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From:  Tako Oda <toda@m...>
Date:  Sat Jun 10, 2000  3:59 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Chest voice strengthens


> It is so good to know that one isn't alone singing odd octaves! Are
> there any more chest-voice users lurking out there? Is there any
> chance of knowing what area you live in, and where and from whom your
> teachers learnt these exercises, or whether they "discovered " them
> spontaneously.

Hi there Susi,

It's really exciting to learn other people have been using this
exercise! It came to me by accident... I was playing around with the
roasted cygnet aria from Carmina Burana, trying to incorporate as much
"tenor" into it as possible. I was (attempting to) sing the opening
note (A4) in full chest, when my voice cracked! The thing was, it came
out in head voice, but with a lot more openness, resonance and volume
than the chest voice version of the same note!

What essentially happened was that I had prepared the big space for what
would've been a high note in chest, but phonated in head. What I
discovered was that I'm in the habit of preparing a smaller space for
head tones because I have been brainwashed into thinking that it is an
inherently softer mode of vocalization. Anyhow, the way I learned to
cash in on this discovery was to sing notes an octave down in an
unapologetically open chest sound as possible, and then pop up the
octave without any concern for the impending "crack".

As long as I concentrate on maintaining the same space, it works! The
resulting tone is what I now consider to be my most natural sound in my
upper middle range - head phonation with a lot of chest resonance and
support.

Anyway, I live in Oakland, California. I would be very very interested
in reading your thesis if that is possible! Let me know if you have any
other questions, and good luck!

-Tako


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