Dear Razor et al,
You wrote: ". . . It sounded like a very strong,rich falsetto while
the tone wasn't breathy at all. My teacher told me it's falsetto with
overtones . . .
***************
Sometimes I wonder if there's a range of function with varying
degrees of blend instead of just either or.
Listen to the DGG recording of Dietrich Fischer Dieskau singing "Die
Schone Mullerin" sometime. He sings in a mode that sounds a lot like
falsetto but isn't really. I'm pretty sure this is the "head voice"
to which Lloyd refers.
Terminology can really screw us up, can't it? I'm trying to keep an
open mind about it all. On the one hand, all the detail ablut muscle
function is just too much but what else do we really have. Everybody
uses different terminilogy to talk about the same things!
Cornelius Reid talks about "blending registers" in which chest is
added to falsetto by doing crescendo - decrescendo exercises in the
region of the break. One crescendos from a falsetto to full voice and
back oh say, from about a B3 to a G4. A lot depends on how you start
the exercise. It can be started in a pure, unsupported falsetto or
one that already contains elements of the chest voice to varying
degrees(but not all of the force). Maybe this second approach was
what your teacher meant? In any case the more falsetto, the harder to
crescendo to a blend without the voice breaking. To me, there is an
"edgy" feel as if you're not using all the equipment but only part of
it. Lloyd's description of what is happening when one uses "head
voice" describes what I feel when I sing using a blend to a T. It's
not falsetto but it's pretty close. There are many times when I'm
just not sure which I'm using.
What makes this all even harder for me, is that I have a very robust
falsetto that can be stretched down to a B2 (though nearly inaudible)
and up to F5 which is quite loud. When demonstrating for my Altos, I
have been known to outsing the entire section, but they usually end
up laughing at me because I sound a lot like Miss Piggy.:-)
Regards,
Les
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