SingerSpace

Pitch

2008-02-24T16:16:00.000-08:00

The relationship between pitch and frequency. The important point is that the same pitch distance/interval (i.e. octave) corresponds to an increasingly larger frequency distance

Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. While the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones, or partials, in the sound. The human auditory perception system may also have trouble distinguishing frequency differences between notes under certain circumstances. According to ANSI acoustical terminology, it is the auditory attribute of sound according to which sounds can be ordered on a scale from low to high.

Pitches may be described in various ways, including high or low, as discrete or indiscrete, pitch that changes with time (chirping) and the manner in which this change with time occurs: gliding; portamento; or vibrato, and as determinate or indeterminate. Musically the frequency of specific pitches is not as important as their relationships to other frequencies — the difference between two pitches can be expressed by a ratio or measured in cents. People with a sense of these relationships are said to have relative pitch while people who have a sense of the actual frequencies independent of other pitches are said to have "absolute pitch", or "perfect pitch".

During historical periods when instrumental music rose in prominence (relative to the voice), there was a continuous tendency for pitch levels to rise. This "pitch inflation" seemed largely due to instrumentalists competing with each other, each attempting to produce a brighter, more "brilliant", sound than that of their rivals. (In string instruments, this is not all acoustic illusion: when tuned up, they actually sound objectively brighter because the higher string tension results in larger amplitudes for the harmonics.) This tendency was also prevalent with wind instrument manufacturers, who crafted their instruments to generally play at a higher pitch than those made by the same craftsmen years earlier.

It should be noted too that pitch inflation is a problem only where musical compositions are fixed by notation. The combination of numerous wind instruments and notated music has therefore restricted pitch inflation almost entirely to the Western tradition.

On at least two occasions, pitch inflation has become so severe that reform became needed. At the beginning of the 17th century, Michael Praetorius reported in his encyclopedic Syntagma musicum that pitch levels had become so high that singers were experiencing severe throat strain and lutenists and viol players were complaining of snapped strings. The standard voice ranges he cites show that the pitch level of his time, at least in the part of Germany where he lived, was at least a minor third higher than today's. Solutions to this problem were sporadic and local, but generally involved the establishment of separate standards for voice and organ ("Chorton") and for chamber ensembles ("Kammerton"). Where the two were combined, as for example in a cantata, the singers and instrumentalists might perform from music written in different keys. This system kept pitch inflation at bay for some two centuries.

In 1939, an international conference recommended that the A above middle C be tuned to 440 Hz, now known as concert pitch. This standard was taken up by the International Organization for Standardization in 1955 (and was reaffirmed by them in 1975) as ISO 16. The difference between this and the diapason normal is due to confusion over which temperature the French standard should be measured at. The initial standard was A = 439 Hz, but this was superseded by A = 440 Hz after complaints that 439 Hz was difficult to reproduce in a laboratory owing to 439 being a prime number.

Despite such confusion, A = 440 Hz is arguably the most common tuning used around the world. Many, though certainly not all, prominent orchestras in the United States and United Kingdom adhere to this standard as concert pitch. In other countries, however, higher pitches have become the norm: A = 442 Hz is common in certain continental European and American orchestras (the Boston symphony being the best-known example), while A = 445 Hz is heard in Germany, Austria, and China.

In practice, as orchestras still tune to a note given out by the oboe, rather than to an electronic tuning device (which would be more reliable), and as the oboist may not have used such a device to tune in the first place, there is still some variance in the exact pitch used. Solo instruments such as the piano (which an orchestra may tune to if they are playing together) are also not universally tuned to A = 440 Hz. Overall, it is thought that the general trend since the middle of the 20th century has been for standard pitch to rise, though it has been rising far more slowly than it has in the past.

Diaphragm

2008-02-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

In the anatomy of mammals, the thoracic diaphragm is a sheet of muscle extending across the bottom of the ribcage. The diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity and performs an important function in respiration. A diaphragm in anatomy can refer to other flat structures such as the urogenital diaphragm or pelvic diaphragm, but "the diaphragm" generally refers to the thoracic diaphragm. Other vertebrates such as amphibians and reptiles have diaphragms or diaphragm-like structures, but important details of the anatomy vary, such as the position of lungs in the abdominal cavity.

The Diaphragm is a dome-shaped musculofibrous septum which separates the thoracic from the abdominal cavity, its convex upper surface forming the floor of the former, and its concave under surface the roof of the latter. Its peripheral part consists of muscular fibers which take origin from the circumference of the thoracic outlet and converge to be inserted into a central tendon.

The diaphragm is crucial for breathing and respiration. During inhalation, the diaphragm contracts, thus enlarging the thoracic cavity (the external intercostal muscles also participate in this enlargement). This reduces intra-thoracic pressure: in other words, enlarging the cavity creates suction that draws air into the lungs. When the diaphragm relaxes, air is exhaled by elastic recoil of the lung and the tissues lining the thoracic cavity in conjunction with the abdominal muscles which act as an antagonist paired with the diaphragm's contraction.

It is not responsible for all the breathing related to voice, a common misconception espoused by many teachers but few great singers. One has more control over the abdominals and intercostals than the actual diaphragm, which lacks proprioceptive nerve endings. By training proper posture and balance in the rest of the body, the diaphragm naturally strengthens and works in concert with surrounding structures rather than in isolation.

Gospel Singer

2008-02-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

OUCH! :)

Vocal Warm-Ups

2008-02-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

Many singers engage in some form of daily routine or warm-up prior to singing; however, many singers do not know the rationale behind choosing various warm-ups or their actual function. Unfortunately, these questions also elude researchers. A study by Elliott, Sundberg, & Gramming (1995) attempted to determine if vocal warm-ups prior to singing yielded the same effect as warming up other parts of the body, i.e., increasing blood flow to muscles thereby decreasing their thickness and increasing their pliability. Although the results of this study were inconclusive as to the exact effect of vocal warm-ups, several reasons still support the use of vocal warm-ups. Elliott, Sundberg, & Gramming emphasized that changing pitch undoubtedly stretches the muscles. They also noted that many singers subjectively indicated improved vocal functioning following warm-ups.

Warm-ups should not be confused with vocalises. Warm-ups, as in weight training, are used to stretch the muscles to prepare them for work without injury. Vocalises are tasks aimed at acquiring a particular skill, i.e., the actual exercise itself. For example, some schools of thought encourage simple, quiet glides across the range as an effective warm-up. On the other hand, using a staccato (short) "ha-ha-ha" on 1-3-5 of a scale is to encourage onset and flexibility.

Many singers will use a variety of vowels, consonants, or arpeggios to "warm" the voice; however, these techniques may actually be encouraging articulatory precision or vowel balancing as in rapid "me-may-mah-mo-mu," or balancing "registers" as in sung single vowels on 1-5-6-5-1, etc.

Here is a video example made by Eric Arcenaux:

Bianca Ryan

2008-01-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

Wow. Such a big voice for an 11 year old girl. Little Bianca Ryan. I just hope that she won't damage her cords. It's unquestionable that she can sing and her voice is huge. The only issue is, she doesn't sound real the whole time. She sounds like she is trying to sing like Jennifer H. or faking a more mature sound. When she gets older, hopefully she will be comfortable just sounding like herself.

Drunk Carmen

2008-01-24T17:09:00.000-08:00

It's not a hoax, it was on serbian national tv, live from Serbian National Theatre Maybee she´s got one or two drinks too much? ;)

Celine Dion

2008-01-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, OC, OQ (born March 30, 1968) is a Canadian singer, and occasional songwriter and actress. Born to a large, impoverished family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. In 1990 she released the anglophone album Unison, establishing herself as a viable pop artist in North America and other English speaking areas of the world.

