#phonations

[jules-has-notes]

A Crimpella — VoicePlay music video

This is one of the more odd and creative things VoicePlay concocted early on. They turned a collection of phonations, sound effects, nonsense words, and foreign language lyrics from two dozen songs into a delightfully goofy performance art piece. You will almost certainly recognize some of the samples. The set-up is a little drawn-out for my taste, but once the beat kicks in, it's off to the races.

Details:

title: A Crimpella

original songs / performers: [2:20] "Walk the Dinosaur" by Was (Not Was); [2:28] "Witch Doctor" by Alvin & the Chipmunks; [2:35] "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; [2:40] "We Go Together" from Grease!; [2:47] “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men; [2:55] "Imma Be" by the Black Eyed Peas; [3:03] "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard; [3:05] "Shoop" by Salt N Pepa; [3:12] "Jock-A-Mo" (aka "Iko Iko") by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford; [3:20] "Mahna Mahna" from The Muppet Show; [3:30] "Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin" by Journey; [3:54] "Goofy Goober Rock" from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie; [3:57] "MMMBop" by Hanson; [4:10] "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede; [4:14] "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock; [4:19] "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" by Neil Sedaka; [4:29] "Can't Get You Outta My Head" by Kylie Minogue; [4:32] "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen; [4:45] "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga; [4:51] "Limbo La La" by James Lloyd; [5:01] "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie; [5:18] "Wanna Be Starting Something" by Michael Jackson; [5:24] "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam

arranged by: VoicePlay

release date: 1 September 2012

My favorite bits:

the thump at 2:30 propelling Eli into the air

everyone "watching" the UFO fly by

their most concerted effort at choreography being to "Shoop"

all the tentative poking and grimacing as they try to figure out how to "fix" their necks

Tony rocking out solo while the other guys consider whether to join in

the string of silly noises starting at 4:08

Layne's lowkey Little Monster claws during the Lady Gaga section

Trivia:

○ The boys gnaw on five CD cases at the beginning, but only Earl's album contains a song included in the ensuing medley:

Earl — Cooleyhighharmony by Boyz II Men (1991)

Tony — The Doors' greatest hits (1996 re-release)

Eli — Pump by Aerosmith (1989)

Geoff — Toxic Audio's eponymous debut album (1999)

Layne — Contra by Vampire Weekend (2010)

○ Several of the songs referenced here have appeared in VoicePlay's later medleys or short videos:

The bell tone section from Motownphilly was also included in their Boy Bands in 5 Minutes medley.

Different sections of Bohemian Rhapsody were part of their Queen in 5 Minutes medley.

Hooked on a Feeling and Mahna Mahna have both been featured in recent short-form videos.

○ This piece was included in their setlist for the 2014 Sing-Off tour.

○ This medley was inspired by British comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh. TMB had a series of sketches containing absurdist songs / performance art pieces they called "crimping". (Fair warning, most of their "crimps" feature adult language and gestures.)

[fieriframes]

[Phonating.]

[iphisesque]

world's first classically trained singer-songwriter who doesn't know anything about music theory

[madoo-net]

/ch2/ Satzebene- Inputsequenz

Ihr könnt diese Geschichte mit einer Überbetonung auf dem /ch2/ als Inputsequent vorlesen. Oder ihr lest sie vor und das Kind soll die Geschichte für die gelenkte Spontansprachebene nacherzählen. Ich lege immer Glassteine für jedes korrekte /ch2/ Wort auf den Tisch und am Ende der Geschichte werden die Steine zu einer langen Glassteinschlange aneinander gelegt….

[reiding-writing]

could i please request spencer reid comforting reader whos been picking at her lips? Like idk maybe he brings around chapstick for her smth. Tysm!

dermatillomania [ s.r ]

Summary:

Spencer doesn’t want you to hurt yourself. Even unintentionally. So a lot little bit of research later he’s ready to confront you about it.

WARNINGS: dermatillomania (impulsive picking at the skin), mentions of very minor self induced harm, sharing germs??? spencer would be deterred by that i’m sure, well maybe not in this case

pairing: spencer reid x gn!reader

genre: pretty much straight fluff

wc: 1.5k

masterlist!!

a/n: this marks the my final fic of 2023, currently uploading at 10 past 11 pm so like less than an hour until 2024 (yay??)

i love writing for reid because it allows me to satisfy that nerdy part of my brain that endlessly thirsts for knowledge

Everyone had subconscious habits.

