To: "VOCALIST" <vocalist>
Subject: Speaking voice (was RE: Speech-Level Singing)
Date sent: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 13:20:39 -0800
Send reply to: VOCALIST <vocalist>

>Also, someone suggested maybe they should speak in mix rather than chest; I
don't recommend that either. We're all born with >a different instrument; we
can't really change the sound of it unless we start interfering with the
normal phonation process >in the sense of lowering/rising the larynx, etc,
but singing should be founded on the "unmanipulated", healthy speaking
>voice in order to avoid later problems.

So now my question is what exactly constitutes a healthy speaking voice?
Since I probably use my vocal cords more frequently for speaking than
singing, I'd like to be doing it in the healthiest way possible. I find that
I normally speak in the lower end of my range (that "sexy" voice that men
seem to love), but depending on how excited I get, it can be quite high too
(especially if I start laughing - call me a high coloratura). Since I have a
wide variety of options as to where my voice sits, how do I figure out the
best placement? I'm thinking, as well, that the current placement of my
speaking voice may have been influenced by the many years I sang in a choir
during elementary and high school as an alto only using chest voice. Now
that I've had proper voice training, it's very apparent I'm actually a
soprano. I'm in the process of developing a nice mix while singing, but
there's still a bit of a break in my speaking voice.

Jennifer

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine
picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not
obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human
soul. -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and scientist (1749-1832)