Vibratory patterns of the vocal folds during pulse register phonation.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the vibratory patterns of the vocal folds during pulse register phonation. Glottal area-time functions were calculated from three high speed laryngeal films (4000 frames/second) obtained during phonation of the schwa vowel in pulse register by a normally hearing and speaking adult female. The results for the first film indicated that each of 35 consecutive vibratory cycles of the vocal folds consisted of a single opening/closing gesture followed by a lengthy closed phase. The analysis of the second film revealed that each of 33 consecutive vibratory cycles consisted of a double opening/closing vocal fold pattern, followed by a long closed phase. For the third film, the results indicated that each of 26 consecutive vibratory cycles of the vocal folds consisted of either a double or triple opening/closing gesture followed by a lengthy closed period. From these data, it appears that one of the physiological descriptors of pulse phonation is multiple, as well as single, vocal fold vibratory patterning.