Vocalist.org archive


From:  "Caio Rossi" <caioross@z...>
"Caio Rossi" <caioross@z...>
Date:  Wed Oct 11, 2000  7:17 pm
Subject:  VOWELS X CONSONANTS WAS: Opera and Speech


MIke wrote:

as the consonants are basically 'filters' for the vocal
> tract, it is possible to continue the vowel while enacting the consonant.
a
> vocalized consonant will certainly be more easily 'projected' if it has
the
> vowel line continued behind it.

I liked the idea! I read in Jeffrey Allen's book that you should emphasize
vowels and 'disguise' consonants in between, since consonants block the
airflow in different levels and ways ( I think liquids, like L and R, and M
and N should be included in the semi-vowel/semi-consonant category,
though ). What you're proposing is 'vowelizing' ( No, I didn't make it up.
That's Aramaic! People here may know Greek or Latin, but not Aramaic...I
hope! ) consonants, which may be a good
solutionnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...

> one of my favorite practitioners of this
> aspect of technique is tony bennett. at his best, in something like 'a
time
> for love' or, 'the shadow of your smile', there are times where he
sustains
> consonants. it is a wonderful nuance that style of music makes possible
and
> in bennett, there is a wonderful sense of line, even during rests.

Here comes the problem: I think it may be true about English, but I don't
think it's true about most Latin languages. I mean, when you sing in English
you can sustain a note on many continuant s( like m, n, r, l ) but that's
not true about Portuguese and, I think, about Italian. BTW, Romance
languages generally don't have many consonants ending syllables, so it would
rarely be a useful strategy... I guess!




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