An electrolarynx includes a case housing tone-producing circuitry, a power switch to turn on the circuitry, a control button (i.e., a pushbutton) to actuate the power switch, and a pressure-sensitive-resistor (PSR) that is physically coupled to the pushbutton. The tone-producing circuitry is configured to respond to variations in PSR resistance that are caused by a user depressing the pushbutton. User-selected modes, that are selectable in one embodiment with a mode switch, include multiple frequency-varying modes (FVMs) in which the frequency of the electrolarynx tone is varied with different sensitivities to variations in PSR resistance, and multiple volume-varying modes (VVMs) for varying the volume of the electrolarynx tone with different sensitivities. A preferred embodiment provides a nonlinear frequency characteristic that facilitates operation at the low end of the pushbutton-controlled (i.e., PSR-controlled) frequency range, accomplishing same by applying suitable shape factors to frequencies of a linear frequency characteristic.