Yours just happened to be more physically harming than some.

You found comfort in the monotonous repetition of peeling away the layers of skin covering your lips, whether it be with your fingernails or your teeth.

It would often leave your skin red and raw, sometimes to the point where they cracked or bled.

It wasn’t usually too bad, but during times where you were over-stressed and under pressure, the small habit of yours became more of a staple of your personality.

You sigh softly as you sit at your desk, head resting in your hands as your eyes pour over the file in front of you.

Paperwork wasn’t exactly stressful when you compare it to the rest of your job, but after the week you’d just returned from it was clear that you needed a break.

Spencer glances up at you from his own desk opposite you, a small frown present on his face.

“Stop that,” His tone is soft and unchastising.

"Hm?" Your eyes flicker upwards towards his, your eyebrows knitted into a small line of clear confusion.

“Your lips. You’re going to scar yourself if you keep pulling at them like that.” Spencer’s words come out even softer than before, a small look of worry in his eyes.

"Oh-"

You pull you hands down from your face, the thumb and forefinger of your left hand that had been tugging at the cracked skin of your lower lip now tucked securely in your right as you clasp them together in your lap in fumbled embarrassment. "Sorry.."

Spencer sighs softly, and takes a brief moment to observe you. The corners of his mouth twitch downwards into a slight frown.“Don’t apologize. I just… I’d hate for you to have permanent scarring.”

You hum softly in response to his caring nature, not meeting his eyes anymore out of the small amount of shame that trickles into the back of your mind, and your tongue runs smoothly over the raw skin on your lip in an attempt at soothing the sting. "Yeah.. thanks,"

Spencer looks away for a few seconds, thinking about your actions. After a beat, he leans over his desk slightly to grab a tube of chapstick from his desk drawer and holds it out to you over the small metal hatched wall of separation between your two desks.

It’s dark blue with no writing or labelling of any kind on it and has very clearly been previously opened.

“Take care of your lips, okay? They’re very important for human expression, phonation, and sensation.”

And to be able to kiss people with.

You hesitate to take the tube from him at first, not because he’d used it, but because it was his, and you knew how much he hated sharing his personal belongings for fear of germ contamination.

“Are you- sure you want to give me this? I can go and get one after work-“ You take the tube from his hand carefully, as though it might explode if you grip it too tightly.

Spencer is slightly relieved to see you take the chapstick, and smiles brightly at you before shaking his head. “It’s fine. You clearly need some form of relief, and I doubt you want to be waiting another six hours.”

He pauses, before adding, “I’d like you to keep it. It’s pure white petroleum, it should solve any soreness or dryness in no time,”

"Thank you.." You give Spencer a grateful smile as you remove the cap and twist the bottom of the tube to extend the chapstick upwards.

You choose not to acknowledge the small dip in the balm from where Spencer had used it on his own lips in the past, fearing the inevitable flush of your cheeks if you thought about the way you were indirectly touching your lips to his for too long.

"I’m- not sure why i can’t just stop, but.. yeah- thanks.." Your half-assed explanation is more of a way for you to distract yourself from your impending emotional implosion rather than a genuine want to explain yourself.

Spencer watches you apply the chapstick, nodding once as he does. “I have some advice on how to stop, if you’d like to hear it.”

You re-cap the tube of chapstick and place it next to the pencil holder on your desk for easy later access, exhaling softly through your nose as your mouth bends into a soft smile. "Alright, have at me,"

“First things first, you should try and figure out what’s causing you to want to peel at your skin.” Spencer dives into full explanation mode once you give him the chair. “Everything has a trigger, and figuring out what yours is is the first step to stopping it,”

You give a understanding nod to Spencer’s suggestion, your mind beginning to scrub your brain for and reasons why you might have the insatiable urge to pull the skin off your lips like you would the meat from a turkey.

“You should also redirect the behaviour. When feeling the urge or the subconscious action towards picking at your skin you should instead reapply a layer of chapstick to your lips instead,” Spencer gestures towards the tube on your desk, just barely visible from his point of view past your pencil holder.

“People with dermatillomania often times don’t realise that they’re engaging in the behaviour, so having somebody who is aware of the situation to redirect your attention is also a good idea.”

He’s obviously referring to himself in this moment, indirectly telling you that he’s willing to be stuck to you like a piece of gum under a shoe until you fully manage to break your habit.