Dion first gained international recognition in the 1980s after she won the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. Following a series of French albums in the early 1980s, she signed on to Sony Records in 1986. With the help of her husband, she achieved worldwide success with several English and French albums, ending the decade as one of the most successful artists in pop music. However, in 1999, at the height of her success, Dion announced a temporary retraction from entertainment in order to start a family and spend time with her husband, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She returned to the music scene in 2002 and signed a four-year contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Dion's music has been influenced by genres ranging from pop, soul and rock to gospel and classical, and while her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals. In 2004, after accumulating record sales in excess of 175 million, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award from the World Music Awards show for becoming the "Best-selling Female Artist in the World." In April 2007 Sony BMG announced that Celine Dion had sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.

Childhood and early beginnings

Dion's performance at the Yamaha World Popular Song Festival won her the gold medal as well as the award for being the top performer.The youngest of fourteen children born to Adhémar Dion and Thérèse Tanguay, Céline Dion was raised a Roman Catholic in a poverty-stricken, but, by her own account, happy, home in Charlemagne. Music had always been a part of the family, as she grew up singing with her siblings in her parents' small piano bar called 'Le Vieux Baril.' From an early age Dion had dreamed of being a performer; In a 1994 interview with People magazine, she recalled, "I missed my family and my home, but I don't regret having lost my adolescence. I had one dream: I wanted to be a singer."

At age twelve, Dion collaborated with her mother and her brother Jacques to compose her first song, "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" ("It Was Only a Dream"). Her brother Michel sent the recording to music manager René Angélil, whose name he discovered on the back of a Ginette Reno album. Angélil was moved to tears by Dion's voice, and decided to make her a star. He mortgaged his home to fund her first record, La voix du bon Dieu (a play on words "The Voice of God/The Road to God," 1981), which became a local number-one record and made Dion an instant star in Quebec. Her popularity spread to other parts of the world when she competed in the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, Japan, and won the musician's award for "Top Performer" as well as the gold medal for "Best Song," with "Tellement j'ai d'amour pour toi" ("I Have So Much Love for You"). By 1983, in addition to becoming the first Canadian artist to receive a gold record in France for the single "D'amour ou d'amitié" ("Of Love or of Friendship"), Dion had also won several Félix Awards, including "Best Female performer" and "Discovery of the Year." Further success in Europe, Asia, and Australia came when Dion represented Switzerland in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi" ("Don't Go Without Me") and won the contest in Dublin, Ireland. However, American success was yet to come, partly because she was exclusively a Francophone artist.

At eighteen, after seeing a Michael Jackson performance, Dion told Angélil that she wanted to be a star like Jackson. Though confident in her talent, Angelil realized that her image needed to be changed in order for her to be marketed worldwide. Dion receded from the spotlight for a number of months, during which she underwent a physical makeover, and was sent to the École Berlitz School in 1989 to polish her English. This marked the start of her English-language music career. According to an episode of VH-1's Behind The Music, she learned to speak English in just three months.

Dion grew up listening to the music of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Anne Murray, Barbra Streisand, and the Bee Gees, all of whom she would eventually collaborate with. During her younger years, which she spent performing in her parents' piano bar along with her other siblings, she also performed many songs by Ginette Reno and other popular Quebecois artists. She has also expressed appreciation for Édith Piaf, Sir Elton John, and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, as well as many soul singers of the 1960s, 70's and 80's, including Roberta Flack, Etta James and Patti Labelle, whose songs she would later rerecord. Her English-language material has been influenced by numerous genres, including pop, rock, gospel, R&B and soul, and her lyrics focus on themes of poverty, world hunger, and spirituality, with an overemphasis on love and romance. After the birth of her child, her work also began to emphasize maternal bond and brotherly love.

Dion has faced considerable criticism from many critics, who state that her music often retreats behind pop and soul conventions, and marked by excessive sentimentality. According to Keith Harris of Rolling Stone magazine, "[Dion's] sentimentality is bombastic and defiant rather than demure and retiring....[she] stands at the end of the chain of drastic devolution that goes Aretha-Whitney-Mariah. Far from being an aberration, Dion actually stands as a symbol of a certain kind of pop sensibility — bigger is better, too much is never enough, and the riper the emotion the more true." Dion's francophone releases, by contrast, tend to be deeper and more varied than her English releases, and consequently have achieved more credibility.

Dion is often regarded as one of pop music's greatest and most influential voices and according to some sources, she possesses a five octave range. In MTV's "22 Greatest Voices in Music" countdown, she placed ninth (sixth for a female), and she was also placed fourth in Cove magazine's list of "The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists." Upon her debut, many critics had welcomed her restrained vocal inflections, and she was praised for her technical virtuosity and intensity. As Charles Alexander of Time writes, "Her voice glides effortlessly from deep whispers to dead-on high notes, a sweet siren that combines force with grace." As her music progressed, however, Dion's vocal performances came to resemble more closely those of her contemporaries, especially Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, and she was heavily criticized for oversinging and for lacking the emotional intensity that once was a part of her earlier work. One critic noted that the emotion, "seems to have been trained right out of her lovely voice," leaving her with "more voice than heart."

Many critics have stated that Dion's involvement in the production aspect of her music is fundamentally lacking, which results in her work being overproduced and impersonal. Additionally, while she came from a family in which all of her siblings were musicians, she never learned to play any musical instruments. However, she did help to compose many of her earlier French songs, and had always tried to involve herself with the production and recording of her albums. On her first English album, which she recorded before she had a firm command of the English language, she expressed disapproval of the record, which, according to her, could have been avoided if she had assumed more creative input. By the time she released her second English album Celine Dion, she had assumed more control of the production and recording process, hoping to dispel earlier criticisms. She stated, "On the second album I said, 'Well, I have the choice to be afraid one more time and not be 100 percent happy, or not be afraid and be part of this album.' This is my album." She would continue to involve herself in the production of subsequent releases, helping to write a few of her songs on Let's Talk About Love (1997) and These Are Special Times (1998).

Despite her success, Dion is often the subject of media ridicule and parody. She is frequently impersonated on shows like MADtv, Saturday Night Live and South Park for her strong accent, as well as her conservative nature and on-stage movements. She is also heavily mocked in her home country of Canada on popular shows Royal Canadian Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. However, Dion has stated that she is unaffected by the comments, and has even stated that she is flattered that people take the time to impersonate her. She even invited Ana Gasteyer, who parodied her on SNL, to appear on stage during one of her performances.

Dion is rarely the center of media controversies. However, in 2005, following the Hurricane Katrina disaster, she appeared on Larry King Live and tearfully criticized U.S. President George W. Bush regarding the Iraq War and his slow response in aiding the victims of Hurricane Katrina: "How come it's so easy to send planes in another country, to kill everyone in a second, to destroy lives? We need to be there right now to rescue the rest of the people." She later claimed, "When I do interviews with Larry King or the big TV shows like that, they put you on the spot, which is very difficult. I do have an opinion, but I'm a singer. I'm not a politician."

Belting (or vocal belting)

2008-01-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

Belting (or vocal belting) refers to a specific technique of singing by which a singer uses his or her chest voice to produce high and powerful pitches. Technically, it is known as chest voice, or middle voice.

TECHNIQUE

The term "belt" is sometimes described as the use of "chest" voice in the higher part of the voice, rather than using the "head voice," etc. However, the proper production of the "belt voice" involves minimizing tension in the throat and modulation of vowels and change of typical placement of the voice sound in the mouth, bringing it forward into the hard palet. In a higher range all vowels are modulated to one of two vowels: "eh" as in "ape" or "ah" (bright vowel) as in "ChicAgo." Depending on the range of the singer, the vowels will be more or less modulated. Hence, in a male voice, a belted A might not have the same amount of modulation as a belted B. In males, belted voices often sound similar to classical, or "legit" singing techniques, such as Bel Canto or Speech Level Singing. Classical methods are not similar in females as the higher range of a singer in formally trained singing in females is done in middle and head voices, not the chest.

In addition to the modulation of vowels, the belt voice sound is produced by properly placing the sound in the mouth. The soft palate is raised and the vowels brightened toward the front of the mouth. The jaw is open (but not fully open) so that a few teeth are typically showing on the top and bottom of the mouth. There are various techniques and vocalises to accomplish this sound. The result is a kind of "soft yell."

