Three kinds of frequency, finally untangled. Dr. Richard Lissemore takes fold oscillation, harmonics and vocal tract resonance from 'I'm out' to obvious.

Everyone follows you until you say the word formant. Opening the IVTOM conference, singing voice physiologist Dr. Richard Lissemore takes the three elements of frequency that lose teachers — vocal fold oscillation, the harmonic series, and vocal tract resonance — and makes them stick. You'll get the source-filter picture corrected, a toll-booth analogy for the glottal cycle, and the counter-intuitive point that the signal is strongest when the folds close, not when air puffs through. He demonstrates waveforms and spectrograms live in Praat, hands you memorable frequency landmarks for C, D, F and G, uses water bottles and string instruments to explain why EE and AH resonate so differently, and closes with five questions to ask about any note.