In a message dated 2/16/2001 7:36:54 PM Eastern Standard Time,
bounousb@i... writes:
bounousb@i... writes:
<< 1) If you can find a good teacher get one.
response: i have worked with ten teachers in my life, some famous with well
deserved reputations. none of them taught me as much as i have taught
myself. so, i guess in a way, i have that covered.
2) A good technical book is Jan Sullivan's "The Phenomena of the
Belt/Pop Voice" ISBN 0-913943-06-1
res: i hope it's cheap.
3) Belt is a soft yell. It has a very 'young' sound.
res: ah! this rings a bell! i have often used 'yell in your head', 'yell
backwards' and 'give me a nice yell'.
4) The higher you go, the softer (or "further away") and more intense
it becomes.
res: hmm...tell me more. this is totally foreign, at least, the
description is.
5) It uses a squared mouth. The higher you go the more the vowels are
modulated forward.
res: there are so many ways i could misinterpret this one. if you could go
into a little more depth, that would be most helpful.
6) It uses very firm abdominal support.
res: as i moved away from classical singing and went into more pop type
singing, i associated singing with a nice yell. i used to think i didn't
bother supporting anymore until i fealt my abs with my hand and realized it
happened naturally.
7) It is ok for the larynx to become SLIGHTLY elevated. It should not
be shoved up.
res: i find singing easier if i 'let it ride' a little and i find most pop
styles require the larynx to ride a little.
8) It uses good soft palate lift but without the usual laryngeal lowering.
res: alas, i never could feel that damn thing!
9) It is NOT nasal.
res: only the french would yell nasal.
The hard part, indeed, for most people is the "connecting it to singing"
that you mention. If you have had other training, the exercises are
fine, but the minute you begin to sing a song you will tend to revert to
your strongest training. The worst thing you can to is to inadvertantly
combine classical loudness levels with belt laryngeal intensity. If you
do that you will feel vocal strain. Otherwise it should be easy as you
describe. When the breath is balanced the voice is healthy - the trick
is to find the right balance at high intensity levels. If it makes you
hoarse, froggy, or sore - STOP IT.
The sound should be young, brassy, fun, intense (but not loud - subtle
but important difference), flexible, responsive. It should not be
stiff, heavy, a bellow, a scream, or nasal.
res: i think the biggest obstacle to my finding a use for the extreme high
range is that i really don't have a use for it. my philosophy of singing is
that it should resemble speaking as much as possible so that the inadvertent
expression we've developed since we first started using our voices 'betrays'
our true thoughts on the subjects we sing about rather than having some
constructed artifice. for my own sake, i'd be better off making sure my low
range stays strong.
barry,
thanks very much for the information. you have been very helpful in
clearing up some of the mystery surrounding the word 'belt'. i suspect when
i am singing plainly the music that suits my nature best, i am belting to
some extent. any elaboration you would care to go into on the subject would
be most welcome.
thanks,
mike
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