Abstract:
Needless to say, each nation has its own culture, including singing style. In Japan, various singing styles have been inherited over long periods of time. This study attempts to record the laryngeal gestures for performing traditional singing. Laryngeal gestures were monitored by fiberscope and recorded onto an ordinary video recorder with audio signals. Care was taken for singers to perform naturally. Since the singing method is so different from that of the Western operatic style, there have been discussions about vocal hygiene. Sometimes the singing voice used in traditional Japanese songs gives creaky, strained, or pressed acoustic impressions to the audience. Observing the laryngeal gestures during a performance, hyperadduction of the vocal fold, false vocal fold, or tight closure of the glottis, which are supposed to suggest hyperfunction of the larynx, was rarely observed. This observation suggests that the traditional Japanese singing style agrees with vocal hygiene; otherwise it could not be traditional. [Work supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from Ministry of Education, Science and Culture No. 08457449.]