{"id":6034,"date":"2023-01-27T13:48:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T12:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/?p=6034"},"modified":"2023-05-19T16:01:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T15:01:53","slug":"hoe-werkt-de-stem-werkt-2-stembanden-how-the-voice-works-2-vocal-cords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/2023\/01\/27\/hoe-werkt-de-stem-werkt-2-stembanden-how-the-voice-works-2-vocal-cords\/","title":{"rendered":"Hoe werkt de stem werkt 2: stembanden \/ How the voice works 2: vocal cords"},"content":{"rendered":"
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De stembanden worden ook wel stemplooien genoemd. Ze zitten binnenin je strottenhoofd (vocal cord in de afbeelding), zitten vast aan kraakbeen en worden door spieren bewogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De stembanden zijn eigenlijk dus twee dunne plooien die samentrekken en samen je luchtpijp afsluiten. Dat is dan ook de voornaamste functie van de stembanden: het afsluiten van je luchtpijp, zodat er geen rommel in je longen terecht kan komen. De stembanden zijn bekleed met dunne laagjes slijmvlies, die altijd een klein beetje vochtig zijn. Ze zijn eigenlijk maar klein, tussen de 17 en 22 mm bij mannen en bij vrouwen zijn ze nog kleiner: tussen de 12 en 17 mm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does it work?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Als de stembanden je luchtpijp afsluiten en er van onderaf vanuit de longen lucht wordt doorheen gedrukt, dan gaan de stembanden trillen en maken ze geluid. Het lijkt een beetje op het trucje met een ballon dat je als kind vast wel eens geprobeerd hebt: als je een ballon aan het uiteinde bijna dicht knijpt, maar komt er nog een beetje lucht doorheen, dan maakt het geluid. Als je de ballon niet dichtknijpt, dan gaat de lucht eruit zonder geluid te maken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kijk eens naar de video op YouTube van VoiceDoctor<\/a>, die laat het heel goed zien hoe het werkt. De video is opgenomen met een minuscule kleine camera die van bovenaf via de neus en de luchtpijp wordt ingebracht. Je bekijkt de stembanden dus van boven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je kunt in de video zien hoe de stembanden bij een lagere toonhoogte wat dikker en korter zijn, ze trillen langzaam en een beetje golvend. Als de toon omhoog gaat, worden de stembanden uitgerekt en de trilling verandert: hij wordt iets oppervlakkiger en dunner. Kijk hier<\/a> als je meer wilt weten over de verschillende registers in je stem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

De trillingen die gemaakt worden door je stembanden worden versterkt door je spraakkanaal. Daarover meer in de volgende blogpost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stemproblemen<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Om niet hees of raspend klinken, moeten de stembanden symmetrisch en regelmatig netjes op elkaar aansluiten. Als je stembanden gezwollen zijn, als er veel slijm op zit (bijvoorbeeld door verkoudheid) of er poliepen, knobbeltjes of cystes op zitten, dan sluiten ze niet meer goed. Als je stembanden slecht sluiten, moeten de spieren die ze bewegen harder werken en moeten je longen harder lucht erdoor heen persen om de geluidstrilling van je stem te maken.  Het hard doorpersen van de lucht veroorzaakt op zijn beurt nog meer schade aan de stembanden, omdat ze zo harder op elkaar klappen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In de onderstaande afbeelding kun je zien hoe bijvoorbeeld keelontsteking je stembanden kan aantasten.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The vocal cords are also called vocal folds. They are located within your larynx (see the above picture) and are attached to cartilage and moved by muscles inside the larynx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vocal cords are two thin folds, contracting and coming together to close your trachea. That is also their main function: closing the windpipe to prevent material entering your lungs. The vocal cords are lined with a mucous tissue, that should always be a bit moist. They are really quite small, between 17 and 22 mm for males and in women they are even smaller: between 12 and 17 mm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The larynx is an organ in the top of the neck of tetrapods involved in breathing, producing sound, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
