Does the strength of your vocal cords and diaphragm effect the tone of your voice?

Question

Does the strength of your vocal cords and diaphragm effect the tone of your voice?

Answer 1

To a limited degree, yes.

The vocal cords can, in many ways, be likened to the cables inside a piano.  The stronger the cords, the more tension they can take--that is, the tighter they can be drawn.  This affects the tone of any individual cord; the tighter it is, the higher the pitch.  So, the stronger the vocal cords, the higher the pitch they can generate because you can tighten them more--raising the pitch of your voice, such as when singing higher notes.

However, there are other factors that affect the pitch of a voice.  Inside a piano, there are many different sizes of cables; the smaller ones vibrate faster, producing a higher note.  The same is true of vocal cords; smaller cords, higher notes.  This is why most sopranos are female; smaller throats, smaller vocal cords, higher notes!  Likewise, the reverse is true for males; larger throats, larger vocal cords, lower notes.

The strength of the diaphragm, however, does not have a great deal to do with the frequency of the tone generated by vocal cords.  The amplitude, yes-- a strong diaphragm can move more air more forcefully over the vocal cords, producing a louder sound.  This is akin to hitting the piano keys harder; the note is louder, but it does not become a different note.  Likewise, in a singer, a strong diaphragm may allow air to be pushed across the vocal cords for longer, for more sustained notes, but the actual tone is not altered.