In a message dated 5/6/2002 2:24:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time, toda@m...
writes:
> I can almost always tell which register I am using, and so do the vast
> majority of male and female alto and mezzo singers. If my recent study is
> any indication, 9 out of 10. The haute contre had smooth changes, everyone
> else had to negotiate the registers consciously. This doesn't mean you can
> hear our breaks, we just know they're there.
>
tako,
that gets me to the question i was going to ask you about your thesis.
as you know, we have had a number of discussions on vocalist, as well as
private discussions, on whether or not the voice used by counter-tenors is
mechanically the same as that used by female classical singers. while it
looks like there is an acoustic difference between the two, in the results
you pointed to in your thesis, i still wonder if that is only an acoustic
difference while the tone is being generated by the same vibrational
mechanism. of course, as you pointed out, as the relative range of these
male and female singers is still different, it is entirely possible that this
alone, could account for the difference (and how would we ever know?).
when i have asked the question before, i have always been careful to
choose david daniels as an example. to me, he is the only counter-tenor who
seems to be attempting to sound like a female singer. the rest sound
entirely different (most of them sounding hooty and straight-toned). (also,
i think you're the only one i have ever heard use heavy mechanism as well.)
so, what i'm wondering is, does the varied usage of the same mechanism,
treated very differently, in terms of resonance, have an effect on the
results in any attempt to make a comparison study? in other words, does a
counter-tenor trying not to sing like a woman, yet potentially using the same
vibrational mechanism, treat the usage of resonance in such a fashion as to
appear to be using a different mechanism? obviously, there would have to be
further study examining males who are attempting to sound like women (david
daniels, female impersonators, etc.), as a 'missing link?'.
ultimately, my reason for asking this question is to look at the
practicality of male voice teachers using falsetto as a model for their
female classical students.
mike
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