Hello Randy and Lloyd and Everyone,
I’ve been reading the back and forth discussion about the woman’s middle voice and Randy’s assertion that the main reason that classically trained women’s voices don’t use more chest voice is because the sound is considered “not feminine”.
I thought the reason was that chest voice does not have enough “ring” to carry over an opera orchestra. A well trained female singer singing in the middle/low register in head voice can really ring, does chest voice ring as well? I’ve always had a very easy time singing in my chest voice. Because this ability came to me so naturally a teacher I had in college gave up on trying to teach me how to sing in the middle passage in only head voice and encouraged me to sing big mezzo arias in the mixed head/chest voice. I didn’t think this was right. I didn’t sound like the mezzos singing these arias (O Don Fatale’, for example) in recordings.
I finally sang for a teacher who told me “your voice will not carry 2 feet past an orchestra singing this way.” Finally I learned how to sing in my head voice through the middle register correctly, in the classical style. (and no more big mezzo arias!) Still, I wonder about the chest voice and if the production is clear, without neck, jaw, tounge, largnx, etc… tensions, fully supported … it doesn’t sound like pops singers, it doesn’t sound heavy and belty like Ethel Merman… there must be a proper use for this type of resonance in classical singing.
I’m guessing the answer is about mixing chest and head. Still, I’m wondering if what I’ve read that is called the “singer’s format” is the reason why classical music is sung exclusively in the head voice for women through the middle register.
deanna
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