Is “creating space” something you need? If so, how and how much? Let’s say you think you do need more “space”. The Holy Grail for years has been “lowered larynx”, but that is only one way to play with “space”. Two ways of lowering the larynx:
Tag: resonance
Inside, outside, upside down
People frequently say that when they hear their voice on a recording it is a little shocking. Singers have to learn to make peace with this. Listening to a recording of yourself can help you fix some things, but it also can confuse you if you’re not careful.
Resonance adjustments and playtime
Once registration is working reasonably well, one can start trying to maximize one’s vowels, also called “optimizing resonance”, among other things. I’m defining “maximized” as: a vowel that has a strong fundamental plus strong overtones, which is subjectively called things like “full”, “rich”, “complete”, “chiaroscuro”, “resonant”, and other positive terms that imply there is a […]
“Maximizing resonance” as a limiting maneuver
Maximizing resonance is a worthwhile endeavor, if resonance is an important value for you. But can it, should it, and must it have a cost? Let’s say that you have a flexible, attractive voice that can sing fast coloratura, swell and diminish throughout a wide range of pitches, and you are known for clear diction […]
Assumptions abound
In a Facebook forum recently a “teacher” (looking at her page I saw no qualifications) asked the question: “Can someone give me examples of popular commercially successful male singers that sing high notes other than with falsetto, with a lowered larynx and lifted soft palate and good acoustic space?” Oh my. No, I can’t, because […]
Considering Resonance
What does “resonance” mean? You can look up different dictionary definitions as well as I can, but today let’s call it “maximum sound output per energy unit expended”. Let’s assume this includes a nice distribution of overtones that gives the voice a pleasing timbre. Generally, when we sing, we are hoping to make sounds that […]
The folly of imagery-based voice instruction
“Drink in the tone.” “Place the voice in your _____ (hard palate, mask, sinuses, top of your head, etc.).” “Feel the tone as a narrow beam coming out of the back of your head, the higher you go, the further back it points.” “Up and over.” “Breath into your solar plexus.” These are all phrases […]
Spectrograms and Learning to Sing
Some classical singers are using audio spectrogram programs to see if they are producing the “singer’s formant”, which is a band of harmonics in roughly the 3000 Hz range. In acquiring these overtones, it is essential to cross-check against function. It can be easy to bring these overtones in with some pretty nasty interfering tensions. […]
The Depressed Larynx Epidemic in Classical Singing
There is an awful lot of woofy singing in modern classical music schools and in opera houses at all levels. Larynxes are forced down in the effort to sound ever “bigger” and “more resonant”. It results in singers sounding old before their time, distorted vowels, difficulty with agility, and several behaviors layered on top of […]
Sounding “mature”
What is a mature vocal sound? In resonance-based styles such as those related to most classical singing, singers sometimes try to sound “more mature”. Some teachers encourage this. It is a mistake. Maturity is something that is earned with time and action. It is something that happens, not something you can pick up in a […]