mike wrote:
> it is interesting to hear you say that a man's falsetto must be the
> same as a woman's head voice. i had heard (scource unknown- probably
> somebody at the other end of the bar) that 'falsetto' refered to a man's
> imitation of a woman's voice. of course, a similarity in tone doesn't mean
> that they are necessarily produced the same way but, there is nothing in the
> physiology that would indicate a difference, other than size.
I'm not necessarily saying they are the same (they couldn't never be
exactly the same, since a man's larynx is much larger)... All I'm saying
is that a true countertenor's voice is to a boy soprano as a soprano's
voice is to girl soprano. Here's what makes me say this: Many of our most
successful countertenors were boy choristers (or famous boy soloists:
Mehta, Cencic) who simply kept singing through puberty. They report that
they simply kept singing the same way despite the changes in their
speaking voices because they were so comfortable there (Deller, Scholl).
This implies they never lost the "soprano" function, just as girls do not
lose theirs when they enter womanhood. It's true that many men may use
falsetto to sing alto notes, but it sounds awkward, since it is a register
which came into being at puberty (it requires long cords), not one they've
had since early childhood (not to mention its inherent mechanical
limitations).
IMO, it's simply a developmental quirk which mimics some of the effects
the castrati experienced, but without the nasty side-effects :)
Richard Miller believes countertenors have superior coloratura due to the
lightness of their production and general avoidance of registral events
(for some countertenors, anyway). This may be true, but I believe it is
also due to the "I've had this voice for 15 years longer than most men
have had their tenor or baritone voices" effect... same reason college
female singers are usually much more accomplished than their male peers.
One listen to Bejun Mehta dismantles the "lighter production" theory. He
is simply very familiar and comfortable with his voice - he was a
celebrated boy soprano before his speaking voice changed to a baritone. He
has kept a great deal of his nimbleness, despite the size of his voice.
Tako
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