Vocalist.org archive


From:  Tako Oda <toda@m...>
Tako Oda <toda@m...>
Date:  Mon Mar 12, 2001  5:47 pm
Subject:  What's a countertenor?


Oberon603@a... wrote:
> However, I wanted to say that the majority of the CT's that are singing
> now (including myself) use a falsetto technique. That's the only real
> way to describe it...That's the only real way to describe it technically.

That's the problem, though. That's not technical enough, and our popular
notions of what falsetto is make things needlessly complex. There is a
technical description of what falsetto is, and it is not what most solo CTs
are using nowadays. By definition, falsetto cannot have a singer's formant,
and therefore cannot carry. James Bowman has a very large voice - his sound
could not possibly be the result of flaccid vocal cords. There is no
breathiness to his sound at all, and he has excellent dynamic
control. Clearly, he has full closure, and the cords are providing a great
deal of resistance to the airflow.

Most of my diatribes on falsetto vs. head voice died with the original
vocalist archives, but I talk a little more about this in msg 7523 in our
more recent archives. It will also be helpful to find any definitions of
falsetto that Lloyd Hansen gives, he is rather thorough and has a really
deep technical knowlege of this step-sister register.

Many people, even countertenors describe what they do as falsetto, since
there is not much of vocabulary for discussing this fledgling fach (even
Asawa calls it that, he's got the least falsetto-sounding timbre I've heard
from any countertenor). On a list about the science and art of
vocalization, however, I think we need to strive for precision and
clarity... It can only help us!

> Every man has a falsetto, & can vocalize in the CT range. But not every man
> feels that this is his most natural voice; and not every falsetto has the
> technique & quality needed in order to have a career as a CT.

I don't know that I agree with this completely. A few men can't produce
falsetto (especially tenors), and many more did not retain the ability to
produce a true light mechanism head voice after puberty. But maybe that's
what you mean that not every falsetto has the quality needed in order to
have a career... You're special Ken! Revel in it ;-)

Tako



  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
10185 Re: What's a countertenor? Karen Mercedes   Mon  3/12/2001   3 KB
10188 Re: What's a countertenor? Tako Oda   Mon  3/12/2001   3 KB

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