Dear Lloyd and List:
Lloyd wrote," > There is no need to create registers if they do not exist. The traditional registration events for the male voice are chest voice and head voice. And that is all. These registration events reflect vocal fold function."
COMMENT:
First of all, let me thank you for your comments. These registration questions are difficult, and the fact that we have repeated attempts to discuss and resolve them I think indicates some of the difficulties.
I understand the points you have made, and mostly agree. I would take issue with your statement that "there is no need to create registers..." My chart and discussion are taken directly from Richard Miller's book on Tenor Voices: see Figure 1.4, "A schematic design of lyric tenor registration events." The chart shows different areas of the voice about every fourth or fifth, with names like "Lower Voice", "Lower Middle Voice", "Upper Middle Voice", "Upper Voice", etc.
Then, on page 4, in his Figure 1.1 he explains that Lower Voice means no activity of the cricothyroid muscles, Lower Middle means the cricothyroids have begun to contract, in the Upper Middle the balance of tension has shifted further towards the cricothyroids, etc. Whether these statements are correct I do not know.
Further, in the text, Miller explains: "Research shows the cricothyroid muscles show increased activity as pitch rises. The vocal folds elongate and the mass of the vocal fold diminishes... In an ascending scale, certain dynamic, as opposed to static, muscle activity occurs at pivotal register points described as 'breaks,' 'lifts' or passaggi. There are corresponding changes in the resonator system above the larynx."
I interpret this to mean that there are the two "registers" you describe, but also other transitions that relate to resonance tuning, leading to some sort of potential vocal glitch about every fourth or fifth. In my voice, I experience the transition areas about every fourth or fifth as Miller has described, starting around G3 below middle C.
Cheers,
Michael Gordon
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