Journal article
Why Do Classically Trained Singers Widen Their Throat?
Journal of singing, Vol.69(2), pp.177-178
11/01/2012
Abstract
IT APPEARS THAT THERE ARE two conflicting requirements for vocal tract shapes in Western classical singing. The first requirement is a large sound output without amplification. The second is a wide pitch range without sudden changes in voice quality (e.g., register breaks). As simple as these requirements sound, they lead to some interesting solutions with regard to vocal tract geometry.Consider the first requirement, large amounts of sound power emitted from the mouth. Acoustic power radiated from the mouth increases with mouth opening. We all know this intuitively. We open our mouths wide to call or shout. Brass and woodwind instruments have a bell to get more acoustic power into free space. It is difficult to sing loud on relatively closed vowels like /u/ and /i/.The second requirement, producing a wide pitch range with a smooth voice quality throughout, is met by selecting vowels that allow dominant source harmonics to pass through formants in such a way that they do not change the output spectrum dramatically. In other words, the passing of dominant harmonics through formants should not elicit sudden sound quality change, and they should also not destabilize the vibration of the vocal folds with a register break. To accomplish this, the first formant frequency is often lowered by producing centralized vowels like ... or ... The first formant frequencies of these vowels are around 400-600 Hz.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Why Do Classically Trained Singers Widen Their Throat?
- Creators
- Ingo Titze
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of singing, Vol.69(2), pp.177-178
- Publisher
- National Association of Teachers of Singing
- ISSN
- 1086-7732
- eISSN
- 2769-4046
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/01/2012
- Academic Unit
- School of Music; Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Record Identifier
- 9984719736002771
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