It is possible to learn classical vocal methods like Bel Canto and to also be able to belt, in fact many musical roles now require it. The belt sound is easier for some than others, but the sound is possible for classical singers, too. It requires muscle coordinations not readily used in a classically trained singer or students of Speech Level Singing, however, as these muscles are generally used only during high chest voice production or when making straining noises which singers trained in these styles are told not to do.

In order to increase the amount of high notes one can belt, one must practice. This can be by repeatedly attempting to hit the note in a melody line, or by using vocalise programs utilizing scales. A good example of an artist repeatedly attempting to hit a note required in a melody line can be seen in the DVD on the With The Lights Out boxset from Nirvana, in which Cobain is shown trying to hit a required music note in early unfinished versions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" live in concert, again and again over many months before finally achieving the note. Many commercial "learn to sing" packages have a set of scales to sing along to as their main offering, which the purchaser must practice with often to see improvement.

Some well known exercises include:

♦ Singing an arpeggio or scale on 'Nyah', 'Nyee', 'Nyay', 'Nyoo' and 'Nyaw', using the NY to place the sound in the hard palet and 'brighten' the sound, the 'y' being the consonant use rather than a vowel sound.
♦ Singing an arpeggio or scale on a 'brr', like the sound of a trumpet or elephant. This also places the sound forward in the hard palet, and engages deep support. The singer should slightly purse their lips and press their tongue into their bottom teeth. The lips should be loose.

'Belters' are not exempt from developing a strong head voice, as the more resonant their higher register in head voice, the better the belted notes in this range will be. Some belters find that after a period of time focussing on the belt, the head voice will have improved and, likewise, after a period of time focussing on the head voice, the belt may be found to have improved.

Belting is often misunderstood to be dangerous. However a well trained, well supported and placed belt is safe. As a general rule, learning belters are told to cease immediately if what they are doing physically hurts, and work through it with their tutor.

In pop music belting can be heard by singers such as Regine Velasquez, Celine Dion,Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Charice Pempengco.

Physiology and possible dangers of belting

There are many explanations as to how the belting voice quality is produced. When approaching the matter from the Bel Canto point of view, it is said that the chest voice is applied to the higher registers. Because of research, more is known about the anatomy and the physical process of singing than before. One current vocal researcher and tutor is Jo Estill. Estill has conducted research on the belting voice. Estill describes the belt as an extremely muscular and physical way of singing. When observing the vocal tract and torso of singers, while belting, Estill observed:

Minimal airflow (70% closure)
Maximum torso anchoring (activating the large muscles in the back to control airflow)
Head anchoring (activating the neck and head muscles for stabilizing the larynx)
Tilting of the cricoid (We know that the space between the thyroid and the cricoid widens. It seems that the cricoid is tilting downwards, although there might be thyroid activity as well).
Highest position of the larynx
Maximum muscular effort of the external muscles. When produced healthily, there is no forced tension in the vocal folds themselves.
Constriction of the aryepiglottic sphincter (the "twanger")
Use of overly strong chest voice in the higher registers in an attempt to hit higher notes in the chest can lead to forcing. Forcing can lead consequently to vocal deterioration.[1] Moderate use of the technique and, most importantly, retraction of the false vocal cords while singing is vital to safe belting. Without proper training in retraction, belting can indeed be unhealthy.

Most Speech Level Singing tutors and some students of that method regard belting as damaging to long term vocal health. They may teach an alternative using a "mixed" or middle voice which can sound as strong, as demonstrated by Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Barbra Streisand. The subject of belting is a matter of heated controversy among singers, singing teachers and methodologies. The method is also frowned upon in some classical legit circles, though they tend to be less vocal on the subject.

Proponents of belting say that it is a "soft yell," and if produced properly it can be healthy. It does not require straining and they say it is not damaging to the voice. Though the larynx is slightly higher than in classical technique, they say that vocal cords are not harmed.

However, it is thought by some that "belting" will produce vocal nodules. Nodules can show up when the vocal cords are unhealthily slapped together in what is referred to in legit singing circles as a "glottal attack." Belt pulls the vocal cords very close together, but some allege that air can still pass through safely without causing a "glottal attack" with training.

Some singing tutors such as Catherine Sadolin actually believe belt technique can be used as therapy for vocal cords.

Jeff Scott Soto

2008-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Jeff Scott Soto (born November 4, 1965, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American rock singer best known for being vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums. His style is typical of heavy metal vocalists of the 1980s, but he is also influenced by classic soul music singers such as Sam Cooke as well as Steve Perry of Journey and Freddie Mercury from Queen.

The bands Soto has been involved in included Axel Rudi Pell, Eyes, Talisman, Takara, Humanimal, Human Clay, Kryst The Conqueror, Redlist, The Boogie Knights and Soul Sirkus.

Jeff has sung background vocals on several albums by artists such as Lita Ford, Steelheart, Fergie Frederiksen, Glass Tiger, House Of Lords, Stryper, Saigon Kick, and many others.
He has released several solo albums as well.

Jeff also sang for the fictional band Steel Dragon, which featured Zakk Wylde, for the soundtrack of the movie Rock Star along with Michael Matijevic of the band Steelheart, whose second album featured Jeff on background vocals.

He has also sung lead vocals on an album inspired by the TV series Biker Mice From Mars.

In 2006, Soto replaced Steve Augeri in Journey due to an acute throat infection that caused Augeri to leave the tour. On December 19, Soto was confirmed as the official lead singer for Journey and a press release was posted on the band's official site. On June 12, 2007 it was announced on the same website that Journey had officially dismissed Jeff as their lead singer. Though Soto's fans met the dismissal with outrage, Soto himself addressed the issue by saying "I was looking forward to a long, prosperous future with these guys but it seems they wanted something different than I brought to the table. No love lost though, they know what's best for the preservation of their legacy. I wish them all the best but now it's time to continue working on my own path again".

Discography:

Solo albums

1994 - Love Parade
2002 - Holding On (EP)
2002 - Prism
2003 - JSS Live at the Gods (live)
2004 - Believe in Me (EP)
2004 - Lost In The Translation
2006 - Essential Ballads

Lead Vocals

1984 - Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force
1985 - Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force - Marching Out
1988 - Kuni - Lookin' For Action
1989 - Kryst the Conqueror - Deliver Us From Evil (Credited as Kryst the Conqueror)
1990 - Eyes - Eyes
1990 - Talisman - Talisman
1991 - Skrapp Mettle - Sensitive
1992 - Axel Rudi Pell - Eternal Prisoner
1993 - Axel Rudi Pell - The Ballads
1993 - Talisman - Genesis
1993 - Takara - Eternal Faith
1993 - Eyes - Windows Of The Soul
1993 - Biker Mice From Mars - Original Soundtrack
1994 - Axel Rudi Pell - Between The Walls
1994 - Talisman - Five Out Of Five (Live In Japan)
1994 - Talisman - Humanimal
1994 - Talisman - Humanimal Part II
1994 - Gary Schutt - Sentimetal
1995 - Takara - Taste of Heaven
1995 - Axel Rudi Pell - Made In Germany (Live)
1995 - Talisman - Life
1996 - Axel Rudi Pell - Black Moon Pyramid
1996 - Human Clay - Human Clay
1996 - Talisman - BESTerious (Compilation)
1996 - Talisman - Best of... (Compilation, differenat from above)
1996 - Yngwie Malmsteen - Inspiration
1997 - Axel Rudi Pell - Magic
1997 - Human Clay - u4ia
1997 - The Boogie Knights - Welcome To The Jungle Boogie
1998 - Takara - Blind in Paradise
1998 - Takara - Eternity: Best of 93 - 98 (Compilation)
1998 - Talisman - Truth
2001 - Steel Dragon - Rock Star Original Movie Soundtrack (Various Artists)
2002 - Humanimal - Humanimal
2003 - Talisman - Cats and Dogs
2005 - Soul Sirkus - World Play
2005 - Talisman - Five Men Live
2006 - Talisman - 7

Singing in falsetto or head voice?

