Dear Randy and Vocalisters:
On 09-Feb-01, you wrote:
> Typical response by a classically oriented singer, teacher. Belting done
> correctly is not chest taken all way the up, but a longer chest register
> leading to a mix at bflat4, and a connected head voice at e5. Look into
> speech level singing it will help you understand what the process is.
Comment: I understand your point but can this approach be successful over a
long period of years if the singer has a career in opera?
Many of the ideas expressed on this list about belting describe a variety of
uses. Earlier belting was done without a mike (Ethel Merman), whereas most
belting today is nothing more than an adjustment in tone quality which may
or may not demand a maximum energy output because the mike is used and its
amplification system provides the necessary acoustic energy. Barry Bounous
suggests that all belting should be done with a mike, for example.
Many classical singers achieve tonal colors on recordings that they cannot
duplicate in live opera performances (Fischer-Dieskau, Hampson, etc.). In
a situation where the voice must produce all of the necessary acoustic
energy the requisite tuning of the vocal instrument to achieve this
acoustic output precludes some vocal adjustments that might be made
primarily for color adjustments.
The demands of high acoustic output singing also requires vocal adjustments
that maximize the efficiency of the vocal folds through the efficient
tuning of the vocal resonator system. Male call voice and female belting
is not always an example of this maximized efficiency because it tends to
lower the vocal ring frequencies downward, closer to the frequencies in
which the orchestra has its acoustic strength. A vocal ring that
approaches this frequency area is more likely to be covered by the greater
strength of the orchestra sound.
It is for this reason the few classical singers and teachers of classical
singing encourage the development of a belt voice. What you and Barry
describe as belt voice is not, in my opinion, an accurate picture of what
many consider to be a belt voice but rather a belt voice color that can be
produced and heard with a mike.
Belt voice that is achieved without the use of a mike and must therefore
carry easily in a large hall, begins out of chest voice and becomes a form
of middle voice that displays a raised larynx and an extremely high
sub-glottal pressure. It is a hyper function of the vocal mechanism and it
requires substantial use of the extraneous muscle of the larynx. Most
belters who produce this kind of vocal function do it over short bursts of
time and, in effect, save it for the dramatic needs of a song. It appears
that this a primary form of the belting that Jo Estill teaches. I am not
sure it is damaging to the voice but I am reasonably sure that it is an
example of "singing on the principle rather than on the interest of the
voice."
Regards
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice, Vocal Pedagogy
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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