What it is
The second of the formant series, governed mainly by tongue frontness: a forward tongue (as in “ee”) pushes F2 up; a retracted tongue (as in “oo”) pulls F2 down. Together with F1 it forms the vowel’s acoustic ID card.
Where it comes from
The second hump of the spectral envelope.
On the Formant Tracker, the trajectory with F1 on the vertical axis and F2 on the horizontal axis is a map of how the tongue moves through the tract.
How to read it
The absolute value of F2 alone means little; what matters is its combination with F1 and its stability while singing — a jumping F2 means a restless tongue, and the vowel gets sung dirty.
Where it is used
Formant TrackerL2Displays the current formant positions (F1/F2) during phonation and the corresponding vowel space location. Formants determine the timbral characteristics of vowels.Tongue PositionL2Displays the position of the tongue in the oral cavity, including front-back position and height. Tongue position directly affects vowel color and vocal tract shape.