In a message dated 1/1/2001 1:00:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, lloyd.hanson@n... writes:
<< Singing is different from speech. But the resonance function of the vocal tract is more alike between singing and speech than it is different. That resonance function similarity is most present in vowel production. It has been my experience that a singer makes the fastest and smoothest improvement when he/she is becomes more aware of the function of the elements of the vocal tract in producing each spoken vowel, and the formation of the vocal tract for the singing form of a vowel is built on the formation of the vocal tract for the speech form of the vowel. >>
lloyd,
i have to agree with what you say completely. i also have to admit i'm a little surprised you said it, given our discussion on operatic singing verses pop singing toward the end of the last millenium.
there are many types of music (musical theater, folk, pop, 'easy listening', various 'world' musics, etc.) that are sung as an extension of speech. the variety of singing is as wide as the variety of the people doing the singing. operatic singing, especially that of the female opera singer is, to my ears, as far from speech as possible (maybe amy vanderbilt comes close or, julia childs). perhaps you are suggesting it as a place to start.
if you are familiar with teresa stratas' weill recordings, in the lower range her singing is much more speech-like than in her higher range. the high range seems radically different from the lower range as opposed to being an extension of it. also, julia migenes cd 'smile' exhibits quite a bit of speech-like singing and it seems that it is only for the effect that she uses her more operatic production.
i would think female opera singers, singing mostly in 'whatever-the-hell' voice it is as opposed to the same voice they speak with, would be required, according to the approach you suggest, to speak in their 'head' voice in order to establish the appropriate model. (if male opera singers use their speech as a model, most of them must talk like ted baxter.)
a big advantage to using one's speech as a model for singing is removing the need for 'constructing' expression. just as one is expressive when speaking while only intending to get a point across, if the singing is an extension of one's speech, one need only to stick to the subject in order to be expressive.
mike
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