At 05:51:41 EST 12/9/00, Mike wrote:
> it has been my experience that women can sing in the same concoction
>they speak with up until the Bb above middle C. at that point, there is an
>event similar to a gear shift but, the timbre stays in the family (as in 'it
>goes from being a viola to being violin not a viola to a flute').
> <<<snip>>>
> occasionally, ms.
>simionato would do a reverse yodel for the lowest notes (creating the
>impression of a momentary sex change in the character she was portraying).
>the idea of a passaggio below Bb for a female i think is a matter of 'just
>how low do you think you can get away with singing like that?'.
I can buy some sort of "mix" up to that Bb, but not *pure*
chest. For me, and most "low women" :-) , that shift occurs much lower -
mine is at about middle C or C-sharp at the highest. It's not a matter of
preference or just not knowing how to sing in chest voice - I have a good
octave below middle C that I will use in public, plus a few more below that
that I will vocalize - carrying that sound higher simply is not a part of
this voice. Now, for some listeners, those "pure chest" tones (what you're
referring to in Simionato's singing) do have a somewhat masculine character
(funny image about the momentary sex change!); others consider it the
utmost in "womanly" - personal taste, I suppose. I do use a mix, though,
up to about Ab or so above middle C, gradually lightening the mix/color to
go on above that point. I have another passaggio between F-sharp and Ab
above that, into an extreme upper head that still reaches to
Queen-of-the-Night-High-F territory, a remnant of my days as a coloratura
soprano.... Anyway, I do believe in the female use of chest voice, both in
pure form and mix, but I don't believe that carrying the pure form that far
above middle C is particularly advisable (or even possible in my case,
unless you want to see blood on the floor!). Perhaps the problem with this
discussion *has* been the terminology - which *form* of chest voice are we
talking about - analogous with the discussion of two types of tenor head
voice, perhaps?
Leslie, who survived 5-1/2 straight hours
of voice juries yesterday....
Leslie Jones, D.M.A.; Contralto
Dept. of Music, Southeast MO State Univ.
LJones@s... - (573) 651-2339
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