Kevin, part of the confusion stems from a difference in terminology. Many of
us are calling falsetto a situation of incomplete phonation compared to pure
head voice which is a complete phonation with only edges vibrating. If you
call the latter falsetto then what you describe has some validity. The
higher frequencies you refer to are a result of the resonance cavities, but
these resonance cavities cannot be awakened without intense vibration from
the folds themselves. That is what resonance is, a re-sounding of a
fundamental tone. Your example of the trumpet player is a good one. From the
fundamental buzz of the lips, which has no particular beauty, we get a
resonant trumpet tone when the lips are brought to the mouth-piece. But if
the buzz of the lips is not intense, or complete, and has excess breath
passing through then you don't get as much of a response from the
instrument. To take the analogy further, this last condition would be
falsetto. Head voice would be when the player has their lips stretched so
they can vibrate with less mass, just the edges, and no excess breath beyond
what is released for the vibration. Chest voice would be when they play a
lower note and let the lips get looser to allow more of the mass to vibrate.
And then there is the multitude of possibilities in between with
combinations of pressing the lips together and stretching them lengthwise to
accomplish the nature of vibration you want. All of these combinations
eliciting different variations of tone from the resonance of the trumpet.
The behavior is similar, which is why some people have referred to the vocal
folds as the vocal lips.
One side note. There are complex vibrational modes because the folds are
rounded and vibrate in multi-directions. This aspect is a little beyond my
level of knowledge, so I am not able to go into any more detail.
Michael
>From: "Kevin Hollis" <khollis@m...>
>Subject: [vocalist-temporary] Source of frequencies was:Falsetto
>Recognition
>
>Do the frequencies that appear in the voice have to appear also in
>the chords or can the frequencies of air oscillation in the resonant
>cavities be driven by different frequencies in the chords ? My
>initial thinking would be that the 'singers formant' frequencies could
>be 'driven' by lower frequencies in the chords.
>
>Much of the falsetto/head-voice debate seems to depend upon relating
>frequencies/richness in the voice to chord vibration and I'm not
>convinced this is particularly valid. It may be more to do with shaping of
>the resonant cavities in the head and neck by well trained singers.
>
>As an analogy think about a trumpet player. The player's lips must be
>vibrating with only one frequency, there are'nt any complex vibrational
>modes coming into play. (I don't think) However, the sound out of the end
>of the trumpet is a more complex harmonic mix. The 'extra' frequencies
>must be introduced by driving resonances in the trumpet itself. (probably)
>A clarinet would be another, perhaps simpler, example of a single frequency
>driving complex resonances.
>
>To state simply, in case anyone missed the point. A falsetto mode vibration
>in the chords, possessing few harmonic complexities could still produce a
>rich tone in a singer with the right shape of resonant cavities (by
>training
>or good fortune). And this tone could be confused with 'proper' head voice.
>
>Is the chap that was research assistant to Ingo Titze still on the list ?
>
>kevin
>
>
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