david,
if you accept the notion that 'chest' and 'head' are clearly defined registers, exclusive to one another, then you have to say that a 'mix', because it includes both, is neither. that makes the mix a third entity. whether or not one wishes to call this third entity a register is debatable. however, if you consider a 'mix' to be where two exclusive registers overlap, that mix has to be one or the other if, there are only to be two registers. using the two components to vary the mix throughout the entire voice (charcoal gray to off white) makes only one register unless there is a place where the mix is stopped (either low or high. if both, we're back to three registers).
Mike,
I appreciate the fact that this is a confusing topic (or better, a controversial topic), and not very many people seem to agree on what is "truth."
Let me try to explain my position better. I see two muscular positions for registers, one with the TA (chest voice) and the other with CT (head voice). If I could borrow some kitchen language, you might say that the TA represents one of those floppy rubbermaid spatulas, while the CT represents a metal spatula. Both are similar in use, and both deal with the same issues (food-wise, of course). There might come a time when I used both the metal spatula and the rubber one (like, when I need to unstick, and flip, an omelet). In that case, I would not be using a new kitchen utensil, but two at the same time. In the case of singing, I might use a great amount of chest voice, and a little of head below middle c. However, as I get above middle c, I would very likely use more head voice (CT) and less chest voice. In the passaggio area, you can mix these in different percentages. Above a certain point, the chest voice becomes pretty much impossible to use, and below a certain point, the head voice becomes pretty much unusable.
So, while we have two registers, we can mix those registers in the middle of our voice in varying degrees. This might give the feeling of different register, but I think we are only combining the two we have.
FWIW, David Grogan Marshall, Texas
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