Interaction of vocal fold and vocal tract oscillations

We study the mechanical feedback coupling between the human vocal folds and vocal tract (VT) by simulating fundamental frequency glides over the lowest VT resonance. In the classical source– filter theory of speech production, the vocal folds produce a signal which is filtered by the resonator, vocal tract without any feedback. We have developed a computational model of the vocal folds and the VT that also includes a counter pressure from the VT to the vocal folds. This coupling gives rise to new computational observations (such as modal locking) that can be established experimentally.