Dear Mike and List:
Mike wrote, "if you have an alto and a high tenor with roughly the
same length and guage of vocal folds, and if that alto is able to soar
up to A5, as tako, you had suggested, and the tenor is not, you have
to look at how each one is attempting to do so. if the alto gets to
A5 she will probably be praised for her beautifully modulated 'head'
voice. if the tenor gets to A5 the same way, he be criticized for
singing in falsetto (unless he's morten harket). if he tries to sing
in a way that is acceptable for a classical tenor, he won't make it.
classical standards allow for one type of sound in women but not in
men."
COMMENT: I think Mike's comments are quite interesting. I have
read conflicting opinions about this, and myself I am not so sure
what to believe. In fairness, even if the male is said to be
singing "falsetto", if he does it well, the door appears open these
days... One of my vocal "gurus", Ken Phillips, describes that operatic
males do not use what he terms the "pure upper register" - presumably
the registration necessary for both of the singers to reach the A5.
Other writers, such as oft-quoted Miller give a different description.
Mike further wrote,"if in tako's example of tenor and alto, the size
of their vocal folds are roughly the same, where does physical scaling
apply?"
COMMENT: I have yet to hear a male that really (upon close
listening) sounds like a female - and I have heard quite a few of the
better known counter-tenors (Randall Wong, Brian Asawa, Michael
Chance, David Daniels, Yoshikazu Mera, Steven Rickards). Why do they
sound different? I don't know, but assume there are certain
differences in the geometry of the larynx and vocal mechanism even
when the vocal folds are roughly the same size.
Cheers,
Michael
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