Kulning: A study of the physiological basis for long-distance sound propagation in Swedish cattle calls
Ahmed Geneid, Anne-Maria Laukkanen, Robert Eklund, Anita M. McAllister · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · 2018
The Swedish cattle call song, kulning, is an example of very marked and far-reaching sound propagation of vocal communication. While earlier studies have investigated the acoustic characteristics of kulning, the present study focuses on its physiological basis from the point of view of vocal fold functionand supralaryngeal posture by applying electroglottography and stroboscopy to two types singing: falsetto (head voice)and kulning. It is shown that kulning, ascompared to falsetto, exhibits a better contact of the vocal folds and a longer glottal closure in the phonation cycle. Nasofiberendoscopy also showedmedial and anteroposterior narrowing of the laryngeal inlet and approximation of the false vocal folds in kulning.