G. Paul Moore Lecture. Rational thought: the impact of voice science upon voice care

Diagnostic and therapeutic pitfalls in benign vocal fold diseases

More than half of patients presenting with hoarseness show benign vocal fold changes. The clinician should be familiar with the anatomy, physiology and functional aspects of voice disorders and also the modern diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities in order to ensure an optimal and patient specific management. This review article focuses on the diagnostic and therapeutic limitations and difficulties of treatment of benign vocal fold tumors, the management and prevention of scarred vocal folds and the issue of unilateral vocal fold paresis.

Vocal Projection in Actors: The Long-Term Average Spectral Features That Distinguish Comfortable Acting Voice From Voicing With Maximal Projection in Male Actors

This study explored whether acoustic and perceptual features could distinguish comfortable from maximally projected acting voice. Thirteen professional male actors performed a passage from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar twice. The first delivery used their comfortably projected voices, whereas the second used maximal projection. Acoustic measures, expert ratings, and self-ratings of projection and voice quality were investigated. Long-term average spectra (LTAS) and sound pressure level (SPL) analyses were conducted. Perceptual variables included projection, breathiness, roughness, and strain. When comparing the intensity difference between the higher (2-4 kHz) and lower (0-2 kHz) regions of the spectrum in voice samples from the maximal projected condition, LTAS analyses demonstrated increased acoustic energy in the higher part of the spectrum. This LTAS pattern was not as evident in the comfortable projected condition. These findings offered some preliminary support for the existence of an actor's formant (prominent peak in the upper part of the spectrum) during maximal projection.

Education in laryngology: rising to old challenges

Education in laryngology has been a subject of interest at least since Louis Elsberg's address to the first meeting of the American Laryngological Association in 1879. Remarkable scientific, technological, and clinical advances during the 1980s and 1990s have elevated the standard of laryngological care. It is essential for training programs to promulgate these important advances through well-planned, comprehensive curricula. Such training should also foster an appreciation for the kinds of creative thought, interdisciplinary collaboration, and imaginative clinical practice that have been responsible for many of the recent dramatic advances in the field of laryngology.