"dermatillomania?" You blink your eyes blankly at him at the unnecessarily complicated term you’d never heard of that Spencer had casually thrown into his sentence.

“It’s the term for excessive skin-picking that causes damage or scarring. That’s what you were doing to your lips just now.” Spencer nods nonchalantly at you like it was common knowledge.

“Oh-“

You can’t say you’re surprised that there’s a term for what you’re experiencing.

You also can’t say that you’re surprised that Spencer knows what it’s called.

Spencer feels the need to explain himself upon your confusion and surprise at the revelation that what you were doing had a proper medical diagnosis.

“I’ve observed you for a while now, and noticed you often picking at your lips.. So I did some research and came across dermatillomania.” There is a tiny bit of embarrassment in his tone.

"You- looked it up for me?"

Spencer Reid had gone out of his way to research something that gave him no personal benefit solely for your wellbeing.

You swear you could melt.

You probably look like you do, physically feeling the pink rise to your cheeks as they heat up in flustered gratitude.

Spencer’s cheeks mirror your own in their soft pink hue, slightly embarrassed to have outed himself to going out of his way to research something on your behalf.

“I did, yes.” He pauses. “I just… well, I didn’t want you to unintentionally do any damage to yourself.”

You let out a soft exhale that could almost constitute as a laugh, pressing your lips together to prevent a smile from breaking out on your face. “Thank you Spencer.. That’s really sweet,”

Spencer nods, diverting his eyes from yours and leaning back in his desk chair to try and look as casual as possible. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve researched countless topics to help the team, this was just one of them.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie. But he wasn’t going to tell you that instead of the usual half an hour he would spend learning about something for one of his team mates he’d instead read every single publicly available medical journal on dermatillomania he could possibly find.

He turns his face back down to his work as you do the same, pushing his desk drawer closed now that nothing inside it was any longer needed.

His eyes fixed on the blue tube that rolled to his the front of the drawer as he pushed it closed.

It was identical to the one he had given you in every way.

Except for the fact that the one in his drawer was still brand new.

But you didn’t need to know that.

[vryfmi]

silent boy theory

bringing this theory back because ive been rotating it nonstop

[mild book spoilers!]

skull is characterised by his voice and snarky comments that Lucy has to put up with during their conversations, as well as the whispering tone which is heavily emphasised throughout the series. so when Dulac references to Bickerstaff's servant boy (aka skull) as "that silent Boy" in her confessions it really clashes with skull's personality as we know it.

TL;DR: my theory is that skull was mute or on a verge of losing his voice due to sickness, caused by working conditions and Bickerstaff's abandonment. thus, his ghost can't recall his healthy voice and can only whisper.

[id from alt text: a photo of the passage from the book with line "that silent Boy" being emphasised by image's dimensions./end id]

firstly, it's the whispering skull. not quietly talking skull, not its-voice-sounds-far-away skull. whispering.

‘Because you sure as hell look it.’ It was the lowest, throatiest of whispers; alien, but familiar. I’d heard it once before. (TWS) The hoarse whisper came from somewhere close behind my ear. ‘I say stab them first, ask questions later! That’s your only sensible option.’ (THB)

argument could be made, that silver-glass muffles the voice and it becomes quieter. but here's a thing - whisper is a voice alteration, not a sound quality. when whispering, vocal cords don't vibrate, and produced speech has a different phonation. so whisper and quiet speech are technically two different things.

secondly, skull's work field and conditions. as a young servant, skull was able to see visitors and ward them off Bickerstaff and his master's friends, while they were robbing graves for potential sources. ghosts radiate cold, temperature can drop down to 5 degrees centigrade, that much we know from books, that's why agents are wearing jackets and gloves during ghost hunting cases. and skull's ghost was described as wearing only a shirt and ill fitting trousers, while also being barefooted.

It was the first time I’d ever really looked at him, at the spirit that he truly was. He wore a white shirt and gray trousers that were slightly too short for his bony legs. His feet were bare. He’d still been young when he died. (TEG)

with Bickerstaff's obsession and apparent blindness to anything else that wasn't his device, it's safe to say that he would neglect skull's needs and didn't bother to get his servant any proper clothes, not to mention shoes, which at the time were expensive, since children constantly need shoes as they grow up, and it wasn't uncommon for children from lower class to not have shoes at all and walk barefooted.

that said, my theory is that skull came down with sickness while grave robbing, and Bickerstaff ignored it (mainly because he was a psych doctor, not a medical one), skull's condition worsened and turned into laryngitis. without treatment, his vocal cords got damaged, resulting in loss of voice.

