The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Vocal Registers: Stephen F. Austin, M.M., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Voice University of North Texas 9/30/20101

Vocal Registers… OMG! Literature is very confusing: little agreement Some historical pedagogical literature offers a practical guide Written before registers were understood Some voice science literature offers a simplification to this complex subject The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/20102

Vocal Register: 2 views Source : produced at the level of the larynx and respiratory system Filter: produced by changes in the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract: formants interacting with the partials from the larynx A combination of both the above! The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/20103

The larynx: 9/30/2010 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20114

The larynx: 9/30/2010 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20115

Source: Vennard - ‘Heavy Mechanism’ The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/20106

Source: Vennard - ‘Heavy Mechanism’ The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/20107

Source : Vennard - ‘Light Mechanism’ The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/20108

Register is defined by: Slope #1: medial margin of the vocal folds What determines this difference? The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/20109

Intrinsic musculature 9/30/2010 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop

Electromyography The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201011

Minoru Hirano “Regulation of Register, Pitch and Intensity of Voice”. Folia Phoniatrica, Vol. 22, Pp. 1-20, The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201012

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Minoru Hirano “Vocal Mechanisms in Singing: Laryngological and Phoniatric Aspects”. Journal of Voice, Vol. 2, No. 1, Pp /30/201013

Titze: Modal & Falsetto The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201014

Register is characterized by: Slope #2: the glottal flow pulse Result of configuration of the vocal folds The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201015

Sundberg: Flow glottograms The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201016

Register is characterized by: Slope #3: EGG waveform Result of configuration of the vocal folds The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201017

McCoy: Electroglottogram The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201018

Closed Quotient Heavy mech. =.5 or greater Light mech. = below.5 Square folds stay closed longer Longer CQs have more harmonic energy 9/30/2010 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop

9/30/2010 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop How does this information helps us in the studio? (can it?)

Historical approach: Scientific observations were predicted in long-established pedagogical principles: Decades of ‘trial and error’ application and observation The true ‘scientific method’ The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201021

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Manuel Garcia II A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing: Part On. The editions of 1841 and 1872 collated, edited, and translated by Donald V. Paschke. New York: Da Capo Press. Pg. xli, “By the word register we understand a series of consecutive and homogenous tones going from low to high, produced by the development of the same mechanical principle, and whose nature differs essentially from another series of tones equally consecutive and homogenous produced by another mechanical principle.” 9/30/201022

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Manuel Garcia II A Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing: Part One. The editions of 1841 and 1872 collated, edited, and translated by Donald V. Paschke. New York: Da Capo Press. Pg. xli, (cont.) “All the tones belonging to the same register are consequently of the same nature, whatever may be the modification of timbre or of force to which one subjects them.” 9/30/201023

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Ingo Titze Principles of Voice Production. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Pg. 262, /30/201024

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Giambattista Mancini Practical Reflections on Figured Singing. Editions of 1774 & 1776 compared, translated and edited by Edward V. Foreman, Pro Music Press, Minneapolis. Pg. 20, “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 will have a more or less robust voice.” 9/30/201025

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Giambattista Mancini Practical Reflections on Figured Singing. Editions of 1774 & 1776 compared, translated and edited by Edward V. Foreman, Pro Music Press, Minneapolis. Pg. 34, “A sonorous body, or rather robustness of voice is ordinarily a gift from nature, but can also be acquired by study and art.” 9/30/201026

We can ‘reshape’ the folds: Vocalis is skeletal muscle Responds to exercise Grows in strength AND in mass!  Squares the vocal folds  Profoundly affects the timbre of tone The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201027

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Giambattista Mancini Practical Reflections on Figured Singing. Editions of 1774 & 1776 compared, translated and edited by Edward V. Foreman, Pro Music Press, Minneapolis. Pg. 35, “It remains for me now to speak of those voices which are slender and weak throughout their register... One observes that these voices are very weak in the chest notes, and the greater majority deprived of any low notes...” 9/30/201028

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Giambattista Mancini Practical Reflections on Figured Singing. Editions of 1774 & 1776 compared, translated and edited by Edward V. Foreman, Pro Music Press, Minneapolis. Pg. 35, “There is not method more sure to obtain this end, I believe, than to have such a little voice sing only in the chest voice for a time. The exercise should be done with a tranquil solfeggio; and as the voice enriches itself with greater body, and range, one may blend it as much as possible with the low notes.” 9/30/201029

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 William Vennard Developing Voices. Carl Fischer, New York, New York, “During her studies she frequently asked for help with her high tones, which did improve during the work. More freedom and modification of the brighter vowels helped the top voice, but what she needed most was to develop the chest voice and blend it into her singing so that it would be usable.” 9/30/201030

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Richard Miller Structure of Singing. Schirmer Books, New York, New York. Pg , “Chest mixture will strengthen the soprano’s lower - middle range. Almost every female can make some chest timbre sounds, no matter how insecure, in the lowest part of her range. These notes should be sung in short, intervallic patterns, transposing by half steps upward, as more sound emerges.” 9/30/201031

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Ingo Titze Principles of Voice Production. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Pg. 261, “As the bottom of the vocal fold bulges out, the glottis becomes more rectangular than wedge-shaped (convergent). During vibration, then, glottal closure can be obtained over a greater portion of the vocal fold, and thereby over a greater portion of the cycle…The result is a voice of richer timbre, which we call chest or modal voice.” 9/30/201032

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Voice Building! 9/30/201033

Filter Partials interacting with formants: Don Miller – ‘Register Violation’ 2 nd partial in F1 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201034

Filter Don Miller – ‘Head Voice’ 3 rd partial in F2 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201035

Miller: Head Voice The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201036

Head Voice? Is there a change in the laryngeal mechanism? Results from a change in resonance effect: Perceptual vs functional Formants interacting with partials Specifically 3 rd partial lined up with F2 Requires a strong source spectrum: Characteristic of the ‘Chest Voice’ Historically called the ‘Do Di Petto’! The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201037

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 Sustained tones in the chest 9/30/201038

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 William Vennard Singing: The Mechanism and the Technique. Carl Fischer, New York. Pg /30/201039

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 William Vennard Singing: The Mechanism and the Technique. Carl Fischer, New York. Pg /30/201040

Garcia’s 1 st exercise for female Complete Treatise Pt. 1 The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 20119/30/201041

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 ‘Welcoming in the chest’ 9/30/201042

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 “Imposing the chest’ 9/30/201043

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 ‘Imposing the chest – II’ 9/30/201044

The Vocal Pedagogy Workshop 2011 ‘Deference to the head’ 9/30/201045