Building the ChoirSound and SpiritCollective Resonance

Dr. Amanda QuistJuly 2019

Warm-Up´ Body

´Physical exercise- get mind in mode for rehearsal´Body awareness

´ Breath´Appoggio´Quick vs. sustained

´ Tone´Resonance´ Top Down´Vowel Assessment

´ Intonation

“ThereisnoreasontohaveaStradivariussoundlikeacigar-boxviolinsothatbothwillsoundthesame.Insteadofremovingtheresonancefromvoicesthathaveit,oneshouldtrytoestablishtheformantinallvoicesofthechoirinwhichitislacking.” -BertonCoffin

Bolster,StephenC."TheFixedFormantTheoryandItsImplicationsforChoralBlendandChoralDiction,"TheChoralJournal 23,no.6(1983):31.

Resonance Defined

u Resonance is the tendency of an object to respond more strongly to particular frequencies introduced into it.

u Home Depot tube

u When the fundamental pitch or its overtones lines up with a formant, the vocal tract becomes resonant.

Vocal Tract

n 1”How Language Works”, Indiana University http://www.indiana.edu/~hlw/PhonUnits/vowels.html

n Source/Filter Theoryn Source = Sound generated by the vibrating vocal foldsn Filter = Vocal Tract

“Most of the tuning of the resonator is brought about by the altering of its shape by the tongue, lips, jaw, soft palate, elevation of the larynx up and down, and the narrowing or widening the side walls of the throat just above the larynx.”3 – Berton Coffin

3Berton Coffin, "The Instrumental Resonance of the Singing Voice," The Nats Bulletin(December 1974): 27.

First Teaching VowelsFormant Tuning

First Teaching VowelsFormant Tuning

n Graphic Equalizer

n Adjustments of the vocal tractn reinforce certain partials of the fundamentaln impact alignment of partials to potential formantsn A formant is simply a resonance of the vocal tract,

it is sound potential

nSpectrum of the Human Voice

2 McCoy, Scott. Your Voice, and Inside View. Princeton: Inside View Press, 2004. p. 38.

Formant

´A resonance of the vocal tract´Human voice has more than one´Formant 1 (F1) and Formant 2 (F2)

define vowel´Singer’s Formant (clustering of F3-

F5)- phenomenon

Formant Tuning

When Formants Don’t Align

F1~ 790Hz F2~ 1100Hz

Fund.~ D4 (300Hz)

Tongue position

F2~870Hz(A5)

F1~300Hz(D4)

F2~2800Hz(F7)

F1~300Hz(D4)

F2~880Hz(A5)

F1~580Hz(D5)

F2~2300Hz(D7)

F1~580Hz(D5)

F1~820Hz(G5) F2~1200 Hz (D6)

Closed

Open

Vowel Chart

Singer’s Formant

u Clustering of formants 3-5

u “Superformant” – occurring on average around 3000 Hz

u Allows singer to be heard over an orchestra

Spectrograms

3000Hz

830Hz

3000Hz

830Hz

Swedish Radio Choir

Robert Shaw Festival Singers

First vowels to teach

n Strength of overtones related to glottal closuren "The Italian [i] being the most ringing vowel, it may be employed

to give brilliancy to other vowels." -Manuel Garcia

n Laryngeal level- [i]- highest closed quotient

n Bright vs. dark quality related to laryngeal posturen [u] tends to assist in lowering the larynx

n [u] aids in training intonation due to a lower F1 and F2 (less overtones, more fundamental)

nCombination of the two = [y]

Beginning Vowels

´ [i] ´ teaches resonance´ assists intonation´creates freedom when balanced´aids the singer in maintaining good “placement”

´ [u] ´assists in keeping the head register engaged´aids in creating clarity in the sound´keeps larynx relaxed

Teaching Formant Tuning´ Each of the singers must be encouraged to

produce their own most vibrant, colorful, and beautiful sound

´ Singers take that sound and place it within the resonance of the group

´ "With young singers I have always tried to encourage them to place their voices forward and to achieve volume through focus rather than sheer noise."

-Simon Carrington

General Teaching Tips

´ Choose exercises that go from the top down to engage the head register

´ Begin exercises in the mid range and go up´ Start with a smaller range, increasing

throughout the vocalise

Suggested Exercises:Finding resonance

u

Formant Tuning

Intonation- verticalu Use intervals natural to the overtone series (roots and

fifths to start)

u Add the thirds

More exercises

u /ui/ - /ui/ Five note scale

u I love to sing- 5th up to octave

u Signore- same as above

u Don’t forget about minor or modal exercises

Vibrato, Straight Tone, and Resonance

´ People often equate a resonant tone with one that includes vibrato.

´ Evidence shows that it is possible to produce a resonant tone, even the singer’s formant, with minimized vibrato.

´“Healthy vocal production perceived as straight tone is still, to some degree, vibrating. Even when vibrato is minimized in straight tone, the carrying power and ring of the voice associated with the singer's formant can still be present.”28

28Sten Ternström, Acoustical Aspects of Choir Singing (Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, 1989), 12.

Building Community

u The nature of collective sound

u Physical presence of overtones

u Collective expression of emotion

u Repertoire selection

u Where one falls, the other picks up

u Perfect as a unit

´ “There is a sound that only voices raised together can make because of the both the blend and range that is afforded by the human voice as opposed to other instruments.” –Jay Besch, choir member

´ “It is a joyous experience to sing with other people in a community and work together to create a beautiful sound that could never be produced individually.” –Alex Underwood, choir member