The voice is a musical instrument.

Anything that produces sound and can in some way be controlled can serve as a musical instrument. The voice is an instrument which consists of four parts: the vibrator, the resonator, the motor and the articulator. There are many musical instruments which have the first three parts in some form but the articulator is one of the main characteristics of the human voice. The voice is the most articulate instrument. Other instruments only play the tune, while the voice plays the tune and makes words.

In India the tradition of chant, a form of vocal meditation, is revered as the highest form of devotion. Those who practise this tradition believe that profound spiritual transformation can be achieved and that, through prayer sung from the heart, the voice can reach the divine. Over thousands of years the master musicians and sants (saint singers) have taken the tradition ever deeper although it is also practised by “common people”. They sang their devotional hymns as a part of the formalised music of India which has all helped to develop and progress this tradition. The rishi-singers believed that “Swaras” of Indian music were not merely a collection of notes but they were founded on microtones known as “Shrutis” which could bring the human-mind to meditation leading to the attainment of god-consciousness.

Divine Singing is an Indian tradition of using the voice to reach a realm where you and the divine sound are one. The word “divine” in this instance relates to something which has unlimited or universal power. I agree with those who believe that the voice can serve as a direct bridge to the divine or something bigger than just the individual. I’m aware of this because this is something I have experienced for myself when for example my ego is not present and I feel myself flowing along, singing with ease. I feel I’m being elevated with a sense of deep serenity and it’s like not thinking but observing yourself while doing something. There’s no worry or concern about singing the wrong note, or whether I’m making the right impression on my audience. It feels free of any thought or want and ‘feels like heaven’.

Take a look at the diagram below and check out this link for more information on how the voice works as a musical instrument.

Thank you Tasmin.

This is useful and powerful information.

I read something similar about music today - how it effects the brain, and vice versa.

Peace, be well sistah,
UniverSouLove a.k.a. Amethyst Journey

Hi Tasmin,

Your blog is music in itself. This is a beautiful blog.

I found an article about the human voice, although it can’t compare to what you wrote here.

It’s more scientific than anything but I thought you might like to read it:

Human Voice Works Like a Jet Engine

Sara Goudarzi
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.comWed Mar 14, 2:21 PM ET

Researchers have discovered an unlikely link between patterns of airflow in a jet engine and how the human larynx produces sound.

The basics of voice production are well known: The nerve cells fire triggering the muscles to bring the vocal cords together. The interaction between air and vocal cords causes the cords to vibrate, generating sound.

If this were the only mechanism involved in producing sound, every person’s voice would sound mechanical, but the specifics of how airflow affects sound production and quality is the reason each voice is different, said Sid Khosla, lead author of a study detailed in the March issue of the journal Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology.

Vortices—areas of rotational motion that look like smoke rings— eventually break down into turbulent motion that can produce sounds in jet engines.

“We were wondering if vortices produce additional sound in the larynx,” Khosla told LiveScience. Turns out that in the larynx vortices form sound by interacting with the structures above the vocal cords.

These vortices, Khosla said, have been presented in mechanical models and mathematical models, but no one up to now has been able to describe them or look at them in an animal model. Khosla and colleagues have done so, studying dogs.

“The canine larynx is the closest to the human larynges that we know,” Khosla said.

Understanding how sound develops in this new model could benefit people with vocal problems.

“Currently, when surgery is required to treat voice disorders, it’s primarily done on the vocal cords,” Khosla said. “Actually knowing there are additional sources that affect sound may open up a whole new way for us to treat voice disorders.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258932,00.html

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