Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Kevin Hollis" <khollis@m...>
Date:  Tue Aug 29, 2000  4:03 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] Source of frequencies was:Falsetto Recognition


> Kevin, part of the confusion stems from a difference in terminology.

Always ! :)

>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.

Agreed.

>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.

But does the frequency the cavity resonates at have to be present in the
chords,
I suspect not.

>That is what resonance is, a re-sounding of a
> fundamental tone.

True for the fundamental, but what about the higher partials and singers
formant ?

I realised that the trumpet analogy might cause some problems because of the
flexibility of the lips. A better case is the clarinet or saxophone. The
reed, I think,
only snaps open and closed, at a frequency tuned by the players lip pressure
and the instrument. However, what comes out the end of the sax has many
overtones and complexity which I don't think can be present in the reed. So
the
resonant cavities are adding tone to the sound initially produced by the
simple
vibration of the reed.

So as not to lose direction of the discussion, the point is that trying to
equate the
sound produced with the mode of vibration in the chords, may be mistaken.
Saying 'because the sound is rich it can't be falsetto' may be erroneous if
the
'richness' comes from shaping of the cavities, even for a simple vibrational
mode in the chords.

Kevin.



  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
3770 Re: Source of frequencies was:Falsetto Recognitio Lloyd W. Hanson   Wed  8/30/2000   4 KB
3778 Re: Source of frequencies was:Falsetto Recognitio Tako Oda   Wed  8/30/2000   2 KB
3796 Re: Source of frequencies was:Falsetto Recognitio Lloyd W. Hanson   Thu  8/31/2000   3 KB
3798 Re: Source of frequencies was:Falsetto Recognitio Tako Oda   Thu  8/31/2000   3 KB

emusic.com