Human Formant Manipulation
Throat Singing, Trumping
Formant manipulation isnt limited to just computer speech geeksthe famous Tuvan throat singers have been doing it for generations! By carefully controlling the shape of their vocal tracts, these singers are able to precisely pinpoint and emphasize certain formants in their voices.
Another example is the instrument known as the "jaw harp" or
"trump" (as they call it in Scotland). By twanging a flexible
steel (or in some cases bamboo) tine held in place between the teeth and
moving the vocal cavity, folk musicians (actually, in Europe its
a classical instrument as well) all over the world have been doing formant
modulation for centuries. American musicians, like Mike Seeger, have been
able to play complicated fiddle tunes on this tiny but amazing instrument
that operates in more or less the same way (acoustically) as throat singing.
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