Practical Pedagogy Lecture 7 Richard Miller: Resonance balancing using nasal continuants Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc (20 Nov. 1986)

Resonance Sensation versus function Meribeth Bunch in her book ‘The dynamics of the singing voice’ quotes research and pedagogic sources, including Negas, Vennard, Russell and Bigg. All prove that ‘the sinuses of the skull play little or no part in the vocal resonance that is actually perceived by the audience’. They filled the sinuses with a harmless solution and then sang in a concert hall. The blocked sinuses made no difference to the sound the audience perceived. The fact is the sinuses cannot fulfil the function of a resonator very well because they are lined with a mucous membrane that is sound absorbing and their openings are very small. It would be very desirable for singers and teachers to be able to find a definite place such as the nose or a particular sinus where the sound could be placed each time we sang…but it is not physically possible. Besides, where we feel the sensation of placement is so subjective and varies immensely from singer to singer. If you try to insist on a particular tone placement it can cause all sorts of unwanted by-products…nasality, pharyngeal distortion etc. It is important not to confuse sensation (the sensation of resonance in the mask) with function, which is where the sound is being formed. The tone is formed in the vocal tract, by the mouth and the throat, the buccal and the pharyngeal cavities. Make the buccal pharyngeal resonator shapes match the laryngeal configurations. Likewise chest resonance is a myth as the chest is full of spongy material which would dampen rather than resonate. Bone, like wood, is a remarkable conveyor of sympathetic vibration. Richard Miller: The shifting resonance sensations in the head result from sympathetic vibrations in the bony structures of the face, not because tone or air has been sent to those locations.

Using nasal continuants in balancing the chiaroscuro Before turning to the practical application of non-nasal consonants as assists in adjusting the vocal tract and balancing resonance (lecture 8), a look must be taken at the nasal consonants. We have seen the use of the sustained M as a means for inducing appoggio awareness. The several forms of the nasal phonemes include: 1)M – a bilabial nasal 2)N – an alveolar nasal 3)N as in onion – a palatal nasal 4)N as in sing – a velar nasal

Acoustic energy All four nasals promote acoustic energy in desirable parts of the spectrum. Each of the four nasals incites specific sensations in the regions of the masque and head. 1) For most singers M feels more directly located on and around the lips. 2) The phoneme N seems to resound somewhat higher in the masque area. 3) With N (onion) the awareness is focussed more completely in the masque. 4) The nasal continuant N (sing) appears for most singers to live even higher in the head. Remember: each of these sensations is the result of a sympathetic vibration in the bony structures of the face, not because air has been sent there! It is easy to mistake nasality for desirable resonance balance. A danger lies in striving for too strong a perception of the forward sensation of sound, and so creating excessive shrillness or brightness – an over balance of the upper partials. Pedagogies that insist that vocal resonance is best achieved by giving predominance to the nose and cavities of the head are examples of how faulty assumptions can create imbalance in resonance and resulting tone. In attempting to place the tone ‘forward’, the role of the pharynx is diminished and timbre becomes thin and incomplete. The core of the sound – or chiaroscuro – is depleted.

Exercises Speak slowly the following nasals then sustain them as a sung phonation at comfortable pitch levels. Be aware of the accompanying sensations of sympathetic vibration in the face and head. Consider each of the first three nasals in turn: 1)M – the lips are closed but the nasal cavity, the mouth, the pharynx and the larynx jointly act as resonators. 2)N – the apex of the tongue is in contact with the alveolar ridge so that approximately one-third of frontal mouth resonance is removed. The remaining mouth resonance is joined with the nasal cavity, the pharynx and the larynx. 3)N (onion) – the body of the tongue approaches the hard palate, which action cuts off about half of the mouth as a resonator. Full participation if the nasal cavity, the pharynx and the larynx are retained.

While these first three nasals connect portions of the entire resonator tube, the fourth nasal N (sing) entirely excludes the mouth as a resonator. The velum is in contact with the posterior portion of the tongue. Resonating chambers consist of the nasal cavity, the pharynx and the larynx. The position of the mouth has little influence on the resulting sound. Utmost care must be exercised to immediately remove any lingering nasality in the subsequent vowel. Check against nasality during all vowel production by closing nostrils at the precise moment the vowel is sounded. With the emergence of the vowel there must be no emission of tone through the nose: there is a sudden cessation of nasality.

Exercises: Richard Miller’s The Structure of Singing pages including revision of notes.