2007-10-11T03:36:00.000-07:00

Singing with falsetto voice and the head voice is not the same thing. It is a very common misconception amongst singers who think that a falsetto voice and a head voice are the same. Falsetto is the lightest vocal production made by the human voice. It is limited in tonal variation, strength and vocal tonal dynamics.

There is usually a "jump", "disconnect" or even a break between your chest (speaking) voice and your falsetto note. A distinguished vocal coach and voice trainer, Randy Buescher of Chicago once defines falsetto as: - "a co-ordination where the outer layer of the vocal cord (mucosa, i.e. internal skin or muscular covering) is vibrating, creating sounds, but without engaging the actual musculature of the cord.

Also, there exists no medial compression. That means that during the vibratory cycle, the cords never fully approximate during singing a falsetto note. However, the cords do approximate in a head voice, but the vibration of the cord moves away from the full depth of the vocal cord (chest voice) to a pattern that involve less and less depth of vocal cord as you ascend towards the upper end of your voice range. The highest and top most notes of your range involve only the vocal ligament.

However, do note that there is no consensus among vocal and singing experts on the official definition of vocal registers."

Tenor, Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71

2007-09-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who appeared on stage with singers as varied as opera star Dame Joan Sutherland, U2's Bono and Liza Minnelli, died Thursday in Italy after suffering from pancreatic cancer, manager Terri Robson said in a statement. He was 71. "The great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, died today at 5:00 a.m. at his home in Modena, the city of his birth," according to Robson.

"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness."

The portly singer retired from staged opera in 2004, but was on a "farewell tour" of concerts when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor.

Although the remaining concerts of his tour were canceled, his management said that he hoped to resume the tour in 2007.

But in early August, Pavarotti was hospitalized in Modena with a fever and released 17 days later after undergoing diagnostic tests.

Pavarotti is survived by his wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, and a daughter, Alice, along with three grown daughters by his first wife, Adua Veroni, whom he divorced in 2000, and a granddaughter.

According to Robson, his wife, daughters and sister, along with other relatives and friends were at his side when he died. Watch a look back at the life of Pavarotti »

Bono released a statement honoring his friend.

"Some can sing opera, Luciano Pavarotti was an opera. No one could inhabit those acrobatic melodies and words like him," Bono -- who noted that U2 wrote "Miss Sarajevo" for Pavarotti -- said. "He lived the songs, his opera was a great mash of joy and sadness; surreal and earthy at the same time; a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life in all its complexity, a great and generous friend." Jose Carreras, Pavarotti's Three Tenors colleague and occasional rival, called him "one of the most important singers in the history of opera," according to The Associated Press. "We all hoped for a miracle ... but unfortunately that was not possible, and now we have to regret that we lost a wonderful singer and a great man."

Widespread appeal

Much as the star power of Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov revived widespread interest in classical ballet in the 1970s and 1980s, Pavarotti's beaming charisma and bravura style captured the attention of the late-20th-century audience for opera.

Widely considered the greatest tenor of his time, Pavarotti began his life modestly in the north-central Italian town of Modena, the son of Fernando, a baker and amateur singer, and Adele, who worked at the local tobacco factory.

"I dreamed to become a singer when I was four and I hear my father singing in the church with a beautiful tenor voice," he told CNN in a 1991 interview. "And I say to myself, well, let's try to do something."

The young Pavarotti -- who played soccer with his town's junior team -- joined the church choir with his father and traveled with him to Wales, where the singing group won first prize at the Llangollen International singing competition.

Although the experience left Pavarotti enthralled with singing, he graduated from the local teaching institute in 1955 and taught elementary school for two years, then worked as an insurance salesman. He continued his vocal studies, however, working first with with Arrigo Pola and then with Ettore Campogalliani.

Then, in 1961, Pavarotti won the prestigious Concorso Internazionale and made his operatic debut at the Reggio Emilia Theater as Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme." His fame spread throughout Italy and then throughout the European continent as he made his international debut in Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" in Belgrade.

When Dame Joan Sutherland brought him on-stage with her during a performance of Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" with the Greater Miami Opera in 1965, Pavarotti began his American career. He debuted at New York's Metropolitan Opera House three years later, and eventually marked 379 performances there, including his final opera, Puccini's "Tosca" in 2004, in which he performed as the painter Mario Cavaradossi.

But the major break for him in terms of acclaim took place on February 17, 1972, when in a staging at the Metropolitan Opera of "The Daughter of the Regiment," he hit nine high C's in an aria. Within opera circles his fame skyrocketed; it would eventually spread to the world at large.
Over his career, Pavarotti sold millions of records and raised millions of dollars for charity through benefit concerts, often sharing the stage with pop stars as well as other opera singers.

Of his recordings, 1990's "The Essential Pavarotti" was the first classical album to reach No. 1 on Britain's pop charts, where it remained for 5 weeks. 1994's "The Three Tenors in Concert," with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, remains the best selling classical album of all time.
Pavarotti joined with Domingo and Carreras in 1990, and although critics complained that Pavarotti's vocal skills were waning, the trio performed together for 14 years.

Among his charities were a 1995 "Concert for Bosnia" that raised $8.5 million and other concerts that raised $3.3 million for refugees from Afghanistan and $1 million for refugees from Kosovo.
In artistic terms, Pavarotti brought to the stage a voice neatly suited to the traditional bel canto, or "beautiful singing" style, essential to 17th-century Italian opera. As much about intensity as pitch, bel canto focuses the voice, concentrating the sound with both outstanding warmth and agility.

So demanding is this work even of the best singers that Pavarotti in concert recital could be seen rising to the balls of his feet during the most challenging passages. A long, white handkerchief always hung from one hand as he sang, his eyebrows arched high in the effort, forming an expression seemingly of surprise at his own success.

Humble beginnings

From his small beginnings, Pavarotti rose to great heights, performing in front of 500,000 people in New York's Central Park -- a concert seen by millions on television -- and before another 300,000 at Paris' Eiffel Tower.

He won countless awards and honors -- including five Grammys -- and was named United Nations Messenger for Peace by then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He launched an international competition, The Pavarotti International Voice Competition, in 1982. He even founded a teaching facility for young singers in his home town.

His signature aria, Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot," was chosen as the theme music for the 1990 soccer World Cup, hosted by Italy. He also performed the aria at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The great singer was also known as an equestrian expert, organizing one of the international show jumping circuit's most important competitions, the Pavarotti International, in Modena. Coinciding with that event, Pavarotti also staged an annual charity concert, Pavarotti and Friends.

Amid reports this week that his condition was worsening, it was announced in Rome on Tuesday by Italy's cultural minister, Francesco Rotelli, Pavarotti was to receive a newly created prize for excellence in cultural achievement.

Pavarotti's influence was one reason opera has gained new audiences in recent years despite some problems that could affect future gains.

The New York Times' Alan Riding pointed out in a February article that ironically, the modern-day popularity of operatic work has prompted the building of new opera houses in many major cities, including Copenhagen, Tokyo and soon Beijing, at a time when the repertoire remains rooted in centuries-old work and the costs of production make tickets prohibitive for most younger would-be audience members.

For opera to survive today, Riding wrote, it needs not only new music but also "exciting young singers." Pavarotti was that singer, in the right place and the right time for his generation.
He sang until he couldn't sing anymore. When cancer finally stopped Pavarotti from singing, it was only the second interruption of his career.

"I think I just stop for one year when from a kid I become a man and the voice is changing," he said in 1991. "I was an alto and become a tenor and that is the only time I think I remember to have stopped singing. Otherwise I have sung all my life."

Vela Luka Laugh Song

2007-04-21T01:50:00.000-07:00

Funny song from Vela Luka, Croatia. :)

Vocal Training

2007-03-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Vocal training is an immensely important aspect of a musicians career. Singing a good song is almost a matter of getting the right intonations and sound without having to strain one’s voice. Almost every successful musician has undergone some kind of vocal training at some point of his career. In essence, training ones vocals to achieve perfection can improve one’s singing ability tremendously. Just like a person who trains for guitar playing, the more a person trains at playing guitar the better he will get at playing guitar and his overall performance will improve. The same applies to vocal training.

