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ronws

TMV World Legacy Member
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Everything posted by ronws

  1. A note is a physical action happening reality, in space and in time. It exists. It is the motion and collision of air molecules. And air molecules bounce off of surfaces. Like a billard ball bouncing off a cushion on a pool table. The harder the surface, the more the original energy is translated in the new direction. Softer surfaces are still reflecting but in chaotic directions and seem to "absorb" sound. If the wave of a sound is in a space and it is bounced back to itself and the top of waveform of the original and the reflection line up exactly, they are "in phase," If not, then they are out of phase. When in phase, the reflected wave physically adds to the original wave and this creates a modified or combined wave that is now twice the amplitude or height of the original wave. And the sound is louder. And it is not a linear increase, like 2 to 1 or 1 to 1. The increase is logarithmic, or like the graph of a number of variable squared. And can best be measured in decibels, which is a logarithmic scale. Within this space will be other parts of the general space that are the right size to resonate multiples and divisibles of the main frequency and the prominence of these other "partially" heard frequencies is what gives vowel sounds, and also, to some extent, tone of the voice. So, all at once, you have resonation of the fundamental and whatever ancilliary frequencies of the folds, plus the multiples and divisibles. What are these? When you resonate the main note, parts of it may shoot off in other directions and create other frequencies. When these mix with your main frequency, there will be two results. A new frequency that is the two frequencies added together (multiple) and the difference between the two frequencies (divisible.) These new frequencies can than encounter resonance or absorption and dimunition. Really, really think about what you do with your tongue when speaking any vowel, That is a variable filter that is both hindering some frequencies and helping others. The higher you sing, the less room for resonance for all these frequencies if you are adequately adjusting your resonating space to capture the fundamental. And because of the structural limits of all humans, at about the level of D5 or so, we run out of room for anything but the fundamental, itself. What is the structural limitation of humans? We are technically chimpanzees. However, we are the size of great apes. That is, some men are the size of a south american mountain gorilla. Most are about the size of an orangutang.That being said, mountain gorillas sing. Jane Goodall and others have spent time in the jungle and they had capture sounds of a mother gorilla humming a tune to her infant. It was very low volume and low in range but it had a definable melody and intervals. So, singing could be a primate thing, not just the subset of chimps known as humans. So what about the shape of the skull of one human? Could that affect tone? No, not by the shape of the skull or even the shape of sinusoidal cavities. What can affect it is how you alter or vary the tongue and the muscles involved in the coronal process, which are also the muscles that retract what we call the soft palate, a flap of tissue that can keep water from entering the lungs from the sinus passages. The one thing I have not seen defined is what is the "dead tone" the OP speaks of? What makes him think it is deadened and compared to what? "This has been physics with doctor Julius Sumner ....."
  2. I am not going to link in a bunch of jpegs that could easily be found by googling the words I have used. The folds vibrate up and down, pushing and pulling waves of air. If you could look at it physically, and see the plane of the folds as a reference point, the leading edge of the folds is vibrating up and down. Or, more accurately, in and out. Anyway, movement above and below a reference line we will call the x axis. The movement above and below this x axis will be measured on the y axis and the max height of the wave above x axis is amplitude and amplitude is volume. That is taller wave form is more air moving, which means the sound is "louder." The distance from top of the waveform to the next repetition of top of waveform is length of the wave, or wavelength, for short. Frequency is always the number of repetition of top of waveform in a certain amount of time. The amount of time we use is one second. Modernly, the second is defined as the duration for a certain number oscillations of the outer electrons of the cesium atom (aka, the atomic clock you may have heard of.) A4 is equal, modernly, to A 440. That is, that A note (5th fret, 1st string on a guitar with standard tuning) is having top of waveform repeated 440 times in one second of time. The maximum distance of a material, such as vocal folds or a guitar string above center resting position is the y axis measurement I was talking about and that distance is called amplitude. The folds are extremely small. The largest, as what might be found in a basso profundo is maybe close to 20 mm. My wedding band is 5 mm wide. So, 4 of those side by side is the total maximum diameter one might find in the most deepest basso human. Most people do not have folds that are 20 mm in diameter. Hence, a real basso profundo is quite rare and a thing of beauty to uphold and conserve. And the folds are no thicker than my wedding band, which is less that that width. So, it cannot generate a lot of amplitude or height above and below resting center position. The frequency of vibration of the leading edge that has the most prominence and involves most of whatever mass is vibrating is the actual frequency or fundamental frequency. There can be ancilliary frequencies generated at the region of the folds from other parts of the fold vibrating but they will not be as strong and if they are heard, they may not be in phase or multiples or divisibles of two from the fundamental. If they are heard at all, they will be interpreted as noise or "rasp." You can also have a secondary aperture or opening between vocal folds apart from the main aperture. And this secondary one can vibrate at frequencies different and not harmonic, or anharmonic to the fundamental in the main aperture. Such as the genetic anomaly seen in singer Steven Tyler. That is not something he trained. It is a defect that has served him well. Anyway, these other frequencies, harmonic or not, aside from the fundamental can be considered partial. They make up part of the note but are not the fundamental. But they are not loud. So, how do we get them loud enough to be of useful volume, to even get past the lips of the mouth. Resonance. More in a second ....
