Dear Tako and Vocalisters:
There is no doubt that the countertenor sound we are now hearing is
quite different from the countertenor sound of those who first
resurrected this earlier form of singing. It would be my guess that
those who produce this more intense form of countertenor would be
using falsetto if their basic voice is baritone or bass and head
voice if they were tenors with a high passaggio much as is found in
the leggiero tenor.
I say this because I have not found any research which would suggest
that it is possible for a baritone or bass, given the size and length
of their vocal folds, to produce the pitches necessary for the
countertenor range without the use of a falsetto configuration of the
vocal mechanism. Tenors would not, for the same reason, be so
restricted.
But it is a guess.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson
|