Musicians, especially vocalists for a band or an individual singer for that matter, usually do warm ups before taking to the stage. These warm ups are very important as it will determine whether the singer can perform well for the entire concert .It has been said that doing breathing exercises is an important part of vocal training and singing. Essentially breathing exercises should be done in such as way so that the breathing momentum is in tandem with the notes that the singer is singing. This kind of training will ensure that a singer does not run out of air while singing and it will also train a singer to take breaths between phrases.

It has been said that posture also plays an important role in a musicians or singers ability to sing. All this has to do with a persons lungs because is a person does not maintain a good posture then that persons diaphragm which acts to bring air in and out will be pressured and this will affect the way in which a vocalist sings.

Another aspect of vocal training which is not physical in nature is simple having more confidence in oneself. Every time a musician or vocalist takes the stage, they become nervous at some point. This is caused by the fact that they are either completely overwhelmed by the crowd at the concert or just inexperienced .This nervousness can cause a vocalist to make mistakes while singing or at least affect his performance on stage, This problem can be avoided simply by gaining more confidence in oneself so that while on stage ones fullest potential can be exploited.

Most vocalists normally turn to their singing instructors for vocal training. A vocalist must pick his singing instructor with great deliberation and he must find an instructor that specializes in vocal training in the genre of music which the vocalist is training to sing. There are numerous genres of music which people train to sing in. Among theses are rock, jazz, pop, metal, classical music, and various other genres. Each of these genres has different kinds of vocal styles and a vocalist that is training to do vocals for metal songs must not ask a vocal trainer which specializes in pop music vocals to train him to sing. What this means is that the the proper selection of a vocal trainer depends greatly on the genre of music which that vocal trainer specializes in.

Care must also be taken to protect one’s throat from harm. Just as a persons body needs protection, similarly a vocalist must take steps to safe guard his throat from various elements that can do harm to his throat which in turn will affect his singing capabilities. Smoking is one such vice that can cause detriment to ones vocals. Also vocal training must not be over done so as not to cause harm to ones vocal chords and larynx. Protecting ones vocal system will be a step in the positive direction of vocal training.

Vocalise

2007-03-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

A vocalise is a vocal exercise (often one suitable for performance) without words, which is sung on one or more vowel sounds. The singing of vocalise is called vocalization.

Vocalise dates back to the mid-18th century. Jean-Antoine Bérard's 1755 compilation L’art du chant includes a selection of songs (sans words) by composers such as Lully and Rameau, chosen for their value as exercises in vocal technique. Accompanying the exercises were instructions on mastering the technical challenges they posed. By the 19th century vocalises were commonly composed specifically for pedagogical purposes rather than being adapted from existing songs.

A related tradition of vocalise sprang up in the 19th century, with wordless technical etudes set to piano accompaniment, following the fashion of the time of setting even the most mechanical of études to piano accompaniment with the thought that this would inspire the performer to execute the music more artistically.

One of the best-known examples of vocalise is Rachmaninoff's Vocalise op. 34 no. 14, written in 1912 for soprano Antonina Nezhdanova. It has been recorded numerous times and adapted for other voice types as well as orchestral and solo instrumental performance.

The first, slow movement of Heitor Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (1938) features a soprano aria over a cello ensemble, which evolves into an extended vocalise that floats over a pizzicato accompaniment.

"Vocalese", whose name is a play on "vocalise", is a type of jazz singing in which new words are created and sung to existing instrumental improvisations.

In Indian classical music, the tradition of "aakaar" is used as a vocal exercise before singing, and also to a certain extent adds to the singing and the melody.

Here are few vocal exercises:

Melisma

2007-03-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Melisma is the musical art of creating a run of many notes from one syllable. In the United States, singers in the African-American church popularized the vocal practice, which dates to Gregorian chants and Indian ragas. When Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin began singing popular music, they brought melisma to more mainstream audiences. Whether you love it or hate it, Whitney Houston's hit "I Will Always Love You," with its elongated "iiieeee-eyes" and "ooooeeeooos," is a prime example.

American Idol contestants (and pop singers) sometimes abuse and overuse the technique in songs. At worst, they can fracture a word into a soulless slur of syllables that feels both alienating and groan-inducing. Plus you have no idea what word they're singing.

In music, melisma (commonly known as vocal runs or simply runs) is the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a syllable of text while it is being sung. Music sung in this style is referred to as melismatic, as opposed to syllabic, where each syllable of text is matched to a single note. Music of the ancient cultures used melismatic techniques to achieve a hypnotic trance in the listener, useful for early mystical initiation rites (Eleusinian Mysteries) and religious worship. This quality is still found in much Jewish, Hindu and Muslim religious music today. In western music, the term most commonly refers to Gregorian Chant, but may be used to describe music of any genre, including baroque singing and later gospel. Within Jewish liturgical tradition melisma is still commonly used in the chanting of Torah, readings from the Prophets, and in the body of the service itself. For an examination of the evolution of this tradition, see Idelsohn.
Melisma first appeared in written form in the system of Torah chanting developed by the Masoretes in the 7th or 8th century and then in some genres of Gregorian Chant, with the earliest written appearance around AD 900. where it was used in certain sections of the Mass. The gradual and the alleluia, in particular, were characteristically melismatic, for example, while the tract is not, and repetitive melodic patterns were deliberately avoided in the style. The Byzantine rite also used melismatic elements in their music, which developed roughly concurrently to the Gregorian chant.

The French Carol tune "Gloria" arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes in 1937, to which the hymn Angels We Have Heard On High is usually sung, contains one of the most melismatic sequences in popular Christian hymn music, on the "o" of the word "Gloria". Moreover, the choral tune "For Unto Us a Child is Born" from Handel's Messiah (Part I, No. 12) contains impressive examples of melisma.

Melisma is today commonly used in Middle Eastern popular music and Balkan pop-folk music. Melisma is also commonly featured in Western popular music, which has been heavily influenced by vocal techniques, by artists such as Joshua Wooten, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Patti LaBelle, Crystal Lewis, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, India Arie, Brian McKnight, Wanya Morris, Tonéx, Kim Burrell, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera, Beverley Knight, Beyoncé Knowles, Fantasia Barrino, Lauryn Hill, Britney Spears, JoJo, Chris Brown and Aretha Franklin. Melisma is also used in rock music, with notable proponents including Shakira, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Gene Clark of The Byrds, Alecia Moore also known as P!NK, Thom Yorke from Radiohead, and Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin. The use of melisma is common in Indian classical and popular music; this is often reflected in Western adaptations of Indian music, such as in The Beatles' "Rain."

Look at some of the complicated melismatic writing here:

Notice the melisma on the word "schwacher" (faltering) and "lallen" (stammer). Also see the chromatic, twisted passage to conclude the movement.

Voice Projection

2007-03-19T09:38:00.000-07:00

Voice projection is a strength of speaking or singing whereby the voice is used loudly and clearly. It is a technique employed to demand respect and attention, such as when a teacher is talking to the class, or simply just to be heard clearly, as an actor in a theatre.

Breathing technique is very important for proper voice projection. Whereas in normal talking one uses air from the top of the lungs and the muscles from the throat, a properly projected voice uses air right from the bottom of the lungs.

Stance is also important, it is recommended to stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart, and your upstage foot (right foot if right handed etc.)slightly forward. This improves your balance. This also improves your breathing.

Luciano Pavarotti

2007-03-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Probably the most popular tenor since Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti (born 1935) combined accuracy of pitch and quality of sound production with a natural musicality. His favorite roles were Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème, Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, and Riccardo in Verdi's Un Ballo Maschera.

