How Do You Make Your Voice?

Step 1 of 5

The buzz comes from two flaps.

At the top of your windpipe sit two small folds. Held loosely apart you breathe silently; drawn together, passing air makes them flap open and shut over a hundred times a second.

Step 2 of 5

Tighter folds give a higher voice.

Pull the folds tighter and they flap faster, which is a higher note — exactly like a guitar string. Slacken them and the note drops. You do it without thinking, constantly.

Step 3 of 5

Your mouth turns the buzz into words.

The buzz alone is a flat drone. Your tongue, lips and jaw change the shape of the space above it, letting some pitches through and damping others — and that shaping is vowels.

Step 4 of 5

Some sounds have no buzz at all.

Whisper and the folds stay apart — all you make is rushing air, shaped the same way. S, f and sh work like that even in normal speech, which is why whispering is still understandable.

Step 5 of 5

It grows, and the voice drops.

In adolescence the voice box grows, most sharply in boys. Longer, thicker folds flap more slowly, so the voice drops — and the control muscles take months to catch up.

Shouting slams the folds together hard. Do it all evening and they swell, which is exactly why your voice goes the next morning.