On Fri, 25 Aug 2000, Kevin Hollis wrote to vocalist-temporary:
> As I understand the neat 'scientific' view:-
> Chest - firm adduction of the chords, vibration along the
> whole length.
> Head - less firm adduction of the chords, vibration along
> part of their length.
> Falsetto - No adduction of the chords, vibration along the
> whole length.
As a countertenor, I have been struggling with the concept of head voice
for years. Finally, I have come to terms with the fact that there are two
distinct forms of head voice available to men. The first is the "tenor"
head voice, which is an extension of the speaking ("chest") voice. It is
very difficult to achieve, because it is almost the same mechanism, but
with the subtle introduction of different laryngeal muscles (adding a
lateral tension to the original longitudinal one) to continue raising the
pitch of the vocal cords.
This is the voice that Pavarotti uses for his high C. Most people still
call it a chest C because the mode of phonation is simply an extension of
the speaking voice. The truth it is, however, even Pavarotti could not
push his speaking voice up to that high C without the slight modifications
necessary in the laryngeal muscle action. It would sound like bawling or
yelling.
There is yet another kind of head voice that most men do *not* seem to
have. I believe it is the voice that these men used as boy sopranos. For
some reason, these men do not lose the ability to use this phonational
mode (neurologically similar to castrati, although they are obviously
physiologically different). Peter Giles has made the observation that most
countertenors sang as boys and did not experience the "break" in the voice
as is common to most adolescent boys. The voice lowers, but the boyhood
voice is preserved.
This preserved voice is as similar to a woman's "head voice" in sheer
function as a boy's voice is to girl's. Forgive me for saying so, but I
believe the reason the difference between this kind of head voice and a
tenor's head voice is not very clearly explored in the literature is
because most famous book-writing pedagogues are men, and most of the
research and therefore conclusions are made from that point of view. Most
books go into detail about how a man goes from "chest" to "head", but do
not explore the physiology of a woman making her transitions.
True countertenors have this second, higher form of head voice which is
most often found in women. This is why many countertenors (Brian Asawa,
for instance) have every bit of dynamic control and color in their voices
as women.
It is simply not the breathy, hooty falsetto production that a baritone
usually has to use to sing the humorous "faux-femme" passages of Falstaff.
The scientific explanation of a true falsetto involves loose cords and
incomplete closure of the vocal bands - it is physically impossible to
produce the kind of amplitude and spectral complexity necessary to project
over an orchestra using the larynx in that formation.
I've (re)posted a page which includes and explains a sound file where I
sing in three of the above-mentioned registers: chest, "tenor" head,
"mezzo" head. The registrational strategy I've used is closets to that of
haute-contre, I think. I lost my server, so it's temporarily in my AOL
space:
http://members.aol.com/takooda/arpeggio.html
On this page, when I say "chest with head mixed in", I mean tenor head
voice, whereas "head with chest mixed in" or just "head" translates to a
mezzo head voice. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!
-Tako Oda
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