anne,
i'm glad you brought up the estill approach to belting. from what i have been able to figure out from gillyanne kayes' book (the title eludes me), is that belting, ala estill, adopts a rather rigid posture: tilted cricoid cartilage, neck more perpindicular to the ground (which, i believe the estill school refers to as 'anchoring'), tongue position, etc. it is my guess that this rigid posturing is exactly what leads to so great a need for such vigorous 'support'. i also find it odd that clavicular breathing is suggested when belting.
in my view, the term 'belting' has always been used primarily in regard to female singers, making a distinction between the more 'head' oriented singing of the female classical singer and the more 'chest' oriented singing of the pop/mt/jazz/folk/whatever singer. in the male singer, the distinction tends to be more stylistic (and how the use of the voice supports a given style) rather than funtional. and in this sense, i find no unusual need for more support than the standard.
additionally, i am bothered by the air of secrecy adopted by the estill school. (i also find this troublesome when hearing about 'maestro' jones.) it all smacks of marketing ploy.
mike
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