National Center for Voice and Speech

04/30/2026

Purchase your conference pass today! Early bird discounts end May 15.

October 7-8, 2025: The International Conference on Voice Physiology and Biomechanics (ICVPB) returns in 2026 with two intensive days dedicated to advancing the fundamental science of human voice production.

04/29/2026

"Professional voice users, typically singers, teachers, and actors are expected to sustain prolonged, variable, and often intense vocal demands, often with minimal opportunity for rest or recovery. Despite the combined need for endurance and high-intensity output in voice use, clinical voice care has traditionally emphasized laryngeal techniques, vocal economy, vocal efficiency, and symptom management, with less attention to the systemic capacity required to sustain vocal performance over time.

Vocal fatigue is one of the most common and functionally limiting conditions reported by professional voice users. Voice therapy improves awareness of voice use and vocal behaviors, but it does not fully explain a recurring clinical pattern: Why do some individuals fatigue quickly under relatively modest vocal demands, while others tolerate similar or even greater demands with minimal effort? This suggests that vocal fatigue cannot be explained solely by laryngeal factors. Instead, it requires broader consideration of physiological constraints related to energy availability, endurance, and recovery in voice use.

This perspective highlights the need to approach vocal fatigue not as a voice-specific phenomenon, but as a manifestation of whole-body system performance capacity, shaped by bioenergetic efficiency, vocal efficiency, and recovery processes that may be influenced by cardiovascular fitness, and strength training."

This is the introduction to: "Toward Conditioning-Based Approaches for Vocal Fatigue in Professional Voice Users" by Dr. Chaya Guntupalli-Nanjundeswaran. Published in NCVS Insights, April 2026.

04/28/2026

Available Now.

Book Bundle: Purchase these 4 books together for the best value. When you purchase this selection you will receive the following books: Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation Principles of Voice Production The Continuing Influence of Ingo R. Titze on Voice, Science, and Music: A Fe...

04/27/2026

"One way of increasing the efficiency of the vibrating system is to reduce the viscosity. But how can this be done? What control do we have over the composition of fluids in our vocal folds?

To appreciate this, consider the range of viscosities of various liquids in the body. Water has a viscosity of 0.01 poise, saliva 0.03 poise, and mucus in the respiratory tract 0.06 poise. (A poise is a standard unit of viscosity. Imagine a cubic centimeter of liquid attached to a vertical wall on one surface. If it were to sag downward under the force of gravity about one centimeter per second on the opposite free surface, its viscosity would be about one poise.)

The average viscosity on the inside of the vocal folds is more than 10 poise, much larger than the viscosity of the mucus deposited on its surface. We don’t know exactly what regulates the viscosity on the inside, whether it is the lymphatic system or the circulatory system, or whether the mucus on the outside is allowed to pe*****te through the mucous membrane (skin) to “thin out” the mucus on the inside. Whatever the case may be, it is clear that more watery substance delivered to the vocal folds, inside or outside, will lower the effective viscosity. This will minimize energy loss due to friction. "

from "An Additional Look at Vocal Fatigue: Part II" by Dr. Ingo Titze. First published in NATS Bulletin, a predecessor to the Journal of Voice. Nov/Dec. 1983

04/24/2026

Sounds like a lot.

04/24/2026

Congrats to Dr. Titze!

A very exciting announcement we had to keep secret until today! Last night, at their annual banquet, the American Laryngological Association named Dr. Ingo Titze the 2026 deRoaldes Award Recipient. This is the highest distinction ALA awards, and it is rare to be awarded to a PhD researcher (as opposed to an MD). We are so proud of Dr. Titze and grateful for the contributions he has made to the field and to our institution during his career. 👏 👏👏
University of Utah Research
University of Utah College of Fine Arts
University of Utah School of Music
University of Utah, Biomedical Engineering
Utah ENT
VAST Research Lab
Summer Vocology Institute
Utah Center for Vocology

04/23/2026

ICVPB Registration is Open! Purchase your conference pass today.

