What happens when to your vocal cords you whisper?

When you whisper, your vocal cords are brought together more softly and vibrate at a lower frequency than when you speak or sing. This creates a lower volume, less resonant sound. Here's how it works:

1. Initiation of Whispering: When you intend to whisper, your brain sends signals to your vocal cords, specifically the muscles known as the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscles.

2. Adduction of Vocal Cords: The TA muscles contract, causing the vocal cords to come closer together. However, they don't completely close like they do during normal speech or singing. Instead, they leave a small space or gap between them.

3. Reduced Air Pressure: As you exhale to produce sound, the air pressure in the trachea is lower compared to when you speak aloud. The reduced air pressure means there's less force behind the air passing through the vocal cords.

4. Lower Frequency Vibration: The reduced air pressure results in slower and less vigorous vibrations of the vocal cords. Instead of the vocal cords vibrating rapidly and creating distinct pitches, they vibrate at a lower frequency, producing a hushed, breathy sound.

5. Minimal Vocal Fold Collision: Unlike regular phonation where the vocal cords fully collide and produce sound waves, whispering involves minimal collision between the vocal folds. This is why whispering allows you to produce sounds without much vocal effort or strain.

6. Increased Airflow Noise: The narrower space between the vocal cords and the reduced vocal fold vibration cause more air to escape without producing a clear sound. This generates the characteristic airy or breathy quality associated with whispering.

In summary, whispering involves controlled adduction of the vocal cords, reduced air pressure, lower frequency vibrations, and minimal collision between the vocal cords, resulting in a soft and indistinct vocal sound.