Luciano Pavarotti was born on the outskirts of Modena in north-central Italy on October 12, 1935. Although he spoke fondly of his childhood, the family had little money; its four members were crowded into a two-room apartment. His father was a baker who, according to Pavarotti, had a fine tenor voice but rejected the possibility of a singing career because of nervousness. His mother worked in a cigar factory. World War II forced the family out of the city in 1943. For the following year they rented a single room from a farmer in the neighboring countryside, where young Pavarotti developed an interest in farming.

Pavarotti's earliest musical influences were his father's recordings, most of them featuring the popular tenors of the day--Gigli, Martinelli, Schipa, and Caruso. At around the age of nine he began singing with his father in a small local church choir. Also in his youth he had a few voice lessons with a Professor Dondi and his wife, but he ascribed little significance to them.
After what appears to have been a normal childhood with a typical interest in sports--in Pavarotti's case soccer above all--he graduated from the Schola Magistrale and faced the dilemma of a career choice. He was interested in pursuing a career as a professional soccer player, but his mother convinced him to train as a teacher. He subsequently taught in an elementary school for two years but finally allowed his interest in music to win out. Recognizing the risk involved, his father gave his consent only reluctantly, the agreement being that Pavarotti would be given free room and board until age 30, after which time, if he had not succeeded, he would earn a living by any means that he could.

Pavarotti began serious study in 1954 at the age of 19 with Arrigo Pola, a respected teacher and professional tenor in Modena who, aware of the family's indigence, offered to teach without remuneration. Not until commencing study with Pola was Pavarotti aware that he had perfect pitch. At about this time Pavarotti met Adua Veroni, whom he married in 1961. When Pola moved to Japan two and a half years later, Pavarotti became a student of Ettore Campogalliani, who was also teaching the now well-known soprano, Pavarotti's childhood friend Mirella Freni. During his years of study Pavarotti held part-time jobs in order to help sustain himself--first as an elementary school teacher and then, when he failed at that, as an insurance salesman.
The first six years of study resulted in nothing more tangible than a few recitals, all in small towns and all without pay. When a nodule developed on his vocal chords causing a "disastrous" concert in Ferrara, he decided to give up singing. Pavarotti attributed his immediate improvement to the psychological release connected with this decision. Whatever the reason, the nodule not only disappeared but, as he related in his autobiography, "Everything I had learned came together with my natural voice to make the sound I had been struggling so hard to achieve."

A measure of success occurred when he won the Achille Peri Competition in 1961, for which the first prize was the role of Rodolfo in a production of Puccini's La Bohème to be given in Reggio Emilia on April 28 of that year. Although his debut was a success, a certain amount of maneuvering was necessary to secure his next few contracts. A well-known agent, Alesandro Ziliani, had been in the audience and, after hearing Pavarotti, offered to represent him. When La Bohème was to be produced in Lucca, Ziliani insisted that Pavarotti be included in a package deal that would also provide the services of a well-known singer requested by the management. Later Ziliani recommended him to conductor Tullio Serafin, who engaged him in the role of the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto.

Pavarotti's Covent Garden debut in the fall of 1963 also resulted from something less than a direct invitation. Giuseppe di Stefano had been scheduled for a series of performances as Rodolfo, but the management was aware that he frequently canceled on short notice. They therefore needed someone whose quality matched the rest of the production, yet who would learn the role without any assurance that he would get to sing it. Pavarotti agreed.

When di Stefano canceled after one and a half performances, Pavarotti stepped in for the remainder of the series with great success.His debut at La Scala in 1965, again as Rodolfo, came at the suggestion of Herbert von Karajan, who had been conducting La Bohème there for two years and had, as Pavarotti said, "run out of tenors." He was somewhat resentful that the invitation did not come from La Scala management. Also in 1965 Pavarotti made his American debut in Miami as Edgardo in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Illness troubled him during his New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera in November 1968 and compelled him to cancel after the second act of the second performance.

Nineteenth-century Italian opera comprised most of Pavarotti's repertoire, particularly Puccini, Verdi, and Donizetti, who he found the most comfortable to sing. He treated his voice cautiously, reserving heavier roles until later years. Still his rendering of Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca was criticized, both for the light quality of his voice and for his misinterpretation of the role. He sang few song recitals, as he regarded them as more strenuous than opera. Very few opera singers are convincing actors and Pavarotti is not among them. He improved considerably over the years, however, and by the mid-1980s he spent nearly as much time on his acting as on his singing. Although by that time he felt that he had covered the range of roles possible for him, he had not exhausted everything inside that range. Among the roles he hoped to add were Don Jose in Bizet's Carmen and the title role in Massenet's Werther. In 1972 he starred in a commercial film, Yes, Giorgio. His solo album of Neapolitan songs, "O Sole Mio," outsold any other record by a classical singer.

Throughout the 1980s Pavarotti strengthened his status as one of the opera world's leading figures. Televised performances of Pavarotti in many of his greatest and favorite roles not only helped him maintain his status, but to broaden his appeal. He was able to reach millions of viewers each time one of his opera performances and solo concerts was seen. He also began to show increasing flexibility as a recording artist. He recorded classical operas, songs by Henry Mancini and Italian folk songs, thus becoming the world's third highest top selling musician, right behind Madonna and Elton John. By the time he proposed and staged the first "Three Tenors" concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Pavarotti was unabashedly thrilled with his immense popularity. "I want to be famous everywhere" he told Newsweek and he continually showed his appreciation to the fans that made him. "I tell you, the time spent signing autographs is never enough" he continued in the same interview.

He received his share of criticism and rejection as well. He was barred from contracts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago 1989 because he canceled performances excessively due to bad health. He was sued by the BBC in 1992 for selling the network a lip-synched concert. He was booed at La Scala during a performance of Don Carlo. He finally canceled tours and took several months off to rest.

Pavarotti returned to the stage with concerts before 500,000 people in Central Park. Critics accused him of blatant commercialism, but the crowds loved the performances. He learned a new role, Andrea Chenier, for a 1996 Metropolitan Opera broadcast. Pavarotti was praised for both his diligence, his survival, and the fact that he undertook a new role at the age of 61. In 1997 the three tenors--Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras and Pavarotti--toured to mixed reviews but delighted audiences who seemed unwilling to let Pavarotti even think of retiring. A Christmas album and video, The Three Tenors Christmas, appeared in 2000.

On a less festive note, but also in 2000, prosecutors in Bologna, Italy, asked an investigating magistrate to rule that Pavarotti be tried on tax fraud charges for claiming that his primary residence is Monte Carlo. The prosecutors, who said his residence was in Modena, accused him of owing the government nearly $5 million. A week previous to this case, Pavarotti lost an appeal against an order that he pay another $5 million in back taxes. Pavarotti agreed to pay more than $12 million in back taxes. In a letter to the Turin newspaper, La Stampa, he wrote that "it is very difficult to explain the life of one who travels the world and who visits 50 cities every year."

A Cappella

2007-03-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

A cappella music is vocal music or singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. A cappella is Italian for like in the chapel (music); the term is due to the fact that Christian churches sang without instrumental accompaniment for the first several hundred years of its existence. It is often misspelled as acapella or a capella, which is derived from the Latin spelling (but in Latin capella means small goat).

A cappella music originally was, and still often is, used in church music. Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of sacred vocal music from the Renaissance. The Madrigal, up until its development in the early Baroque into an instrumentally-accompanied form, is also usually an a cappella form.

Contemporary A Cappella

In the modern parlance, the term applies to vocal performers who refrain from performing with any instrumental accompaniment, though some emulate the sonority of instruments with their voices, microphones, and signal processing effects.

The St. Olaf College Choir of Northfield, Minnesota, a 75-voice mixed ensemble, is widely considered to be the pioneer a capella choir in the United States. Officially founded in 1911 by music faculty member F. Melius Christiansen as the St. Olaf Lutheran Choir, it began as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church, where Christiansen was organist and the choir was comprised at least partially of students from the nearby St. Olaf campus. Born out of Christiansen's appreciation of the style he studied while at Thomasschule in Leipzig, Germany, at whose church J. S. Bach had been Kapellmeister more than a century earlier, the St. Olaf Choir today tours throughout the world under the direction of Dr. Anton Armstrong.

