Isabelle Bracamonte wrote:
> Like all sopranos, I can take my head voice down into > the "chesty" area (below middle C), although it > becomes pretty inaudible below an A (the famous "Deh > vieni" A).
Isabelle,
Lloyd Hanson wrote a very comprehensive description of vocal fold function recently. To paraphrase very roughly, he differentiated between thick folds and thin folds with adduction, and thin folds without adduction. These are what are commonly described respectively as chest voice, head voice and falsetto .It is possible to sing high in the range with thick folds (although this is not easy), or low in the range with thin folds (commonly called carrying the head voice down - I think). Likewise it is possible to carry the falsetto quality down.
A major difference between thin folds with adduction (head voice?) and thin folds without adduction (falsetto) is that as the pitch decreases the former retains its presence while the latter becomes inaudible and extremely inefficient in breath control. So I find I can start high in 'head' voice and go right to the bottom of my range, ending up with a very light clear sound. If I start in falsetto (which at the top sounds somewhat similar) then the voice loses presence and ultimately disappears before the bottom of my range.
From this I suspect that when your 'head voice' disappears low down, you are actually getting into falsetto at some stage in the procedings. This seems to be a not uncommon difficulty for women faced with arias that suddenly descend below the stave.
Cheers
David
-- David Cox South Australia
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