Dear Mike and Vocalisters:
You wrote:
(titze says the
elevation of the larynx 'aids' medial compression making singing higher,
easier. in some cases, jo estill is in agreement with him). this too,
feels like an extension of my regular voice but, it does seem more related to
falsetto + 'door squeak, as well and, it is easier
I have real difficulty with this "quote". I am not aware that Titze
suggests that a raised larynx aids medial compression. Nothing I
have read of his suggest this to me. Can you help me with this?
As regards the balance of your most interesting note I would have to
say that our own experiences are not, for purposes of teaching, a
reliable source of information. Each of us finds our voices in our
own individual way. Some of these "ways" may have some similarity
but even these likenesses are not conducive to helping others except
in very special circumstances or unusual match-up situations.
It is for this reason that I prefer to have a better understanding of
the actual function of the vocal mechanism and draw teaching
conclusions from this information. Although the teaching of voice
may be primarily subjective the information on which it is based
should be, in my opinion, as objective as it is possible to make it.
You have given metaphoric examples of muscle use that you feel
relates directly to the muscle use in vocal production as it changes
from chest voice to head voice but I do not agree that your metaphors
are valid. As muscles are stretched in exercises they cease to
produce a function that we would normally expect of them. That, of
course, is not the purpose of the stretching exercise. But when the
vocal folds change from a contracted usage of the vocalis muscles to
a release of the vocalis muscles so that the vocal ligament and its
attached mucosal membrane can operate as the primary oscillatory
mechanism, the vocal mechanism has achieved a transition that is very
different from the normal muscle stretching exercise we experience
at the end of a physical workout.
It can be argued that the transition from a primarily vocalis
(thyroarytenoid) tension oscillation source of acoustic energy to a
primarily vocal ligament/mucosal tension oscillation source of
acoustic energy is a gradual change in which any mention of
demarcation areas is not necessary but that is not the experience of
most singers. Singers usually sense the chest voice mode of vocal
production and have an equally pronounced sense of the head voice
mode of vocal production and, as a result, are aware that there is a
rather uncomfortable area between these sensed modes that is
neither. It is for this reason that the term "passaggio" was
employed and is commonly used today.
Because falsetto voice is a vocal function that is, in most ways,
different from those mentions above, I feel it is a mistake to give
it major consideration in the development of the classical voice
and, indeed, I have found it is more often a problem in helping the
developing singer find and become expert in the use of head voice.
The sense of vocal intensity, breath pressure, dynamic expression and
vocal control is experience by most singers as completely different
in head voice as compared to falsetto. Many of the singers you
suggest as examples of developed head voice are, to me, examples of
falsetto voice. Although male singers in the rock and popular
medium have consistently produced extremely high tessituras and
vocal ranges in their singing for the past 35 years, I cannot think,
offhand, of a single one that I would consider to be using head
voice. All sound to me as falsetto singers unless they are using
extreme examples of "call" voice for dramatic emphasis.
A most interesting discussion
--
Lloyd W. Hanson
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