Dear Vocalisters:
There is a very active discussion on the list regarding male falsetto, male
head voice and the fact that these two male vocal qualities occupy about
the same fundamental pitch range.
Superimposed on this is a discussion of the female chest voice and middle
voice and the fact that these two female vocal qualities also occupy the
same fundamental pitch range as the male falsetto and male head voice.
And, logically, there is interest in the possibilities that the male and
female voices in these ranges might happen to be the same basic voices
regardless of the names given to these ranges or the sex of the singer.
I would not agree with this proposition. A few reasons:
1 The male head voice or the male falsetto, either one, does not have
register change points within the ranges of these voices. The female
middle voice or the lower end of the female voice, that is, chest voice, do
have register change points in the same ranges as the male voices. If the
voices were the same, the male voices in the ranges in question, would have
register changes similar to the female voices.
2 The tonal qualities of male head voice or the male falsetto voice,
either one, is very distinctive when sung with maximum efficiency possible
for each of these voices. The same can be said for the female middle voice
or the female chest voice, that is, they each have a distinctive quality
when sung with the maximum efficiency possible for each of these voices.
The fact that the female middle voice, when sung in an inefficient manner,
can resemble the tonal quality of the male head or falsetto voice does not
prove they are of a similar construction but rather that they are of a
different construction; one must be used inefficiently to resemble the
other used efficiently, thus the difference.
3 Length and mass of vocal folds may, in some rare cases, be similar
between male and female voices in the ranges under discussion and the
longitudinal tension on the vocal folds may also be similar or the same,
but the degree of muscle activity which produces this similar length, mass,
and longitudinal tension will vary greatly between men and women because
the at rest length of the vocal folds are different. Examinations by fibre
optics which find the vocal folds length, mass and longitudinal tension to
be similar are usually conducted during phonation of the same or similar
pitch. Under these conditions it is logical that a similarity should be
noticed between the folds.
Finally, the resonance spaces of the vocal tract are different between male
and female. Supra-glottal resonance creates an acoustic load on the vocal
folds therefore resonance greatly influences the oscillation of the folds.
Because male resonance is different from female resonance it is logical
that the development of the art of singing has tended to emphasize the
differences between sexes rather than the similarities. This is most
evident in the history of singing in the western world.
Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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