[now, im in no way educated to diagnose a fictional character and there can be mistakes in my logic (like how skull could have lost his voice prior to Bickerstaff), but i went down a rabbit hole and need to share this.]

there's a condition that fits the description of person losing their voice or only be able to talk in whisper, it's called aphonia. there are multiple common causations for this condition, namely psychological, but organic aphonia is caused by damage on vocal cords or throat, that could have happened due to disease or physical trauma. (source)

it's also worth pointing out that any voice disorders in children and teenagers affects the way they socialise and behave. gestures and facial expressions become alternative to communication when voice is too weak for speech or it is painful to talk.

Someone had knocked the cloth off the ghost-jar, and the face had re-materialized. It pulled extravagant expressions of horror and disgust whenever I passed by. (TWS)

‘You know the rules: minimal manifestations, no rude faces, and absolutely no talking.’ The ghost looked wounded. ‘I wasn’t talking, was I? Do you call this talking? Or this?’ It pulled a rapid series of grotesque expressions, each one worse than the last. (THB)

and finally, Lucy. she almost undeniably plays a role of interpretor that passes down what skull says, since others have no way of communicating with him or, more specifically, no way of hearing him. it all does seem to fit perfectly together (at least to me) so i can't stop wondering of how intentional any of that was on Stroud's behalf. then yet again, Stroud did say that that he had a draft for skull's backstory but scraped it in favour of keeping his character as mysterious as possible. some elements could've stayed in the final version of the books, who knows.

[yeli-renrong]

The inventary vocalic at seven vowels is rich in comparison at the other languages otomangues who have an majority five vowels, with a contrast at three nivels of fermiture and three nivels of anteriority, the position central beingn't occupied that per an vowel central-overt.

It exists also dix-nine contrasts consonantics, from where three appearisen't with which the emprunts spanishes. The amuzgo has as contrasts at five lels of articulations, and five manners of articulations, without distinction of voicement. The segments entering parentheses are rares or existn't that in emprunts. These who are entering crochets are as allophones. As segments complexes are admitted from within our inventary for the considerations phonotactics and phonetics.

With an squelette syllabic also strict and an number of restrictions under the possible clusters in attack, the amuzgo trouves its structural allures. With its languages sisters, it's for the others strategies which that language augments its inventaries. As systems of phonation of voice souffle et laryngalized, of nasality, of ballisticity under the syllable (analyzed behold here in the mode of the soufflement in fin of mot, but which exprime themselves in party for the modulation tonal at the nivel of the syllable), and not minus the eleven valors tonals (6 tons lies at the syllable non-ballistic, and 5 lies at the syllable ballistic), forment an eventuality of diverse possibilities structurals, give an grain final of oppositions and of contrasts. To in thus, the inventory vocalic could be gonfled of September at 48 valors if we count the number of vowels, multiplied for the four valors of voice (souffle, cracked, ballistic and modal) that gives 48 valors vocalics.

[datasoong47]

This is a wild inflectional system. 25 different inflectional paradigms, but only a very small number of actual suffixes, and a mere six cells in the full paradigm. Just different distributions of the same suffixes

With the exception of class XXV, the plural is marked by -ni or -∅, with all three cases having the same two options (there's a predictable allomorph -i for -ni after -l, -n, and -r but this apparently is without exception). Out of the 8 logical possible combinations, there are 6 found (all but -ni/-∅/-∅ and -ni/-ni/-∅), with a very strong tendency (the only exceptions being class XXIV) for -ni to only be used in the nominative plural if it's also used in the other two cases (the author hypothesizes that there were originally two distinct suffixes, one a general plural and the other specifically a genitive/locative suffix, which phonetically merged in an earlier stage - this seems plausible to me and would make sense of the distribution, but it's speculative), so that one can treat 5 of those patterns as "regular" and 2 (classes XXIV and XXV with -ni/-∅/-ni and -∅/-kä/-ni respectively) as irregular

In the singular, while the nominative consistently has no suffix, the genitive and locative have the same three possibilities: -∅, -kä, and -ä, with all but one logical possibility found (none with -ä for genitive and -∅ for locative; given the rarity of the -ä suffix, this is probably an accidental gap; and indeed the relatively small number of nouns in the corpus used makes me wonder if a larger corpus might actually find a noun with that pattern)

