# "Man's" voice Vs Man-made **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870 "2005-02-07T21:26:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/1 "2005-02-07T21:26:48Z")
Hi, I was initially inspired by this thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=239985&highlight=telephone+tones](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=239985&highlight=telephone+tones) So with that background, can “hijack” freely:D… My Q is what is the most similarly created musical instrument to the human voice… by sheer mechanics POV the human voice is a string instrument… but it is wind that vibrates these “strings” and muscular contractions that shorten or lengthen the given chord; muscles within being the “hands” of say the neck of a guitar… Are there any like instruments in existence? “wind-vibrated string instruments?” 😃 thanks for looking 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![AHarris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@AHarris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHarris)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/2 "2005-02-08T00:30:14Z")
The human voice has more in common with wind instruments than stringed instruments. Most of the changes in pitch and volume are related to the pressure of the air used to make the sound, the shape of the chest and neck and postion of the tounge. Rather than guitar strings, it may be better to consider to be similar to a reed on a clarinet or a saxaphone. Click here for a picture of [human vocalcords](http://www.pitt.edu/~crosen/voice/normcords.html) (may not be work safe). [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_voice) ---
**Author:** ![AHarris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@AHarris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHarris)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/3 "2005-02-08T00:31:46Z")
Last sentence should read: Rather than guitar strings, it may be better to consider vocal cords to be similar to a reed on a clarinet or saxaphone. ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/4 "2005-02-08T00:36:13Z")
> [@AHarris](#): > > Last sentence should read: > > Rather than guitar strings, it may be better to consider vocal cords to be similar to a reed on a clarinet or saxaphone. No worries AHARRIS, we’re all smart in the SD forum, right? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/5 "2005-02-08T00:45:07Z")
You something, I hate these so-called facts in middle-school text books! Why do I have a mental picture of “strings” or actual chords when it really looks more like … well, I’m not going to sa-y what those pictures _really_ look like LOL… but it looks more like a diaphram of sorts; muscles that I suppose catch air at certain positions (thus the reed reference)… nothing stringy at all… =/ ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/6 "2005-02-08T00:47:00Z")
Meant to say “you know something” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/7 "2005-02-08T01:09:10Z")
I’ve always thought, just in terms of similarity of sound, that the flute/piccolo family is most similar to the human voice. I’ve heard sopranos whose voices in certain registers were almost indistinguishable from their flute accompaniment. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/8 "2005-02-08T07:37:17Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve heard sopranos whose voices in certain registers were almost indistinguishable from their flute accompaniment. That’s because we distinguish between different sounds based on their harmonics, which are all higher frequency than the fundamental of the sound. Once you get up to soprano range, higher sounds get more difficult to hear, so you tend to lose those harmonics. The vocal cords are, as I understand it, similar to lips, and their vibrations are similar to the vibrations of lips inside a mouthpiece like that of a brass instrument (for those unfamiliar with brass instruments, you basically make a raspberry into the mouthpiece). Of course, this is still relying on a part of the body to produce the vibrations, and the resonator for a brass instrument (everything except the mouthpiece) is shaped very differently from a human voice’s resonator (mostly the mouth and throat). But I once saw a demonstration with “instruments” shaped like a human mouth in various positions, and the performer was able to reproduce various vowel sounds by playing them. And I don’t suppose there’s any reason one couldn’t make an instrument with rubber “lips” built in, either. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/9 "2005-02-08T14:39:20Z")
> [@](#): > > And I don’t suppose there’s any reason one couldn’t make an instrument with rubber “lips” built in, either. They already do. Just not for musical use… ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/10 "2005-02-08T18:50:40Z")
> [@Doctor Jackson](#): > > They already do. Just not for musical use… :dubious: tsk,tsk- I’m beginning to see what kind of doctor you really are… maybe an actor just nothing to do with Stargates either :rolleyes: … on a slightly more serious note, I’m surprised there aren’t more instruments or attempts to create instruments more closely resembling … eh “mother nature” …now to go back down to Dr. Jackson’s level … if women had vocal cords…emm… you know where- men would be in some serious trouble… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/11 "2005-02-08T18:59:51Z")
> [@Thinktank](#): > > if women had vocal cords…emm… you know where- men would be in some serious trouble… :eek: _aimlessly sings to himself as he passes through the thread_ o/` Vagina chordata! What a wonderful phrase! Vagina chordata! Ain't no passing craze... o/` ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/12 "2005-02-08T19:06:38Z")
Hey Chronos- do you have any other info on this performer you spoke of ? From my gleaned analysis, an instrument is only ergonomic enough to accomadate a close interface with it’s human counterpart and everything beyond this is used to both amplify and form/shape harmonics that orginate at the “begininng” … I am so vague in my analysis, due to the fact that I want to include as many instruments as possible… as a violin is a not wind instrument or a flute is not a string instrument… also “brass” can be a tricky description since I played saxophone in HS and wasn’t all that fond of spit release valves and raspberry’s 😉 …reeds were no fun either, but it felt “cleaner” to me… heh ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/13 "2005-02-08T19:40:24Z")
I remember reading once (in the 60s for 20 min) that the cello is considered to be the instrument whose range most closely matches that of a human voicebox. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/14 "2005-02-08T20:10:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey Chronos- do you have any other info on this performer you spoke of ? He was a physicist and operatic singer, and gave a colloquium on the physics of singing. The “instruments” he demonstrated on were only approximately shaped, and made out of PVC fitted together. I’ll see if I can dig up his name, but no promises… It was a few years ago. “Brass” really isn’t the best label for that category of instruments, since saxes (which are typically made of brass) are more closely related to the clarinet, and some “brass” instruments aren’t brass at all (many sousaphones are made of fiberglass, for example). But I’ve yet to hear a better term for that category. ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/15 "2005-02-08T23:37:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He was a physicist and operatic singer… :eek: … what a combination… I guess this is why some people are carriers for genes… so that folks like this end-up happening… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/16 "2005-02-08T23:39:37Z")
…so he sings you a swanky concerto and then show’s you how he was able to do it… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/17 "2005-02-08T23:42:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But I once saw a demonstration with “instruments” shaped like a human mouth in various positions, and the performer was able to reproduce various vowel sounds by playing them. And I don’t suppose there’s any reason one couldn’t make an instrument with rubber “lips” built in, either. My memory is telling me the demonstrator was James Burke, but it might be playing tricks on me. ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/18 "2005-02-10T06:04:30Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > My memory is telling me the demonstrator was James Burke, but it might be playing tricks on me. Hey thanks MT! Does this sound right Chronos? I’d hate to be chasing my tail in circles… ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/19 "2005-02-10T06:34:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But I once saw a demonstration with “instruments” shaped like a human mouth in various positions, and the performer was able to reproduce various vowel sounds by playing them. And I don’t suppose there’s any reason one couldn’t make an instrument with rubber “lips” built in, either. Alexander Graham Bell built a speaking machine with his brother when he was a teen. I believe he used the actual vocal tract of a dead sheep, though. While it has been pointed out that brass instruments are closer to how the voice function, there is an instrument called the [aeolian harp](http://www.lcc.gatech.edu/gallery/radio-idt/aesthetics/index.html), that uses wind to excite strings. In concept, it goes way back to Greek mythology, so you’re not the first to have this idea! ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870/20 "2005-02-10T06:38:42Z")
By the way, the link above gives a pretty good historical background on the aeolian harp but their project in itself is pretty different. [Here’s a site](http://www.harpmaker.net/windharp.htm) that has pictures of the actual instrument and even a short sample. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-voice-vs-man-made/288870.md?page=2)