  3. And I have to agree with several points Felipe is making here. Powerful singing does not mean maximum decibel output. Phrasing, timing, varying intensity do more for a song than just blasting away. In both performance and perceived volume. If you sing loud all the time, there is no where to go and it sounds like a droning noise, after a while.
  4. To Jack, we may seem to be having fun at your expense but we are not. We enjoy funny mental images now and then. And while some voices may seem to be easily typed based on speaking or even some singing, it is not going to matter much in pop music. Nor does particular classification stay with an opera singer. I have read the memoirs of Debra Lynn, Renee Fleming, and Russell Watson, just about my favorite tenor. Fleming talked about this more than the other two. Her fach changed depending on which opera she was in, which role she played, and which of her several coaches over the years was working with her. At one time, she was mezzo soprano. Another time, coloratura. But pretty much never an alto. The actual reason for these voice types is more for casting. So, your fach or type only matters if you are singing a role in an opera. And even if you were to be typed as a baritone, for some reason, you can still sing high songs, especially in rock and pop. A few of the members here were actually diagnosed as baritones and even a basso-baritone and they can sing as high as I can, and I have been once classed as a light tenor. So, then, our nomenclature of voice types does not really matter. Okay, one more joke. I just paid my dues to renew my vocal registration.
  5. And it's good to come back to those songs, now and again. Just the other day, I was singing that song. "Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk..../ ...Staying alive......" And I don't care if I get weird looks. Who is going to stop me and how do they expect to do that?
  6. I am going to take the other tack, for a moment. Let us say that the size and the shape of the skull affects things. My thought would be, so what? Find a way to get sounds that you like and want and then do that. And before I get a bunch of likes, Jens said it before in the form of stating, train how you want to sing. For example, you want to be a blues singer? Well, then, concentrate on that. I am reminded of the bumblebee. It is aerodynamically unsound and not in any way a good flying shape. But there it is, flying.
  7. A vocal register. That is when you go to Guitar Center to buy a microphone and you go to the register at the counter to pay. It is then, for that moment, a vocal register. Thankyouverymuch... I'm here all week. http://instantrimshot.com/classic/?sound=rimshot
  8. Yeah, my comment about waveforms is probably over the heads (pun intended) of most people. A note is a physical thing. But I think that explaining further will be useless because the OP has managed to disagree with every respondent in this thread, regardless of our education, knowledge, experience, insights. So, then, I feel this thread is not going to yield anything productive.
  9. Yes, a wavelength needs space for resonance, which is the doubling of the waveform in phase adding to itself, creating twice the amplitude. And amplitude is volume, that is basic physics and I don't care which church a person goes to and yes I am being salty. Thou shalt surely receive in return what thou giveth. Tone is affected by the quality of the vocal folds and the textures in the resonating spaces where the note builds its volume. And that is not so much about shape of skull as it is about partials getting reinforcement or not. And, for every singer, regardless of voice classification, there is a shift around the D5 area, because of the general limit of structure of all humans. The resonating space for such notes with small wavelengths is so small, there is only room for the fundamental and none of the partials that make up discrete vowel sounds. So, all vowels "sound" the same up there. As for any tone after that, it would be due mainly to vibration of other material, such as the uvula against the back of the tongue. And again, that is material, rather than space.
  10. I can sing below that but it is not as strong or focused. Not a lot of weight to it. To borrow from motorcycles, I am strongest from C3 up and my power band kicks in around G4.