In both the singular and plural there's a strong statistical tendency towards using the same suffix (or lack thereof) for both genitive and locative:

In addition, many nouns (the majority in fact) also have stem changes, which can combine with the various paradigms given above, and also show massive numbers of possibilities (48 different patterns according to this paper - the suffix paradigms and stem paradigms combine to make a total of 208 attested patterns among the 252 nouns in this corpus!). Stem alternations can occur between cases and between singular and plural - up to a maximum of five stems! Alternations may involve vowel length, diphthongization, vowel quality, phonation, and stem-final consonants or combinations of these, and even, for number, suppletion

As with the paradigms for suffixes, there are some statistical tendencies. Genitive and locative frequently have the same stem, for example, so that if there's two stems in either number, it's usually going to be nominative vs genitive/locative - but exceptions exist. These stem alternations interact with the various paradigms to some degree in that stem-changes tend to be associated with zero suffixes and lack of stem-changes tends to be associated with overt suffixes (especially strong for number, where there are only two nouns with zero suffixes and no stem change, thus the singular and plural are almost always distinct whether that's from different stems, affixes, or both)

[xuexishijian]

Articulatory Phonetics - 调音语音学

字音 zǐyīn - (n.) consonant (also 福音 fǔyīn)

调音部位diàoyīnbùwèi - (n.) place of articulation (also 发音部位)

双唇音 shuāngchúnyīn - (n.) bilabial sound

唇齿音/齿唇音 chúnchǐyīn/chǐchúnyīn - (n.) labiodental sound

齿音 chǐyīn - (n.) dental sound

齿龈音 chǐyínyīn - (n.) alveolar sound

龈腭音 yín'èyīn - (n.) alveolo-palatal sound

卷舌音 juǎnshéyīn - (n.) retroflex sound

腭音 èyīn - (n.) palatal sound

软腭音 ruǎn'èyīn - (n.) velar sound

小舌音 xiǎoshéyīn - (n.) uvular sound

咽音 yānyīn - (n.) pharyngeal sound

声门音/喉音 shēngményīn/hóuyīn - (n.) glottal sound

调音方法 diàoyīnfāngfǎ - (n.) manner of articulation

阻碍音 zǔ'àiyīn - (n.) obstruent

塞音 sèyīn - (n.) stop, plosive

擦音 cāyīn - (n.) fricative

咝音 sīyīn - (n.) sibilant

塞擦音 sècāyīn - (n.) affricate

响音 xiǎngyīn - (n.) sonorant

鼻音 bíyīn - (n.) nasal

流音 liúyīn - (n.) liquid

边音 biānyīn - (n.) lateral

近音 jìnyīn - (n.) approximant

半元音bànyuányīn - (n.) semivowel, glide

颤音 chànyīn - (n.) trill

弹音 tányīn - (n.) tap

闪音 shǎnyīn - (n.) flap

发声态 fāshēngtài - (n.) phonation

清音 qīngyīn - (n.) voiceless sound

浊音 zhuóyīn (n.) voiced sound

送气音 sòngqìyīn - (n.) aspirated sound

不送气音 búsòngqìyīn - (n.) unaspirated sound (also 非送气音)

发声起始时间 fāshēngqǐshǐshíjiān - (n.) voice-onset time (VOT)

