Vocalist.org archive


From:  RALUCOB@a...
Date:  Thu Aug 31, 2000  5:37 pm
Subject:  Re: [vocalist-temporary] off-topic: Richard Miller Video Tapes


ernie,

by lessons with miller, i assume you mean the ones i got by reading his
book, never having met him (sorry if i'm missing something- i was dropped on
my head daily for the first three years of my life).

i have found some the information in his books to be quite helpful: the
spectogram of changing vowels on one pitch in 'training the tenor voice, in
the same book, the elaborate detailing of the construction of the vocal
folds, his explaination of vowel modulation, etc.

the problem i find with a lot of the 'this is what the meat is doing
while you sing' books, is, that most of them don't go on to make a directly
connected proposal for the practical application of the information. a book
i found this summer, 'singing and the actor' by gillyanne kayes, is the only
one i have come across that does this. ms. kayes is a follower of jo estill
and meribeth bunch (ms. bunch's first book, title escapes me, is one i have
found useful. miller used a lot of her illustrations in his books. she
includes cadaver photos, which i find helpful in that they demonstrate the
organic nature of the anatomy that illustrations don't).

miller's personal style is, unfortunately, unpleasent. i find him
myopic and pompous. occasionally, he is amusing, but, not enough for me.
and i sometimes feel that he mixes the exposition of scientific information
with his campaigning of his own viewpoints.

mike

emusic.com