John Alexander Blyth wrote:
> Perhaps I'm opening a can of worms, but it seems to me that amongst
female
> opera singers, some utilize adducted vocal chords and some don't. There is
> a lot of falsetto going on, maybe since it is perceived as feminine. I'm
> reminded of my (almost six years old) daughter who theems to have a bit of
> a lithp. I would say that Jane Eaglen (to my loony ears) uses a lot more
> falsetto in Bruennhilde's high bits, compared to the 'laser tone' of Birgit
> Nilsson, yet Eaglen was marvellously in tune, while Nilsson had a tendency
> to go sharp. More worms anyone?
And Isabelle Bracomonte wrote
John, the technical purists may point out that there
is (according to current pedagogical thought) no such
thing as female falsetto.
It is instead referred to as "pure" or "unsupported"
head voice, with no chest voice mixed in. I call it
falsetto when I sing it, because that's what it feels
like -- a flip into another register, that high, soft
little-girl voice.
I'm very glad John opened this particular can - I've often thought that
sopranos I 've
heard were singing in falsetto, but never been game enough to raise the
possibilty.
The voices are often loud, but have several distinctive qualities. One is a
brittle,
hollow sound. Another is a tendency (in some singers) to disappear for a
couple of
notes around C4- E4 (just above middle C). Alternatively, the voice may
display a
yodel type crack at one point in the range - I also notice this sometimes when
the
singer is beginning a note. All in all, it sounds as though something is
missing from
the core of the sound - the same sort of sound as a young girl or an untrained
adult
often displays, but boosted with lots of support and twang to be very loud - a
bit
like Tiny Tim on steroids! Any one else noticed this?
I'm very surprised by Isabelle's first paragraph. Maybe it is a terminology
problem.
My understanding of falsetto is that it is produced by a qualitatively
different vocal
function from 'chest' and 'head' voice (I've never liked those terms). I
understand
that in the 'chest' voice, the vocal folds vibrate flexibly with a long closed
phase
and that as a singer makes the transition into 'head'voice the folds gradually
thin
out and the length of the closed phase reduces. However, both of these are a
gradual
difference in degree - the basic function is the same. On the other hand, in
falsetto, the folds become stiff and thin, and do not close completely (hence
the
tendency to run out of breath much more quickly in falsetto). The change to
falsetto
can happen very suddenly and is obviously most noticeable in the male voice.
It is
however also present in the female voice - in the untrained female, typically
around
E4. The difference between say, 'head' voice and falsetto is much less obvious
in the
female voice but is nonetheless there - I think! Any comments?
Cheers
David
--
David Cox
South Australia
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