The King's Singers are credited with promoting interest in small-group a cappella performance in the 1960s. In 1983 an a Cappella group known as The Flying Pickets had a Christmas number 1 in the UK with a cover of Yazoo's (known in the US as Yaz) Only You. A cappella music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as The Manhattan Transfer, Bobby McFerrin, Shai, Huey Lewis and the News, All 4 One, The Nylons and Boyz II Men.

This prominence, as well as a change in the style (voices used as modern rock instruments, including vocal percussion/"beatboxing") helped fuel an explosion in collegiate a cappella—some larger universities now have a dozen groups or more, and the total number of college groups grew from 250 circa 1990 to over 1,000 now. The oldest collegiate a cappella group is The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University, formed in 1909, whose members have included Cole Porter and relatives of George Bush. Other noted collegiate a cappella groups include the Smith College Smiffenpoofs, the University of Massachusetts Dynamics, Vassar College Night Owls, Tufts University Beelzebubs, University of California at Berkeley's Men's Octet, Straight No Chaser of Indiana University, Off the Beat of University of Pennsylvania, The Other Guys from University of Illinois, St. Olaf College's The Limestones, and The University of California at Santa Barbara's Naked Voices.

Major movements in modern a cappella over the past century include Barbershop and doo wop. Contemporary a cappella includes many vocal bands who add vocal percussion or beatboxing to create a pop/rock sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. There also remains a strong a cappella presence within Christian music, as some denominations do not allow instruments to be used during services.

Arrangements of popular music for small a cappella ensembles typically include one voice singing the lead melody, one singing a rhythmic bass line, and the remaining voices contributing chordal or polyphonic accompaniment.

A Cappella can also describe the practice of using just the vocal track(s) from a multitrack, instrumental recording to be remixed or put onto vinyl records for DJs. Artists sometimes release the vocal tracks of their popular songs so that fans can remix them. One such example is the a cappella release of Jay-Z's Black Album, which Danger Mouse mixed with the Beatles' White Album to create The Grey Album.

Increased interest in modern a cappella (particularly collegiate a cappella) can be seen in the growth of awards such as the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (overseen by the Contemporary A Cappella Society) and competitions such as the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella for college groups and the Harmony Sweepstakes for professional groups.
A Cappella's growth is not limited to live performance, with hundreds of recorded a cappella albums produced over the past decade. As of December 2006, the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB) had reviewed over 660 a cappella albums since 1994, and its popular discussion forum had over 900 users and 19,000 articles.

A cappella in gaining popularity among South Asian youth with the emergence of Penn Masala in the University of Pennsylvania, Raagapella in Stanford and similar groups in other colleges. These groups have attained significant critical acclaim with their distinct style of mixing songs and applying a cappella to styles of different cultures. Penn Masala has songs in Hindi, English, Punjabi and Gujarati, with lyrics from different languages in the same song.

People do not just always sing the words when singing a cappella; some also emulate instrumentation by reproducing the melody with their vocal chords. For instance, "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited was sung a cappella to the instrumentation on the comedy television series Tompkins Square. Another famous example of emulating instrumentation instead of singing the words is the theme song for The New Addams Family series on Fox Family Channel (now ABC Family). Groups such as Vocal Sampling and Undivided emulate Latin rhythms a cappella. Vocal artist Bobby McFerrin is famous for his instrumental emulation, and Deke Sharon has taught seminars on how to sing a variety of instrumental sounds.

Klapa is a group of autochthonous folk a cappella singers from Croatia.

Yodeling

2007-03-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yodeling (or yodelling, jodeling) is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal chest register (or "chest voice") to the head register (or "head voice"), making a high-low-high-low sound. This vocal technique is used in many cultures throughout the world.

In Swiss folk music, it was probably developed in the Swiss and Austrian Alps as a method of communication between mountain peaks, and it later became a part of the traditional music of the region. In Persian and Azeri Classical musics, singers frequently use tahrir, a yodeling technique that oscillates on neighbor tones. In Georgian traditional music, yodelling takes the form of krimanchuli technique. In Central Africa, Pygmy singers use yodels within their elaborate polyphonic singing. Yodeling is often used in American bluegrass and country music.

Technique

All human voices are considered to have at least two distinct vocal registers, called the "head" and "chest" voices, which result from different ways that the tone is produced. Most people can sing tones within a certain range of relatively lower pitch in their chest voices, and then a certain range of relatively higher pitch in their head voices. There is often a gap between these ranges, especially in inexperienced or untrained singers. Experienced singers, who can control their voices to the point where these ranges overlap, can easily switch between them to produce high-quality tones in either. Yodelling is a particular application of this technique, wherein a singer might switch between these registers several times in but a few seconds, at a high volume. Going back and forth over this "voice break" repeatedly produces a very distinctive type of sound.

For example, in the famous example syllable "Yodl - Ay - EEE - Ooooo", the "EEE" is sung in the head voice, while all other syllables are in the chest voice.

Amazing little girl!

Vocal Registration

2007-03-16T05:46:00.000-07:00

Vocal registration is the term used to denote various theories of how the human voice changes, both subjectively and objectively, as it moves through its pitch range.

Nearly all untrained voices have noticeable differences in timbre at different pitches. This is most easily seen in males, who are generally aware that they can speak in both their usual voice, which sounds "male," and in another, higher voice that is lighter, breathier, and sounds "female." Each of these timbres is referred to as a "register," hence "vocal registration." This is the clearest example, though it is also extremely common for singers who have recently begun studying voice formally to notice more subtle differences in their voice as they move through their vocal range.

Beyond these facts, it should be noted that registration is somewhat controversial, with disagreement on how many registers there are and indeed whether they exist at all. Further complication arises from the fact that registration is, broadly, unique to a particular singer and is to some extent subjective - a head note for a bass is a chest note for a soprano.
As mentioned above, registration is a controversial topic in vocal pedagogy. In this section, we outline the more popular theories of vocal registration.

Multiple Rigister Theory

The human voice is capable in most cases of being a complex instrument. Humans have vocal folds which can loosen or tighten or change their thickness and over which breath can be transferred at varying pressures. The shape of chest and neck, the position of the tongue, and the tightness of otherwise unrelated muscles can be altered. Any one of these actions results in a change in pitch, volume, timbre, or tone of the sound produced.

One important categorization that can be applied to the sounds singers make relates to the register or the "voice" that is used. Singers refer to these registers according to the part of the body in which the sound most generally resonates, and which have correspondingly different tonal qualities. There are widely differing opinions and theories about what a register is, how they are produced and how many there are. The distinct change or break between registers is called a passaggio or a ponticello.The following definitions refer to the different ranges of the voice.

Speaking Voice (Chest)

The chest voice is the register typically used in everyday speech. The first recorded mention of this register was around the 13th century, when it was distinguished from the throat and the head voice (pectoris, guttoris, capitis -- at this time it is likely head voice referred to the falsetto register, see falsetto article) by the writers Johannes de Garlandia and Jerome of Moravia.
The speaking voice is named as "the chest voice" in the Speech Level Singing method. It is so called because it can produce the sensation of the sound coming from the upper chest. This is because lower frequency sounds have longer wavelengths, and resonate mostly in the larger cavity of the chest. A person uses the chest voice when singing in the majority of his or her lower range.

It was discovered via stroboscope that during ordinary phonation, or speaking in a man the vocal folds contact with each other completely during each vibration closing the gap between them fully, if just for a small length of time. This closure cuts off the escaping air. When the air pressure in the trachea rises as a result of this closure, the folds are blown apart, while the vocal processes of the arytenoid cartilages remain in apposition. This creates an oval shaped gap between the folds and some air escapes, lowering the pressure inside the trachea. Rhythmic repetition of this movement a certain number of times a second creates a pitched note. This is how the chest voice is created.

