In one aspect the present invention concerns methods and apparatus for measuring the mechanical properties of soft materials across a frequency regime. In particular, the present invention concerns methods and apparatus using torsional waves to measure the mechanical properties of vocal fold tissue and candidate materials for use in human vocal fold reconstruction. In embodiments of the present invention, sample material is placed between two plates whose sides are faceted. One of the plates is attached to the shaft of a galvanometer, and the plate is twisted back and forth through angles of up to .+-.6.degree. at frequencies of up to 2500 Hz. If required, the assembly may be enclosed in an environmental chamber to maintain the temperature and relative humidity of the sample at the conditions experienced by vocal folds in a living human or animal. The rotations of the top and bottom plates are monitored by an optical lever technique in which laser beams, reflected off the faceted faces of the plates, are captured by photodiode detectors. The experimentally determined amplification factor is obtained as the ratio of the amplitude of the rotation of the top plate divided by the corresponding amplitude of the bottom plate. The shear modulus and loss angle, which describe the mechanical properties of the sample, are then obtained from the experimental data gathered by the apparatus.