Mix Voice - What is it?

[CentreOfTheUniverse]

Martin,

i cant really extend it too much further down without disconnecting into a more falsetto like sound and i can only attempt it coming down in a very heady, light, soft/quiet manner-i guess this might be called soft closure neutral in CVT? . (this reminds me of a question about mesa di voce or pianissimo and thinning in CVT ). with a full or connected voice it remains constant.

this is how i conceptualize it. imagine a tenor voice is ascending a scale at a medium volume without him trying to manipulate the weight or intensity of the sound particularly. he starts off in chest voice in the bottom ranges, then once they hit roughly Eb above middle C he enter the 1st passaggio (the main "break") and the "mix" starts to occur, but rather than thinking about the aspect of head voice coming in, think of it more as chest voice easing off. now once the tenor hits roughly G# they enter the 2nd passaggio where the chest voice eases of a lot and the head voice has come in and is quite present. now once he has gone up and crossed the 3rd passaggio at about D above tenor high C and is singing the high E-F´s i would say that mix has ended and this is now a pure head voice sound without chest in there.

as far as i know though i think the more official SLS view is that there is chest voice, then at the at the 1st passaggio you begin to mix, then once your at the 2nd passaggio youve gone through mix and are in a fuller, stronger head voice coordination and then basically the head voice gets lighter as you go up (whether that is through a lightening up of muscle coordination or just through the thinning process of the folds i dont know). i think there is acknowledgment though that after the 2nd passaggio there may still be some chest coordination going on but i think science still cant measure it accurately enough at the moment.

so going by the more official view i would agree that if someone is singing say a very intense, strong high tenor C it would be better to call it a strong head voice rather than a mix

Steven,

yes the acoustic effects of vocal tract shapings and vowels are of the up most importance in the mix process.

John Scott,

maybe i worded it wrong. rather than mix or strong head voice being a specific sound its more about it having a certain quality to it - a ringing, resonant quality where you can hear the upper harmonics. although it may be harder to detect with say a very intense, strong, chest voice like quality sounding head voice it should still be present if the sound/coordination is produced correctly. personally i am able to hear this quality more in the head voice ranges rather than the 1st passaggio/mix area.

the thing with all of this is that through training you are trying to master this whole process. when you have some mastery of it, you dont have to think about the process. through muscle memory etc it just happens. you can then stray further from the "standard" form if you wish for instance higher larynxed or wide vowels.

[babystar]

Ex. In CVT the "high part" of the male voice is defined as C4-C5. In that area you are able to sing in all modes, use a ton of different sound colors and many effects. They have devided REGISTER from SOUND.

Martin H,

To me Mix voice doesn't sound like a register to me. Actually, in my "vocal-world", I never use the word "register". I'm a CVT-person and I like to use the words modes instead. But this mix-thing makes me curious. If it's defined as a sound, would that be the same as Curbing from CVT?

/Claudia

[kalapoka]

guys...can any one, esp. from the SLS school please post a clip of using the 'mix' voice? It would be really great to know what the mix sounds like so that when we try to achieve it, we have some sort of reference point. I think it would help this discussion tremendously and also help the newbie (me) to get a grasp on this. thanks!

fahim

[joshual]

Not a sls specialist but for me, THIS IS the mix:

Stevie Wonder

[VideoHere]

guys...can any one, esp. from the SLS school please post a clip of using the 'mix' voice? It would be really great to know what the mix sounds like so that when we try to achieve it, we have some sort of reference point. I think it would help this discussion tremendously and also help the newbie (me) to get a grasp on this. thanks!

fahim

another example of mix:

(got past the intro.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO8nBYddc1c

[kalapoka]

Hi Joshual and Video,

while these are good examples, it really doesn't help the beginner to understand how to achieve the mix. what i was thinking was if some one could put up a vocalisation clip using the mix voice. i think that will help even more! any volunteers?

Fahim

[babystar]

will somebody also show a clip where somebody sings with a powerful/chesty mix? Would be good if the singer would be a woman! :)

[VideoHere]

will somebody also show a clip where somebody sings with a powerful/chesty mix? Would be good if the singer would be a woman!

martina mcbride!!!! powerhouse!!!

[VideoHere]

Hi Joshual and Video,

while these are good examples, it really doesn't help the beginner to understand how to achieve the mix. what i was thinking was if some one could put up a vocalisation clip using the mix voice. i think that will help even more! any volunteers?

Fahim

there is an exercise i do called the octave and a half set using "goog" "gug" "mum"

when you do it correctly you can actually feel the notes circling from your chest up in to your head and back down again. the sensation is one of a circle of tone..awesome. there guys on youtube that show how to do it.

hope i've helped. bob

[Robert Lunte]

Robert,

Are you not usually calling that the passagio? Since you are using a bridging approach, I asume that the terms you use like chest, passagio and head registers are not fixed intervals right?

correct, they are not necessarily fixed intervals, although they are identified by a general range of pitches.... Men bridge around D#4+, Women A#4+.