  11. pros: you get to wear costumes. cons: the only gig you might get is singing on an ad for insurance settlements
  12. Reminds of the story I once heard from a guy talking about how we would all prefer to pass away, die, kick the bucket, pick your description. "When I die, I want to go peacefully drifting off to sleep, like my grandfather did. And NOT screaming in indescribable horror like the three passengers in the car with him."
  13. This, right here, I think is important and a lot of guys are unwilling to do it. It's not that they can't, but they won't. Trust me guys, there is a reward at the end of that road.
  14. exactly. I think it is easier for a baritone to sing my range than for me to be convincing below C3, though I can get some notes below that, they are just not really loud and I get right up on the screen and then do some volume boost in mixing to bring it up.
  15. Can I be proud to say that when I swerve, it is not from using a phone while driving but because I am drifting off to sleep?
  16. In any case, you need a funny hat. Look at the one Billy likes to wear. I thought it was out of character at first, but he likes it and it is comfortable and does not impair his vision. While are at it, go ahead and get a '34 Ford Coupe Deuce. Put in a 351 W(indsor) and either a Holley double pumper or a six pack. Hurst extended shifter. And of course, a nice suit. Every girl's crazy about a sharp-dressed man.
  17. Yeah, and you already have the requisite long beard. You have to have that to be in ZZ Top, except for Dusty. He is the clean cut one on the drums.
  18. And breakthroughs are more of a change of paradigm then a magical overnight physical improvement for a few reasons. First off, you finally, for whatever reason, and the reason could be simple exhaustion one day, or it could be just wild hair on your backside, when you decide to do an exercise you have been fighting against with all of your might because the world could end and you are a chimp by genetic heritage and all primates fight, it is what our genus (zoological) does, and you have to fight against everything because it is the nature of the beast. So, anyway, for grits and shins and because the other part of life is variety, starting at the shuffle of genetics when you were conceived, you go ahead and try the thing in the lesson. And it works. And, in addition, the exercise does bring a more desired sound. And, over time, you have become more objective regarding the sound of your voice. So, yeah, singing is mental.
  19. I nearly voted for the safe space because I liked the idea. I could have used an option of yes and they are a safe space.
  20. Here is the thing, I have seen a medical study that showed legit basso profundos do have thicker folds, slightly larger diameter of vocal fold area, and massive heads and sinuses, different from the other voice types. The "perfect storm" of structure for that voice. But nothing about the adam's apple prominence affecting it. So, for this young man to come in and ask and then we reply with our experience and preferential knowledge and then he dismises it as an opinion against what someone else said on the internet? Well then, good luck to him, let's agree with him that it determines him to be a baritone. So, go be a baritone. The world needs more. We have way too many untrained tenors, as it is. To quote the frenchman in "Monty Python's Flying Circus in search of the Holy Grail," - "Yes, we've already got one. It's a very nice. Now, go away or I shall taunt you a second time." "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries." "What a strange person."
  21. Not only that but in places here in the US, it is illegal to have a mobile device in your hand while driving. One of our crew leaders is still untangling the mess from getting pulled over for the dastardly crime of calling his wife while he was driving to say that he was going to be working late. Although I cannot discount racism. He is mexican and that can be a crime, here,as well, considering the political climate and the ever present fear that an illegal alien is going to come in and do your back-breaking work that you don't want to do. I don't know if there are places Down Under that are like that but I can imagine there are. So, better to have bluetooth or just leave the phone alone.
  22. You to do that along with the lizard tongue thing. It worked for Chaim Weitz. It's just a matter of setting. What seems scary or odd in the car works perfectly on stage. Oh yeah, Chaim Weitz. Stage name, Gene Simmons. You might have heard of him.
  23. Quite possibly. Someone had mentioned in an interview, and I cannot remember who said it and they may have only made an observation without knowing why, that singers tend to be "barrel-chested." I don't know how accurate that is but I do know that proper management of breath both requires and may cause changes in body alignment and maybe some muscle development, at least of lean muscle mass, in the lower thoracic. Just a theory, no studies. Anyone could easily prove me wrong. What do notice with time is once you get past a certain age, your body changes. I used to be able go to a buffet and scare a restaurant manager into cold sweats. Now, I can eat an advocado and gain three pounds.
  24. True enough. And a testament to Tom's recording and mixing ability.
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