The Laryngeal Ventricle Considered as an Acoustical Filter
Abe Pepinsky · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1942
The ventriculus laryngis is a pocket-shaped slit which extends laterally between the false and true vocal folds. It is deepest in the middle, and from its anterior half there projects vertically upward a blind sack called the appendix. Its physiological function is supposedly that of a lubricant for the vocal cords. The presence of fibrous tissue in the ventricular fold would seem to indicate the possibility of muscular control of the volume of the ventricle and the area of the orifice into the larynx, thus suggesting the possible action of the laryngeal ventricle as an acoustical filter. The necessary conditions are thus established for the consideration of a resonator of variable volume, neck, and orifice. Unique frequency resonance is obviously not to be expected from such a resonator with its highly damping walls. The theory of Stewart's Acoustic Filters is applied in consideration of the effect on tone quality of the human voice. Some of the practices in vocal training are discussed, bearing such possible effects in mind.