October 7-8, 2025: The International Conference on Voice Physiology and Biomechanics (ICVPB) returns in 2026 with two intensive days dedicated to advancing the fundamental science of human voice production.

04/22/2026

"The purpose of this study is to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) to characterize the effect of dehydration on the optical attenuation coefficient of porcine vocal fold (VF) tissue. Assessing laryngeal hydration is clinically relevant for evaluating vocal function; however, no reliable noninvasive methods currently exist to quantify it.

"Six porcine larynges were bisected into 12 halves, yielding 12 VFs. Each specimen underwent serial dehydration using a vacuum oven to approximately 5%, 10%, and 15% mass loss, with OCT scans obtained at each interval using a 1300 nm wavelength system. Attenuation coefficients were extracted from OCT B-scans through custom MATLAB processing, and the relationship between tissue dehydration and attenuation was modeled using a linear mixed-effects model.

"Across VFs, attenuation decreased by approximately 0.08 mm−1 for each 1% increase in tissue mass loss (b = −0.079, 95% CI [−0.105, −0.054]). Attenuation decreased linearly with increasing tissue dehydration. The true VF exhibited consistently higher attenuation values than the false folds by an average of 1.47 mm−1 (p < 0.001). Interfold variability was low (ICC = 0.041), indicating strong reproducibility across specimens.

"OCT-derived attenuation provides a quantitative, reproducible indicator of VF dehydration. The linear relationship between attenuation and tissue mass loss supports the feasibility of OCT as a noninvasive optical biomarker of VF hydration. Future multi-wavelength and in vivo studies will be critical to translate this approach into clinical monitoring of VF hydration, edema, and lesion formation."

From the abstract for "Quantifying Dehydration Effects of Porcine Vocal Fold Attenuation With Optical Coherence Tomography" by Owen P. Wischhoff, Michael Kuang, Brady D. Prosser, Jakob R. Holm, and Jack J. Jiang. Published in The Laryngoscope, March 2026. Featured this week in NCVS Notes.

04/21/2026

Available Now.

Ultimate Book Bundle: Purchase these 6 books together for the best value. When you purchase this selection you will receive the following books: Vocology: The Science and Practice of Voice Habilitation Principles of Voice Production The Continuing Influence of Ingo R. Titze on Voice, Science, and Mu...

04/20/2026

"[Here], we examine the importance of fluid in and around the vocal folds as a mechanical lubricating agent. Whenever tissue vibrates, mechanical energy is dissipated into heat. This can never be completely avoided, but it can be minimized. The reason it cannot be avoided is that friction (rubbing of tissue against tissue) will always be present in a vibrating medium in which some portions are constrained and others are free to move.

In the vocal folds, the tissue is constrained anteriorly, posteriorly and laterally by cartilages to which it is attached. Medially, however, it is free to move. The velocity of movement is therefore greatest at the midpoint of the vocal folds on the medial surface. This creates a velocity gradient from the midpoint to the boundary attachments at the cartilages, and friction (or drag) is placed on any portion of the tissue by adjacent portions moving at a different velocity. This is similar to the drag one experiences in walking through water. (Bear in mind that the body is about eighty percent liquid.)

The power dissipated by the vocal folds during vibration has been shown to be proportional to the square of the fundamental frequency (or pitch, subjectively), the square of the vibrational amplitude (maximum excursion of the tissue), and the tissue viscosity (stickiness or “thickness” of a liquid). A quantitative relationship can be found in Cooper and Titze (1983). "

from "An Additional Look at Vocal Fatigue, Part 2" by Dr. Ingo Titze. First published in the NATS Bulletin, a predecessor to the Journal of Singing, Nov/Dec 1983

04/17/2026

This joke is a little transparent.

04/16/2026

Registration for ICVPB is now open! Purchase your pass today.

October 7-8, 2025: The International Conference on Voice Physiology and Biomechanics (ICVPB) returns in 2026 with two intensive days dedicated to advancing the fundamental science of human voice production.