Scott McCoy says that many people don't normally talk about a singer’s voice in scientific terms because it's difficult for most people to understand. He teaches that it is important to describe a singer's sound as something that has an opposite side of the spectrum. Some examples of this are, Forward and Back, Breathy and Clear, In tune and not in tune, vibrato and straight tone. McCoy provides 18 examples and asks us to listen to them and listen for breathiness/clearness, damaged/healthy, stylistic/non-stylistic and so on. McCoy says that the voice is a wonderful evolutionary accident. The main purpose of the larynx is to protect the airway and close it. But humans are able to create sound with it, which is something some other animals can’t.
In voice lessons I am very used to hearing the terms he talked about. Having words with opposites really helps me because instead of being relative, I know what side of the spectrum I am on and what I can do to influence it if I don’t like where I’m at. I think talking about the different kinds of terms in voice lessons is important so that the students can start listening for these kinds of things in their own voice. I thought it was interesting to listen to singers and evaluate their sound for these terms and hear McCoys evaluations as well. I think that would be beneficial for voice students to start listening to other voices and recognizing the different features.
Aperiodic vibrato- irregular vibrato
Continuum- a sequence or spectrum ranging from one side to an opposite side
Sound Qualities- which side of the spectrum the voice leans towards.
Chiaroscuro-the balance of light and dark sounds in the voice.
No comments:
Post a Comment