Vocology is the science and practice of vocal habilitation, or vocal training and therapy.
[Titze IR. (1996). What is vocology? Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 21:5-6. ] Its concerns include the nature of
speech and language pathology
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...
, the defects of the
vocal tract
The vocal tract is the cavity in human bodies and in animals where the sound produced at the sound source (larynx in mammals; syrinx (biology), syrinx in birds) is filtered.
In birds it consists of the Vertebrate trachea, trachea, the Syrinx (bio ...
(
laryngology
Laryngology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders, diseases and injuries of the larynx, colloquially known as the voice box. Laryngologists treat disorders of the larynx, including diseases that affects the voice, swallowing, or upper a ...
), the remediation of
speech therapy
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...
, and the voice training (
voice therapy
Voice therapy consists of techniques and procedures that target vocal parameters, such as vocal fold closure, pitch, volume, and quality. This therapy is provided by speech-language pathologists and is primarily used to aid in the management of v ...
) and
voice pedagogy
Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how proper singing technique is accomplished.
Vocal pedagogy covers a ...
of
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
and
speech
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
for
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
s and
public speaker
Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...
s.
In its broadest sense, vocology is the study of voice, but as a professional discipline it has a narrower focus: the science and practice of voice habilitation, which includes evaluation, diagnosis, and intervention.
History
Vocology was invented (simultaneously, but independently) by
Ingo Titze
Ingo R. Titze is a voice scientist and executive director of the National Center for Voice and Speech and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He also teaches at t ...
, and an
otolaryngologist
Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspeciality within medicine that deals with the surgical a ...
at
Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
, Prof. George Gates.
Titze defines vocology as "the science and practice of voice habilitation, with a strong emphasis on habilitation". To habilitate means to “enable”, to “equip for”, to “capacitate”; in other words, to assist in performing whatever function that needs to be performed". He goes on that this "is more than repairing a voice or bringing it back to a former state ... rather, it is the process of strengthening and equipping the voice to meet very specific and special demands".
Requirements and educational programs
It is not yet its own professional degree, thus it only assists the voice medicine team. Usually a person practicing vocology is a voice coach with additional training in the voice medical arts, a prepared voice/singing teacher, or a speech pathologist with additional voice performance training—so they can better treat the professional voice user. The study of vocology is recognized academically by courses and institutes in India, Italy and the United States.
Colombia
Vocology Center, Todo Comunica
India
Chetana National Institute of Vocology
Italy
* Milan's Azienda Ospedaliera Fatebenefratelli e Oftalmico, University Alma Mater Studiorum in Bologna
United States
* Grabscheid Voice Center at
Mount Sinai Medical Center
Mount Sinai Hospital, formerly at times known as Mount Sinai Medical Center, is a 319-bed major urban hospital in Chicago, Illinois, with its main campus located adjacent to Douglass Park at 15th Street and California Avenue on the city's West Si ...
*
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...
*
Lamar University
Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...
*
National Center for Voice and Speech The National Center for Voice and Speech (NCVS), is a multi-site research and teaching organization dedicated to studying the characteristics, limitations and enhancement of human voice and speech. The NCVS is located in Salt Lake City, Utah with th ...
at the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
offer an 8-week intensive course (9 graduate level university credits) and a Certificate in Vocology.
* Regional Center for Voice and Swallowing
*
Rider University
Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...
* Vox Humana Laboratory at
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
Mount Sinai Morningside, formerly known as Mount Sinai St. Luke's, is a teaching hospital located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the M ...
*
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
*
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music*
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's Westminster College of the Arts, the college under which the historic institution has b ...
Korea, Republic of
Korean Vocology Association
Reflecting the increased recognition of vocology, the ''Scandinavian Journal of Logopedics & Phoniatrics'' and ''Voice'' merged in 1996 with the new name ''Logopedics, Phoniatrics, Vocology''.
[Kjær BE. (1996). Welcome to a New Journal. Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 21: 3 ] Additionally, a new association bearing the name of vocology (Pan-American Vocology Association) has also been started.
See also
*
Human Voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...
*
Speech
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses Phonetics, phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if ...
*
Vocal loading Vocal loading is the stress inflicted on the speech organs when speaking for long periods.
Background
Of the working population, about 13% have professions where their voice is their primary tool. That includes professions such as teachers, sales ...
*
Vocal fry
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
*
Vocal rest
Vocal rest or voice rest is the process of resting the vocal folds by not speaking and singing typically following viral infections that cause hoarseness in the voice, such as the common cold or influenza or more serious vocal disorders such as c ...
*
Vocal range
Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...
*
Vocal warm up
A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use.
There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexercis ...
*
Voice analysis
Voice analysis is the study of speech sounds for purposes other than linguistic content, such as in speech recognition. Such studies include mostly medical analysis of the voice ( phoniatrics), but also speaker identification. More controversia ...
*
Voice disorders Voice disordersTitze, I.R. (1994). Principles of Voice Production, Prentice Hall, . are medical conditions involving abnormal pitch, loudness or quality of the sound produced by the larynx and thereby affecting speech production. These include:
*
...
*
Voice frequency
A voice frequency (VF) or voice band is the range of audio frequencies used for the transmission of speech.
Frequency band
In telephony, the usable voice frequency band ranges from approximately 300 to 3400 Hz. It is for this reason that ...
*
Voice organ
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is a location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It is a point where a constriction is made between an active and a passive articula ...
*
Voice pedagogy
Vocal pedagogy is the study of the art and science of voice instruction. It is used in the teaching of singing and assists in defining what singing is, how singing works, and how proper singing technique is accomplished.
Vocal pedagogy covers a ...
*
Voice projection
Voice projection is the strength of speaking or singing whereby the human voice is used powerfully and clearly. It is a technique employed to command respect and attention, as when a teacher talks to a class, or simply to be heard clearly, as used ...
*
Voice synthesis
Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. A text-to-speech (TTS) system converts normal langua ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
{{Wiktionary, vocology
Pan-American Vocology AssociationLogopedics Phoniatrics Vocology(the journal of the Nordic Cooperation Council of Logopedics and Phoniatrics and The British Voice Association)
National Center for Voice and Speech*
ttps://music.ku.edu/vocology-lab University of Kansas Vocology LabVocology Center, Todo ComunicaAmerican Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationNational Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Speech and language pathology
Singing