randy wrote:
<< It is not an issue of support but an issue of the cord structure itself. Many voice teachers (especially those settled exclusively in the opera ghetto) discourage any chest voice involvement. This leads to a form of production that is the exact same thing as male falsetto.>>
it doesn't take a 'voice scientist' to figure this out. most people, not indoctrinated in opera, think that female opera singers sound like guys imitating women. ask anyone to imitate pavarotti, bjoerling or corelli singing a high note and they can't do it (ask them to imitate aretha franklin wailing on a high note and they can't do that either) but, ask them to imitate female opera singer and they all can do it. their rendition may suck but, they can do it.
'belting' is often criticized for taking a women's chest voice up too high and yet, in good female belters, they are simply singing as most men do in regard to how high they take chest voice. as the equipment is the same, except for length and guage, singing this way can't be good for one and bad for the other.
you all know that, with five exceptions, i think the sound operatic females sing in sounds ridiculous. men speak in chest and sing in chest as their base. women speak in chest and then sing in 'head' or 'falsetto' (as randy believes and i agree). whose idea WAS this? did this come from women imitating men singing travesty roles? (i am not being tongue up cheek here. i really think this.)
randy continues:
<<I'm not basing this on an unsubstantiated theory but my own observations of stroboscopic exams of females who sing this way. The lack of a closed phase leads to the perception of a vocal problem, in that nodes are often suspected, but the true culprit is the lack of chest voice involvement. Get them in touch with their chest voice and the problem is gone. >>
having older women take chest higher gets rid of wobbles too.
operatic females, if you want to sing in 'that' voice, go ahead but, call it what it is. if you have male students and you tell them how to sing, based on what you're doing, you will mislead them. that's not right.
mike
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