元音 yuányīn - (n.) vowel

元音高度 yuányīn gāodù - (n.) vowel height

元音舌位 yuányīn shéwèi - (n.) vowel backness

前元音 qiányuányīn - (n.) front vowel

央元音 yāngyuányīn - (n.) central vowel

后元音 hòuyuányīn - (n.) back vowel

闭元音 bìyuányīn - (n.) close vowel

次闭元音 cìbìyuányīn - (n.) near-close vowel

半闭元音 bànbìyuányīn - (n.) close-mid vowel

中元音 zhōngyuányīn - (n.) mid vowel

半开元音 bànkāiyuányīn - (n.) open-mid vowel

次开元音 cìkāiyuányīn - (n.) near-open vowel

开元音 kāiyuányīn - (n.) open vowel

圆唇元音 yuánchúnyuányīn- (n.) rounded vowel

不圆唇元音 bùyuánchúnyuányīn - (n.) unrounded vowel

鼻化元音 bíhuāyuányīn - (n.) nasal vowel

声调/声 shēngdiào/shēng - (n.) tone

阴平声 yīnpíngshēng - (n.) high level tone

阳平声 yángpíngshēng - (n.) rising tone

上声 shǎngshēng (also shàngshēng) - (n.) falling-rising tone

去声 qùshēng - (n.) falling tone

轻声 qīngshēng - (n.) neutral tone

声道 shēngdào - (n.) vocal tract

发音器官 fāyīnqìguān - (n.) articulators, speech organs

肺脏 fèizàng - (n.) lungs

喉 hóu - (n.) larynx

声带 shēngdài - (n.) vocal folds

振动 zhèndòng - (v.) vibrate

口腔 kǒuqiāng - (n.) oral cavity

颚 è - (n.) jaw

鼻腔 bíqiāng - (n.) nasal cavity

舌根 shégēn - (n.) tongue root

舌面 shémiàn - (n.) tongue body (dorsum) (also 舌背）

舌尖 shéjiān - (n.) tongue tip

We can also divide the tongue like this: 舌前部，舌中部，舌后部

气流机制 qìliújīzhì - (n.) airstream mechanism

外呼音 wàihūyīn - (n.) egressive sound

内吸音 nèixīyīn - (n.) ingressive sound

肺部外呼音 fèibùwàihūyīn - (n.) pulmonic egressive sound

声门外呼音 shēngménwàihūyīn - (n.) glottalic egressive sound

挤喉音 jǐhóuyīn - (n.) ejective consonant

声门内吸音 shēngménnèixīyīn - (n.) glottalic ingressive sound

内爆音 nèibàoyīn - (n.) implosive consonant

舌内吸音 shénèixīyīn - (n.) lingual (velaric) ingressive sound

搭嘴音 dāzuǐyīn - (n.) click consonant

声源-滤波器理论 shēngyuán-lǜbōqì lǐlùn - (n.) source-filter theory

[kitsoa]

So. I've been having a hard time for the past 7 weeks.

I caught a cold that knocked my voice out and I... haven't been the same since. I kept catching colds or allergies and regardless of my speaking voice, my singing voice wouldn't come back. I was unable to hit notes above a B4, my resonance was shot, phonation threshold far too high, if I had anything it would go after 30 minutes. I was lipsynching for my church job and for the chorale I sing for-- something that filled me with shame. I have literally, for weeks, been inconsolable with the torture of being unable to sing and provide for the jobs I've been committed to.

Recovery felt like an up and down. I would have 4 days of rest and still lose it the next day i worked. I was fragile. I was useless.

So I got over my little doctor phobia and reached out to an ENT and well. I got scoped by a singing specialist. and well. It's the nightmare.

I got nodes. And im sorry this is a big deal for a singers because this is my life. This is my identity. my self-worth has been dangerously intertwined with my voice and my ability to provide to the groups I've committed to... not to mention that singing is my greatest joy.

There is only one solution to this problem and that means I have to cold turkey-- abandon all of my singing. (not to mention I work with children as a teacher so i have to manage a 50% reduction of speech at work). I'm on extreme vocal rest, not talking socially and no singing. This is a level of torture I don't think many could really fathom. its literally a special kind of hell for me specifically.

I can't even cry without fucking things up. I have just abandoned my musical homes. I can't express myself with ease. I've been going through it. I'm sorry to vent but this is the most significant event in my life since I got my damn job. Maybe even bigger than that.

[madoo-net]

Satzebene - Inputgeschichte F

Entweder lest ihr die Geschichte mit Überbetonung auf dem /f/vor als Inputsequenz, oder ihr lest sie vor und das Kind soll die Geschichte nacherzählen, quasi für die gelenkte Spontansprachebene.

[abodywithorgans]

☕️ + vocal range

Playing with the different vocal registers is really important for range stuff. Almost everyone talks in the modal register, which means almost everyone has had heaps of unintentional practice with only one of the four registers. To go up you'll want to play with the falsetto register and the whistle register, to go down you'll want to play with vocal fry. My view is that strengthening one register tends to help strengthen the others as well. I spend a fair amount of time singing by breathing in instead of out, too, because it's another aspect of the voice that I think is under-explored and which might be unexpectedly fruitful.

My approach to vocal stuff generally is that if I can make a sound consistently and comfortably, it is a good sound — regardless of how it sounds. Yay for safe sounds! Whether a given sound is musically useful in an unamplified choir setting, or after digital editing and filtering? I don't know, those are different questions.

