Re: [HAPS-L] Your voice when you have a cold

[Alan Magid <amagid@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ken-

You can approximate the effect by pinching the nostrils closed. This
distorts in a complex way the resonant contribution of nasal cavity and
paranasal sinuses. Clearly it blocks the flow of air through the
nasopharynx, nasal cavity, and nares. Engorgement of these tissues during a
cold produces the same result to a lesser degree.

I use this simple demo in lecture to illustrate the point that the
respiratory system not only accommodates vocalization but contributes
substantially to the quality of sound.

The hoarseness of a cold reflects swelling (and thus damping) of the vocal
folds, a separate aspect of the "cold" sound.

-Alan

> From: Ken Saladin <ksaladin@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Reply-To: <HAPS-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:18:39 -0400
> To: <HAPS-L@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [HAPS-L] Your voice when you have a cold
> 
> HAPSters,
> 
> A possibly dubious bit of traditional wisdom is that the reason your voice
> changes when you have a cold is that mucus obstructs the travel of sound
> waves into the paranasal sinuses and back, thus impeding the role of the
> sinuses as resonating chambers.
> 
> I'm not so sure I buy that. Are the canals between the nasal cavity and the
> sinuses really wide enough (or patent enough) for significant conduction of
> sound waves? Just how wide are their apertures? (Gray's doesn't say.)
> Couldn't the sinuses act as resonating chambers by means of bone conduction
> of sound to and from the chambers? In a cold, couldn't the swelling of the
> nasal mucosa itself and congestion of the nasal cavity suffice to explain
> the change in voice?
> 
> Ken


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