Tak Oda wrote:
> I've always wondered, what exactly is a big voice? I know what they sound
> like and who they are, but is it a matter of raw amplitude, or is there
> some other component?
>
> I understand carrying power is often associated with the singers'
> formant... Perhaps a big voice just has more in every frequency band?
I think of a big voice as being REALLY loud. One whose voice can be
overpowering in a
small performance space, but just right in the opera house (one young singer I
heard
recently in a small hall with a voice like this is Christine Goerke). I think
carrying
power has more to do, as you note, with technique, e.g., the singer's formant.
Which
makes singers like Kathleen Battle or Dawn Upshaw able to be heard over the
orchestra in a
large house like the Met, even though nobody would accuse them of having a big
voice.
Peggy
--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh@i...
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