I'm not sure how much I can help as far as finding a register for the first time is concerned, so much of it is attempted mimicry before eventually stumbling into and coming to know it somatically. Typical explanations of the registers posit vocal fry as the lowest, sort of crackly, modal as the normal voice you always speak in, falsetto as higher and softer, and whistle as, just, so high and shrill. The registers are generally super flexible in how they sound, though, so those explanations are a starting point with limited uses.

I find that if you can manage a squeak or other uncontrolled sound at a given pitch or in an unfamiliar register, then you can slowly build towards more stability and flexibility there as well. Sometimes there's this sensation of... hang on, I know that I'm really close to singing this note but nothing is coming out. So not being afraid of non-phonation is also useful? It lets you revisit or stay in that feeling while slowly reconfiguring the vocal apparatus until something happens.

To strengthen a vocal register, you must spend time singing in that vocal register. I typically do arpeggios in the given register on a variety of vowels and on m's and n's and ng's and z's at a variety of volumes. I like to try and take each register as high as it can go and as low as it can go; they tend to overlap, which is fun. I like to try to talk in ever higher falsettos and ever lower vocal fries, hopefully eventually in the whistle register as well, because talking requires a lot of coordination that a plain vowel does not. That's useful!

If you can't do arpeggios in a given register yet, just finding one note and returning to it periodically is good. Then try to find another note, either at a jump or by sliding around. Accumulate them bit by bit.

Singing as quietly as possible is also handy, I like to sit with an audio spectrograph in front of me (I use an android app called spectroid) and then I try to produce a note that just barely rises above the ambient background noise. Often I overshoot! But that's okay, I try again. Using an audio spectrograph also lets me see the volume of the overtones as compared to the fundamental frequency, which could be an in for overtone singing if I wanted it to be.

Inhaled singing is really useful for singing lower. Inhaled, I can sing an A0. I also suspect that spending time down there, singing inwards, has helped my vocal fry develop more stability and merge a bit better with the modal voice, so my exhaled range is able to go lower as a result. There's an identifiable note in my vocal fry! It's not just a big swathe of amorphous pitches anymore!

Curiously, I haven't really learned any songs. I just do... this. I recommend tolerant roommates, singing when the house is empty, or singing on walks away from people, or soundproof rooms. Truly, I wish I had a soundproof box to scream and boop and blep in. Then I could more comfortably mess about with distortion, too :3

If anyone has more questions on vocal stuff I would be very happy to try and answer!

[jules-has-notes]

Aca Top 10: Video Games — VoicePlay music video

Legend has it that video games helped keep the boys of 4:2:Five out of trouble during their early touring days. And photographic evidence indicates that it continued well into the VoicePlay era. But gaming isn't just about passing time and bonding with friends when you're a traveling musician. It can also be a source of inspiration for a wildly entertaining musical medley.

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 — Video Games

original songs: [0:07] HALO theme (2002); [0:26] Angry Birds theme (2009); [0:44] Pokémon Red & Blue opening theme (1996); [0:56] Minecraft theme (2009); [1:08] Final Fantasy main theme (1987); [1:22] "Dragonborn" from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011); [1:40] "Type A" theme from Tetris (1988); [1:56] "Mortal Kombat (Techno-Syndrome)" from Mortal Kombat (1992); [2:14] Legend of Zelda overworld theme (1987); [2:50] Pong sound effects (1972); [2:57] Super Mario Bros. overworld theme (1985)

written by: HALO theme by Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori; Angry Birds theme by Ari Pulkkinen; Pokémon Red & Blue theme by Junichi Masuda; Minecraft theme by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld; Final Fantasy main theme by Nobuo Uematsu; "Dragonborn" Skyrim theme by Jeremy Soule; Tetris "Type A" theme based on Russian folk song "Korobeiniki", arranged by Hirokazu Tanaka; "Mortal Kombat (Techno-Syndrome)" by Maurice "Praga Khan" Engelen & Olivier Adams; Legend of Zelda overworld theme by Koji Kondo; Pong sound effects created by Allan Alcorn; Super Mario Bros. overworld theme by Koji Kondo

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci & Layne Stein

release date: 24 February 2015

My favorite bits:

the 8-bit logo during the intro, and Layne making sound effects for Earl's requisite Mountain Dew

all of them bopping around to some degree during the Angry Birds section

Twitch streamer Layne and his adorable laugh

impressively whistling in three-part harmony for Tetris

Earl button mashing like a filthy casual, then covering his eyes during the gory fatality part

Layne using ingressive phonation to replicate the digitized voice effect at the end of Mortal Kombat

techo remix Zelda!

