Lloyd wrote:
> If I remember correctly the Vennard work you quoted was a 1971 4rd
> edition of his book.
Lloyd, the last edition of Vennard's book was '68.
Lloyd wrote:
>His first edition was dated 1949, the second
> 1951 and the third 1964. He continually updated his work and has
> proven to be a most valuable resource. But in any form of his book
> one must be concerned with the dating of his material.
It appears that the study was published only in NATS '70-'71
Journals and not in Vennard's book.
There are two major points with regard to this study that lead me
to consider it ground-breaking for its time. 1) The study was the
first electromyographic study to place the electrodes in such a way
as to cause so little discomfort that NORMAL phonation was possible
for an indefinite period of time. This is of paramount importance
because we could finally see an ACCURATE account of what muscle group
was actually active for during a particular motor task.
2) The study clearly indicates that the Vocalis muscle(TA)is
responsible for the chest-voice quality of a given voice. Vennard
also uncovers that a vocal register is primarily determined by the
activity of the vocalis(TA). Thus, when the quality of the voice
is "chesty" the vocalis is highly activated. If the quality
is "heady" or "falsetto-like", the vocalis is not active. Vocalis
activity increases with increased intensity. Conversely, as the
intensity decreases, the TA decreases its activation and the lighter
mechanism(CT) becomes more dominant.
In recent years Titze and Hirano(an author of the original
Vennard '70 study) have described the importance of the cross-
sectional shape of the vocal folds. Their findings are: when the TA
contracts, the underside of the vocal fold is rounded or bulged.
When VFs with a rounded, bulged underside are in phonation, the
spectrum is characterized by high level of acoustic energy in the
upper partials, indicating a richer fuller sound.
It appears the this rounded/bulged underside, complete with high
levels of acoustic energy in the area of the singers formant,
obviously indicate an increase in intensity. As Vennard noted,
increased intensity means- increased vocalis(TA) activity--giving the
voice a "chest" and rich quality. Titze confirmed this fact in his
more recent writings about the rounded/bulged VF.
So how does this relate to current training of voice? Well, it
appears from the many writings of the Italian masters like Garcia,
Tosi, Mancini, and in later years the americans Stanley and Vennard,
the chest-voice (TA/vocalis participation) was of prime importance to
the training of a singer.
Mancini writes:
"this chest-voice is not equally forceful and strong in everyone;
but to the extent that one has a more robust or more feeble organ of
the chest, he/she will have a more or less robust voice."
From this quote we may catch a glimpse of how the study from
Vennard/Hirano in '70 seems to point toward the importance of vocalis
acivity(chest-voice), in the era of perhaps the greatest voice
teaching ever. Mancini, Tosi, and Vennard, although centuries apart-
seem to concur on the subject of TA activity. To me, this is what
makes this study important.
All of the greatest singers in history were considered great
beacuse they could sing over a huge range, at any dynamic level, and
the voice always sounded firm and strong. In scientific terms they
were masters at controlling TA vs.CT participation. We as voice
teachers need to work on controlling what we CAN control and not
waste time on things we CAN'T control. I like to think of the voice
as a seesaw- a problem with the high-voice is always rooted in the
lower-register(perhaps driving too much chest up) and a problem is
the low voice actually points to a problem in the use of the upper-
register(forcing the top for power).
Each day at LSU I hear singers work tirelessly on their top
voice, pounding away at it time and time again. When the same singer
goes into the lower range their is nothing there......hardly any
sound at all. But, it's counter intuitive to think,"my top stinks-
because my lower register stinks" so we just keep pounding away at
the top and get the voice more misbalanced. BALANCE is the key!
Bye the way Lloyd, as I said before I think RM has done immense
good for our field. However, he is not the only source we should
turn to with regard to vocal pedagogical literature. There are
thousands of dusty old books that have not been touched in years just
waiting to be opened- However, don't try to get them from the LSU
library- because I have them all, right here :-D
Take Care All,
Taylor L. Ferranti
DMA Candidate in Vocal Pedagogy
Louisiana State University
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