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TRAINING THE SINGING VOICE |
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concert songs is no greater than the power range of the average untrained speaking voice, i.e., about twenty decibels. [506, p. 88] In this he is supported by Curry, who also finds that the average singer produces an intensity range of twenty decibels in ordinary singing but that this range is greatly extended in dramatic concert style of singing. It must be borne in mind, however, that most vocal music covers less than two-thirds of the lull range of the singing voice. The actual intensity range of such music is only from twenty to thirty decibels, while the total intensity range of a good singing voice is about fifty decibels. [124, p. 109] Wolf, Stanley and Sette report an experiment in which intensity ratings were made of various singers' voices. They conclude that the ability to attack and sustain the intensity of a given tone is a characteristic of good singing and that the lack of this ability "suggests a singer of inferior artistic rating and also gives the impression of a weak voice." [683] These general considerations provide a background for the discussions which follow. Tlie concepts in this chapter are summarized in Table Six.
Methods of Controlling Vocal Dynamics
psychological approach
Projection factors. Vocal projection is directly related to dynamics. The former is measured in terms of distance traversed between singer and listener. The latter is the measure of force or power with which the voice is released and radiated into space. In teaching singing, it is not easy to dissociate the act of phonation from the act of vocal projection. Samuels believes that vocal projection is an automatic process governed by mental controls and requiring no special attention on the part of the sing^er. Almost as soon as the singer opens his mouth and utters a sound "he can be heaid a hundred yards away, before there is time to think of directing the voice, even were that possible." [487, p. 16] ltWith regard to power," says Stanley, "any properly produced voice can fill the largest hall or opera house." Furthermore, voice projection, being a reflex action, should be effortless in singing. It is an acoustical phenomenon depending upon the intensity of sound vibrations and not upon conscious muscular effort. [578]
William E. Brown, an exponent of Lamperti's methods of teaching-, would have us ignore projection factors entirely in teaching singing. He claims that the larynx merely generates invisible vibratory energy which instantly expands and radiates in all directions. Except for causing tiie initial intensity and regularity of the generating sound vibrations, trie larynx and throat muscles have nothing to do with the carrying power |
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