Geoff working so hard to not laugh after doing his part of the Pong bit

Tony just watching and having snacks during the Mario section because the 8-bit music didn't provide a part for him to sing

Trivia:

○ Several of these pieces have appeared in later VoicePlay videos:

They did a full version of the HALO theme with founding 4:2:Five member Scott Porter in 2021 as a tribute to a departed friend.

Adriana Arellano and Cesar De La Rosa joined them for a short, soothing rendition of the Minecraft theme.

They added a sample of the main Skyrim theme to their cover of "The Dragonborn Comes" with Omar Cardona.

The guys included a snippet of "Still Alive" over the patron roll just as a fun bonus for themselves, but it received such an enthusiastic response from fans that they recorded a full version of it during their first PartWork series.

They integrated elements of the original NES Mario theme and sound effects into their arrangement for "Peaches" from the 2023 Super Mario Bros. movie.

○ Apparently, Geoff cracking up during the Pong bit caused several outtakes. (Good thing they were all filmed separately, so he was the only one who had to start over when he broke.)

○ Their wardrobe represents a few different video game franchises.

Tony has a Pikachu hat from Pokémon.

Eli is repping an old-school Atari logo shirt, which was already part of his regular wardrobe.

Geoff wears a Minecraft creeper shirt from Hot Topic.

Earl is sporting a Mega Man shirt.

Layne has a subtle Minecraft hoodie with enderman eyes on the hood from ThinkGeek.

[moryonenn]

Apote Linguistics

[Image description. Two diagrams of the vocal tract of a speculative biology creature. The diagrams are similar, but the one on the right has a convex face resulting in a larger nasal cavity. End description.]

Vocal Tract

The larynx is used exclusively for echolocation, so a "pseudo-larynx" at the back of the nasal cavity is used for phonation. This means that only nasalised consonants can be voiced.

A long snout and mouth allows consonants to be distinguished by mouth openness.

Due to a lack of alveolar ridge, no sound can really be considered "alveolar", although apota can produce similar sounds, which are common in their languages.

Face Shape

Apote have a varied face profile resulting in a varied size of the nasal cavity. Those with a larger nasal cavity typically have a louder voice.

[cthulu-in-a-ballgown]

Dry air fucks up our throats so much* that tonal languages never develop in dry areas. Languages with complex tone are even more selective than ones with simple tone. A lot of times, even in a sprachbund, tone just won't spread across dry areas, especially cold ones. Environment affecting human language! I cannot stress enough how cool this is.

*fucking up our throats meaning increasing Phonation Threshold Pressure, shimmer (out of control volume), and jitter (out of control tone)

[louisisalarrie]

Please can you talk some more about Louis' voice and also why he can't seem to memorize his lyrics now when he was fine in 1d?

helloooo anon! I most certainly can :)

let’s talk about louis’ voice and the effects of his smoking first up. smoking, as i discussed prior, can quite dramatically change your vocal range over time.

Not only does smoking make your voice raspier and a tad more scratchy, but also deeper, particularly if you’ve smoked a few cigs immediately before performing due to the fact that smoking swells your vocal folds which causes improper lubrication and prevents them from vibrating as they should (also known as vocal edemas, which alcohol can also cause). smoking also reduces your pitch, and in turn, your tonal accuracy. so hitting those high notes is definitely harder, and to add to that, the decreased lung capacity can reduce your ‘Maximum Phonation Time’, which just means you can’t push your voice and really hold those notes as strong and as for long as non smokers can.

Also just to note, that these effects differ from person to person. A lot of incredible vocalists are/were heavy smokers and still have a large range, with excellent tonal accuracy and phonation times. It really depends on the individual, how often they’re singing (for someone who tours heavily like h or lou it is definitely more likely to have an effect), their routine for their vocal warmups and consistency of vocal training, and how much they smoke. i love louis with my whole heart and he still is an incredible singer, but he does have a problem with maximum phonation times and breathlessness. the smoking ain’t helping baby

I’m going to reblog this and add my thoughts on ur next q, just to keep these two topics separate.