From: John Alexander Blyth
Subject: Re: Tenor timbre vs baritone timbre
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

In my experience, people with big voices and a good ear can produce
a big sound in a range of timbres, but the very biggest (but not forced)
sound is reserved for their "own" timbre.
Looking at the the same thing from a slightly difference
perspective: although the classical ideal is a "mixed" voice, uniting the
timbre of "head" and "chest", in practice upper notes are going to have a
bit more "head" and lower notes a bit more "chest". The result is still a
more or less unified instrument as far as the listener is concerned. I'm not
sure, however, what a high c might sound like in chest voice, maybe we have
different concepts of what head and chest are...?
Yet another angle: some people characterise "baritone" as big and
warm, others as clear, others as manly (put in your own " "s!). In the mid
to late 20th century baritone seems to cover a wide range of voices, from
the almost tenor-like Verdi baritone (in my view, anyway), to the rich,
almost bass-like quality of, say, Fischer-Dieskau.
In any case, it is said you have a beautiful voice! Go with that,
let it develop, don't hurt it, and see how it turns out. john





At 04:12 15/12/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi list,
>
>I had my audition and I was called in a second time so that the head man
>could listen to me. WOW. THey even said that I can get a scholarship but are
>not sure how much.
>
>ANyhow, the first man who listened to me said that I have baritonal timbre(
>he is a baritone but can sing from a c2 to a high c in chest voice) . This
>was new to me as I thought that the difference between a tenor and a
>baritone was simply the range.
>
>THe next guy said I had a beatiful voice but also said that I have baritone
>timbre. THis confuses me as I think we can pretty much produce any timbre we
>desire.
>
>He tested my range and stopped at a high a because it was 9:30 in the
>morning and I had had only a warmup in the shower. Even then, I would have
>given him a high c if he had tried it.
>
>My question is this: how does one's natural timbre dictate his fach when he
>can sing from bass to tenor?
>
>I can virtually produce any timbre I want(silver, bronze, leather,gold,
>paper etc :)) ), so should I go ahead and train to be a tenor or should I
>follow advice and "wait and see" while I sing baritone?
>
>THe only consolation I have is that Placido Domingo sang baritone till he
>was about 25 so I have five years to go
>
>THankyou,
>seun.
>
>
>______________________________________________________
>
>
John Blyth
Bass/Baritone (as opposed to Bass-Baritone) etc.
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada