Dear Mary Beth and Vocalisters:
You wrote:
I believe. Now that I'm further along in my teaching and understanding of
the voice, his theories (Burton Coffin) make perfect sense........i.e.,
matching the natural frequency of the resonator to the frequency of the
vibrator......however: Honestly, his modifications were so intense that it
almost became a hindrance to performing the music.............there has to
be a way to simplify the theory.
In essence, Speech Level does the same modifications, only simplified,
yet for some students, these even seem like a stretch.
Just observations....
COMMENT: Modifying the vowel to achieve maximum resonance should not have
been, as you put it, "so intense that it almost became a hindrance to
performing the music" In Coffin's work intensity was not a procedure that
he endorsed.
But it is true that many singers found the concept of adjusting slightly the
vowel pronunciation in order to achieve maximum resonance to be a most
unnatureal procedure. They believed in a pure vowel. [a] is [a] and it
should never change. [e] must never even slightly resemble a more open or
closed form of itself such as drifting toward [I] or [E]. For these
singers Coffin was nothing more than a difficulty.
I was always amused when he would record students who were singing "pure"
vowels then play back the individual tones they had sung only to discover
that they had sung many different variation of what they considered to be a
pure vowel.
Once any vowel achieves maximum resonance it will appear to be pure because
its effect on the ear is so satisfying. Thus the tenor modifying the [e]
vowel in his passaggio into an [I] vowel will still sound as if he is
singing an [e]. In fact, it will sound like a more pure form of the [e].
All of the above must, of course, become automatic. Until it does it will
get in the way of performing just as any technique of singing will get in
the way until it becomes a reflex.
Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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