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I'm basically looking for the possessed oracle sound with my voice. I want 2 distinct notes and I want to be able to speak it. I've tried a bit of stuff already with no success:

  • Subharmonics (relaxed, low larynx vocal fry; drops the voice an octave): not 2 distinct notes
  • Ingress phonation (inhale singing that has a head voice, chest voice, and something similar to subharmonics at the bottom): again, not 2 distinct notes
  • Overtone (producing a high whistle pitch over a sung note by moving the tongue): I am yet to get it spoken, but this has 2 notes
  • Kargyraa (popular throat singing technique): I'm still learning, but I'm having trouble getting 2 distinct notes right now
  • Throat bass (I believe this is false chords + vocalization): I haven't started learning it. From what I've heard of it, it may not have 2 distinct notes

If anybody could give me any heads ups on any techniques that have 2 distinct notes with a hope for speaking in it, I would love to know. Also, I would love to hear about any and all polyphonic techniques you know of. [edit]: I added some "definitions" to the techniques to hopefully explain them better

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    I learned a lot just from your question—the only kind of multi-pitched vocal technique I as aware of was kargyraa, and I didn't even know it by that name. You might get better results if you edit to explain the other techniques you reference, since I'm not sure how they differ. Also, we try to keep questions from being too broad: If you settle on one of these techniques, it might be more useful to ask specific help with it. Nov 22, 2022 at 13:57

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I can't say it's provably impossible to do, but it seems like the tongue and throat positions required for any of the overtone singing styles would make it rather difficult to articulate speech.

I'm mostly familiar with the Tuvan styles of overtone singing. Kargyraa seems most likely to be "speakable". I have a baritone voice and I'm able to manage a Xöömei, which is probably a second choice. Although I can't do either, it seems Sygyt and Borbangnadyr would be impossible to speak, especially when you consider that they are rarely used with lyrics the way Kargyraa and Xöömei are.

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  • Ok, so it sounds like the answer isn't going to be overtones because of the precision required to get the overtone in the first place. Thank you!
    – haltosan
    Nov 22, 2022 at 16:45
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In my opinion, the (western contemporary) experts on the subject of polyphonic voice are in the beatboxing community! There's a very common technique that beatboxers use to create a true polyphonic voice effect; I am not sure of the exact anatomy of how to do it, but I've heard it described in loose terms and it seems to involve careful manipulation of the traditionally "ugly" break between the falsetto voice and the voice; somehow abusing this break is able to force the vocal cords to vibrate at two unrelated frequencies?

It is certainly possible to control this, even to the degree of harmonizing with oneself. However, it's difficult and learning may be confusing with the typical beatboxing non-agreement on exact precise terminology. Here's a great example:

Happy researching! There are also other people who can do this same technique in other variations, but beatboxing seems to me to be where it's most well-known.

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  • I've been looking for that person for a while now! Thank you for this, I will definitely try this out
    – haltosan
    Nov 23, 2022 at 20:50
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I found something from Beatbox international

I'll need to find out how he makes that sound, but it definitely has 2 notes, and can be spoken. It doesn't sound as clear as user45266's answer, but it's something that can work for this sound.

[edit] : I'm looking into this specific sound and there are rumors that one line was edited (the line I'm interested in). I haven't been able to confirm yet, but it's not looking hopeful.

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