At 09:47 PM 07/12/2000 +0000, cyrus@e... wrote: >A while back someone started a thread about basses/baritones, just so >that we had a forum for discussion. Do any of you care to join in >revive this idea?
I thought the original question was about basses vs. bass-baritones. (and in the left corner, wearing white trunks with a Microsoft logo ... :) Since I don't know much about baritones, I'll confine my remarks to basses and bass-baritones.
My thought is that accross the board, there's not a lot of difference between those two categories, except the lowest note, which is about a tone apart. As for differences in timbre, I think that's more of an individual matter than an across-the-board characteristic of the ranges.
Of course, as we've been discussing forever, it's hard to say just what one's lowest note is - they get weaker below a certain point, so where do you say "This is the bottom?" It's a judgment call.
As someone pointed out, basses (and bass-baritones) are usually expected to avoid the head register, which produces kind of singing that people think of as "bassy" - slightly awkward but powerful - like a tuba or double bass - or a locomotive - perfect for villains, patriarchs, and judgmental deities.
But the head tones of the Bass voice are beautiful - they often have a woody quality like the upper registers of a bassoon or cello (as opposed to the same notes played on an oboe or violin). A bass who can use the head register and blend it well has about as much agility as any other type of voice, give or take a little. Anyone for coloratura bass? I can't think of any reason why not. Once I was practicing head tones with a teacher, and at the end of the lesson, the next student, who didn't know me, said to me, "Wow, you've really got a beautiful tenor." Now that's a compliment!
And while we're at it, composers, (including all you dead ones! get out of those graves long enough to revise your work) - Bass arias don't always have to end on a subterranean tonic - let us belt a high note - if tenors can do it we can too - just not quite as high, but possibly louder :)
Havin fun in the bass-ment.... Joel Figen
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