Vocalist.org archive


From:  "vintageconnection" <kriswrite@a...>
Date:  Mon Oct 21, 2002  2:19 pm
Subject:  Re: falsetto or, whatever the hell you want to call it

I think what is happening here is mostly a matter of development.

Some singers naturally use their head voice; many others, their chest
voice. When singers who naturally sing in their chest voice start
exploring their head voice, the sound is often breathy and light. I
believe this is because the head voice isn't developed yet, and
(perhaps) because the student is a little afraid of using this "new
voice." When I started singing in my head voice, it was quite breathy
and light. But as my voice developed, it became strong and supple.
This is a typical experience, from what I have seen. So what we are
referring to here as a "falsetto-like" sound, may in fact be nothing
more than an immature head voice.

--- In vocalist-temporary@y..., Greypins@a... wrote:
> in working with female singers who sing pop music, i have
come to
> realize that what female classical singers call 'head voice', is a
different
> animal from what male classical singers call 'head voice'. female
pop
> singers run into a wall around the Bb above middle C. if they are
going to
> sing above that, they either have to shove their chest voices
higher, flip
> into something that is eerily reminiscent of a male voice flipping
into
> falsetto or, do something different. when such a female singer
extends
> their range above that Bb in a manner similar to a male classical
singer,
> they produce a very different sound from that which female
classical singers
> claim to be 'head voice'. the sound they produce is similar to
what males
> do when singing in 'head voice', the difference being analogous to
the
> difference between a cello and a violin.
>
> the sounds made by the majority of female classical singers,
are
> closer in timbre to a counter-tenor like david daniels than they
are to a pop
> singers like aretha franklin, christina aguilera, eva cassidy,
etc. as the
> design of a female's vocal folds are the same as those of the
male's,
> operating under the same principles, one could easily suspect that
sounds
> that are similar are produced in a similar fashion (one could be
less certain
> if we were comparing male singers to parrots or minah birds). if
we call
> the sounds that mr. daniels makes 'falsetto', we have to call those
sounds
> that a female makes which are similar, 'falsetto' as well.
>
> amusing anecdote (PG13 - read at your own risk): a few
years ago, a
> new student came to me and, at her first lesson, as many do, she
expressed a
> concern over being unable to sing anything that went above a
certain note.
> i told her "well, you probably just need to learn to sing in 'head
voice' for
> those higher notes." excitedly, she exclaimed "oh! you mean
fellatio?"
> blushing, i said "i think you mean 'falsetto'." i never saw her
again.
>
> mike
>
>




emusic.com