The tonal qualities of the chest voice are usually described as being rich or full, but can also be belted or forced to make it sound powerful by shouting or screaming.
Use of overly strong chest voice in the higher registers in an attempt to hit higher notes in the chest can lead to forcing. Forcing can lead consequently to vocal deterioration.

Falsetto

In falsetto, the vocal folds, or cords when viewed with a stroboscope are seen to be blown apart and a permanent oval orifice is left in the middle between the edges of the two folds through which a certain volume of air escapes continuously as long as the register is engaged (the singer is singing using the voice). The arytenoid cartilages are held in firm apposition in this voice register also. The length or size of the oval orifice or separation between the folds can vary, but it is known to get bigger in size as the pressure of air pushed out is increased.

The folds are made up of elastic and fatty tissue. The folds are covered on the surface by laryngeal mucous membrane which is supported deeper down underneath it by the innermost fibres of the thyro-arytenoid muscle. In falsetto the extreme membranous edges, ie the edges furthest away from the middle of gap between the folds appear to be the only parts vibrating. The mass corresponding to the innermost part of the thyro-arytenoid muscle remains still and motionless.

Some singers feel a sense of muscular relief when they change from chest voice to falsetto.
In women, the falsetto voice refers to the whistle register.

Generally when singers describe their range they exclude the falsetto voice. A classical male singer who routinely sings using the falsetto is called a countertenor. Countertenors tend to count this range. If a singer makes frequent use of their falsetto it may be counted as part of their vocal range.

Head Register

The head register is used in singing to describe the resonance of singing something feeling to the singer as if it is occurring in their head. It's mentioned in the Speech Level Singing method used in some singing. All voices have a head register, whether bass or soprano. It is not associated with any particular musical pitch, but rather with the resonance of the voice in the head.

Often explanations for the physiological mechanisms behind the head voice alter from voice teacher to voice teacher. This is because, according to Clippinger: "In discussing the head voice it is the purpose to avoid as much as possible the mechanical construction of the instrument".

Other Theories

In addition to those detailed here, a variety of theories of register have been proffered. At the extreme, they may propose more than a dozen distinct vocal registers. Those listed above are the most commonly seen today. For an introduction to other theories, see Caldwell, 2001.

Techniques

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Human voice is usually considered to have at least three voice registers; ranging from lowest to highest, they are the: chest register, head register, and falsetto. (The whistle register, comprising the highest notes that a human voice can reach, is also often considered a "full" register, although individuals who are able to use it well are fairly rare.) Some singers choose to remain in a single range (usually the chest register) throughout a piece, but many will switch between these different ranges in order to produce a wide range of pitches, or even simply for effect.

Yodelling is a technique that requires rapidly switching between at least two different registers many times in the same phrase, producing a distinct high-low-high-low sound.

Vibrato is a technique used by singers (and many instrumentalists. For instance, string instruments that are played with a bow can produce vibrato tones) in which a sustained note actually wavers very quickly and consistently between a very slightly higher and a lower pitch, giving the note a slight quaver. Vibrato is the pulse or wave in a sustained tone.
Singers use vibrato as a means of expression. Many successful artists have built a career on deep, rich vibrato ability.

A melisma occurs when a singer switches pitch while singing the same syllable. It is used heavily in baroque vocal music, as well as to a somewhat lesser extent in popular music.

A vocal warm-up is usually required before the vocal chords are expected to perform at its full potential. Proper breathing technique is also a key factor in singing correctly.

Singing

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Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with speech. Air is expelled with the diaphragm as with ordinary breathing, and the pitch is altered with the vocal cords. With the lips closed, this is called humming. A piece of music with a singing part, either a cappella or accompanied, is called a song; someone who sings is called a singer.
Most singing involves shaping the voice to form words, but types of voice instrumental music which use open sounds or nonsense syllables ("vocables") also exist, for instance, scat singing and yodeling. Solfege assigns certain syllables to notes in the scale.

Nearly anyone who can speak can sing, since in many respects singing is merely sustained speech. It can be informal and just for pleasure, for example, singing in the shower; or it can be very formal, such as singing done professionally as a performance or in a recording studio. Singing at a high amateur or professional level usually requires a great deal of regular practice, and/or instruction. Top-quality singers will have instruction and training from coaches throughout their career.

According to Alfred Alexander (formally an ENT consultant to the home office), "a singer is a person of adequate musicality, who is gifted with a voice of such power and beauty that competent judges can recommend singing as a career". Alexander believes that 1 in 50,000 in the UK possess such gifts, which means in England (800,000 births a year average) 16 people are born with such a voice a year, making 500 "first class voices" active in any particular generation (taken as 30 years) at any one time.

Singing is often done in a group, such as a choir, and may be accompanied by musical instruments, a full orchestra, or a band. Singing with no instrumental accompaniment is called a cappella.

At the highest professional level it is imperative that singers continuously practice with drills, voice exercises and strengthening activities and that without constant practice, a singer's range can be significantly decreased, requiring extra rehearsal to regain the voice's previous capability, much in the same way as any professional level musician must practice constantly with their instrument. However singing is a very natural activity and this kind of intensive practice is not usually necessary for most singers especially outside the field of classical music and where amplification is available, or for semi-professional singers.

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Vocal Cords / Vocal Folds

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The vocal folds, also known popularly as vocal cords, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the larynx. They vibrate, modulating the flow of air being expelled from the lungs during phonation.

Another name for the airway at the level of the vocal folds is the glottis, and the opening between the folds is called the glottic chink. The size of the glottic chink is important in respiration and phonation. Open during inhalation, closed when holding one's breath, and held apart just a tiny bit for speech or singing; the folds are controlled via the vagus nerve. They are white because of scant blood circulation.

The folds vibrate when they are closed to obstruct the airflow through the glottis, the space between the folds: they are forced open by increased air pressure in the lungs, and closed again as the air rushes past the folds, lowering the pressure (Bernoulli's principle). A person's voice pitch is determined by the resonant frequency of the vocal folds. In an adult male this frequency averages about 125 Hz, adult females around 210, in children the frequency is over 300 Hz.

Men and women have different vocal fold sizes, adult male voices are usually lower pitched and have larger folds. The male vocal folds (which would be measured vertically in the opposite diagram), are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length.

Matching the female body, which on the whole has less muscle than the male, females have smaller folds. The female vocal folds are between 12.5 mm and 17.5 mm in length.

As seen in the illustration, the folds are located just above the trachea or the windpipe which travels from the lungs. Food and drink does not pass through the folds but is instead taken through the esophagus, an unlinked tube. Both tubes are separated by the tongue and an automatic gag reflex. When food goes down through the folds and trachea it causes choking.

Folds in both sexes are ligaments within the larynx. They are attached at the back (side nearest the spinal cord) to the arytenoid cartilages, and at the front (side under the chin) to the thyroid cartilage. Their outer edges (as shown in the illustration) are attached to muscle in the larynx while their inner edges, or margins are free (the hole). They are constructed from epithelium, but they have a few muscle fibres on them, namely the vocalis muscle which tightens the front part of the ligament near to the thyroid cartilage. They are flat triangular bands and are pearly white in colour - whiter in females then they are in males. Above both sides of the vocal cord (the hole and the ligament itself) is the vestibular fold or false vocal fold, which has a small sac between its two folds (not illustrated).

The difference in vocal fold size between men and women means that they have differently pitched voices. Additionally, genetics also causes variances amongst the same sex, with men's and women's voices being categorised into types.
The term vocal cords is occasionally misspelled 'vocal chords', possibly due to the musical connotations or to confusion with the geometrical definition of the word "chord".

The vocal folds discussed above are sometimes called 'true vocal folds' to distinguish them from the false vocal folds (false vocal cords). These are a pair of thick folds of mucous membrane that sit just above, and protect, the more delicate true folds. They have minimal role in normal phonation, but are often used in screaming and the death grunt singing style.
The false folds are also called vestibular folds and ventricular folds. They can be seen on the diagram above as ventricular folds.
False vocal folds, when surgically removed, can regenerate completely.