How do they work?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The vocal folds vibrate and make noise when the lungs push air through the closed vocal cords from below. It is a bit like the old trick of the balloon that you probably tried to do when you were a kid: when you squeeze the ballon tight at the ending, but let a little bit of air come out, it makes noise. If you don\u2019t squeeze tightly enough, the air will get out without making any noise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check the video on Youtube by VoiceDoctor: it shows really clearly how the vocal cords work. The video is recorded with a minuscule camera that went in through the nose and throat. The view of the vocal cords is from above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see in the video how the vocal folds thicken and shorten for a lower pitch, they move more slowly in a kind of ondulating manner. The vocal cords are stretched and become thinner when the pitch rises, the vibration changes: it becomes thinner and more superficial. Have a look here<\/a>, if you would like to know more about how the vocal folds influence the different registers in your voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vibrations caused by your vocal cords are amplified and modified by your vocal tract. More about that in the next blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice problems<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The vocal cords have to close symmetrically and regularly to avoid sounding hoarse or raspy. They are unable to close properly when your vocal cords are swollen, covered in phlegm (e.g. from a cold) or when there are polyps, nodules or cysts. And when they cannot close well enough, the muscles that move them need to make more effort and your lungs need to push the air through with more force to make the sound vibration of your voice. The forceful pushing through of air in turn causes even more harm to the vocal cords, because they close with more force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the picture below you can see the effect a laryngitis can have on your vocal folds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Laryngitis is inflammation of the voice box. normal and Inflamed larynx. Cross section of the voice box. Vocal cords, thyroid cartilage and trachea. Human anatomy. Vector illustration for medical and educational use.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Stembandproblemen kunnen veel verschillende oorzaken hebben, bijvoorbeeld een luchtweg infectie \/ verkoudheid, Covid, maar ook overbelasting, roken en reflux. Wees dus lief voor je stem om goed te kunnen blijven zingen en zoek medische hulp als je vermoedt dat je stem niet gezond aanvoelt of als je hees blijft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lees voor meer informatie over hoe je stemproblemen kunt voorkomen mijn blog serie over stemhygi\u00ebne<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voor de vorige blogpost over hoe je stem werkt, kun je hier<\/a> klikken.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Vocal cords problems can have many causes, e.g. an infection \/ colds or Covid, but also overuse, smoking and acid reflux. Be kind to your voice to be able to keep singing and seek medical help if your voice does not feel healthy or is hoarse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about preventing voice problems, please check my blog series about vocal hygiene<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here<\/a>, if you would like to read the previous blog post about how the voice works.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mis niets! \/ Don’t miss out!<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Schrijf je in als je niets wilt missen over zangtips, nieuwtjes en aanbiedingen. Please sign up you do not want to miss out on singing tips and more, news and offers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kijk mee hoe de stem werkt in deze blog over de stembanden. See how the voice works in this blog about the vocal cords.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":128127228,"featured_media":6036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Altijd al willen weten hoe je stem werkt? In deze blog leg ik de werking van je stembanden uit. Curious about how the voice works? In this blog post I explain the working of the vocal cords.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[762549249],"tags":[716356586,716356584,757024253,757024252,759236668,759236673,237435205,3197651,3208450,109525618,187509246,212340559,257616184,193286748,4833327],"class_list":["post-6034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-your-voice","tag-beterzingen","tag-bettersinging","tag-hoewerktdestem","tag-howthevoiceworks","tag-knobbeltjesopdestembanden","tag-nodulesonvocalcords","tag-singingteacher","tag-stembanden","tag-stemproblemen","tag-vocalcords","tag-voicelessons","tag-voiceproblems","tag-voiceteacher","tag-zangdocent","tag-zanglessen"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lauragreebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/istock-921055288.jpg?fit=770%2C454&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9cgTp-1zk","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/128127228"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6034"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6541,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6034\/revisions\/6541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lauragreebe.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}