time. It is believed that vocal...

  • Vocal range
    Vocal range
    Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...

  • Vocal warm up
    Vocal warm up
    A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises that prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use.-Purpose:Changing pitch undoubtedly stretches the muscles, and vocal warm-ups help the singer feel more prepared....

  • Voice analysis
    Voice analysis
    Voice analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition. Such studies include mostly medical analysis of the voice i.e. phoniatrics, but also speaker identification...

  • Voice disorders
  • Voice frequency
    Voice frequency
    A voice frequency or voice band is one of the frequencies, within part of the audio range, that is used for the transmission of speech.In telephony, the usable voice frequency band ranges from approximately 300 Hz to 3400 Hz...

  • Voice organ
  • Voice pedagogy
  • Voice projection
    Voice projection
    Voice projection is the strength of speaking or singing whereby the voice is used loudly and clearly. It is a technique which can be employed to demand respect and attention, such as when a teacher is talking to the class, or simply to be heard clearly, as an actor in a theatre.Breath technique is...

  • Voice synthesis

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