[kalapoka]

there is an exercise i do called the octave and a half set using "goog" "gug" "mum"

when you do it correctly you can actually feel the notes circling from your chest up in to your head and back down again. the sensation is one of a circle of tone..awesome. there guys on youtube that show how to do it.

hope i've helped. bob

Hey Bob! How about posting a clip of you doing that here in this thread?

fahim

[jonpall]

IMO, Mix = curbing (CVT) around the passagio area (something like C4-C5 for men).

In other words, if you sing with a "cry" or "hold" or a "restrained" sound around your passagio, you're singing in the mix. And making Brett very happy. That shit sells records, y'know.

[analog]

guys...can any one, esp. from the SLS school please post a clip of using the 'mix' voice? It would be really great to know what the mix sounds like so that when we try to achieve it, we have some sort of reference point. I think it would help this discussion tremendously and also help the newbie (me) to get a grasp on this. thanks!

fahim

Well...hmmmm...found this clip online. Pretty solid example of this mysterious "mix" voice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooRutMBf5Co&feature=player_embedded#!

[rockthestagenyc]

I think a lot of you are overly looking the simplest way to approach "mix voice".

Yes we can get technical talking about CT and cord adduction but what it really boils down to is RESONANCE. To me singing in "the mix" is all about resonance not about passagios, bridges etc. But resonance blending.

The area most commonly referred to as "the mix" for male voice happens between Middle C (C4) and tenor high C (C5). Also known as the "bottle neck octave". This area is difficult to navigate because it requires a mixing of chest & head resonances - something we do not do in everyday speech. The brain and voice don't know how to "mix" consciously so we have to teach it to balance between these two. The brain wants to tilt naturally one way or the other - chest or head - because that's how we speak. Getting a mix of the two takes a delicate balancing act of cord compression, air pressure & placement. A little bit of vowel modification also helps to blend the resonances and keep the larynx somewhat stable.

One can all caught up in the "mechanics" of it all but the more abstract you think of voice technique the better. The less you can think about whats going on internally the more free the mind becomes - and the more balanced the voice becomes. All you concentrate on is what comes out of your mouth. If it sounds good and it feels unrestricted - you're there. Forget about if this muscle or that muscle is doing this or that, that's too clinical and it messes you up mentally and can bring mental fear into the equation. The sound & feel of your voice is the best gauge of proper technique. I try as much as possible to NOT think of whats going on inside.

Balancing cord compression, airflow & placement (the Holy Trinity) basically erases all breaks/bridges/passagios and creates that "one voice" sound Dena talks about.

Kevin Richards

Singer, songwriter, Voice coach and author of "Breaking the Chains"

http://www.rockthestagenyc.com

jttp://www.youtube.com/rockthestagenyc

[kalapoka]

Well...hmmmm...found this clip online. Pretty solid example of this mysterious "mix" voice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooRutMBf5Co&feature=player_embedded#!

erm....analog...this clip takes me to a youtube link of a cover of Summer of 69 by a guy in white shirt and blue sunglasses. Is this what you actually intended or is this a mistake (or a prank)?

Fahim

[analog]

Dude...thought you did a great job! You're singing most of that song in a "mixed" voice.

[kalapoka]

Dude...thought you did a great job! You're singing most of that song in a "mixed" voice.

HAHAHHA!!! Now isn't that ironic LOL! I was really surprised to find my own vdo when I followed the link and I was like 'analog's playing a prank on me' Lol...thanks dude...seems like I didn't even know I am using the 'mysterious' mix sound...hahhahaha....

cool!

Fahim

[kalapoka]

martina mcbride!!!! powerhouse!!!

Here's another POWERhouse for ya...mah' favorite texan!

sheer power and beautiful top notes :)

[ronws]

No kidding. And it is no wonder that she won the first American Idol. Here's some trivia. She's from Burleson, Texas. She is personal friends with another celebrity from here. I live in an area of north Texas called Texoma. These are counties in both Texas and Oklahoma that border lake Texoma, previously 3rd largest man-made lake. Anyway, Kelly is friends with Reba McIntyre who is from the Oklahoma side of the Texoma area.

There was a cable show called crossroads where rockers and country starts would mix it up with each other. For example, Sugarland Express (country) and Bon Jovi (rock). Well, they had one with Kelley and Reba. And whenever they dueted, you could not hear Reba. Reba croons at approximately conversational volume. Kelley belts at full concert volume with far more resonance and true pitch.

[VideoHere]

Here's another POWERhouse for ya...mah' favorite texan!

sheer power and beautiful top notes

you should have added that to my "bob's magic moments" post....she is without a doubt, one of the best female vocalists out there today. she is classically trained...

[VideoHere]

Hey Bob! How about posting a clip of you doing that here in this thread?

fahim

i found this for you which explains it better than i can.

this is a real help for me because one of my biggest hurdles is to learn to (habitually and consistently) let go of chest as i transition to head. it's a basic exercise that i can relate to. other vocalists may find this too elementary.

i'm finally realizing that i can withhold my power and volume still sound full and strong.

this exercise trains me to let go of chest plus i get a nice feeling in my muscles under my chin.

you can't help but mix and transition from chest to head.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EricArceneaux#p/u/15/5Vv0WAvtIig

then rob lunte's is a great one too but more advanced

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSOddYFhQ4A&feature=related

hey, i keep trying!