Sloppy Vowels = Poor Closure?

[Matt]

Articulating vowels as clearly and distinctly as possible seems to encourage correct registration, am I correct? So articulating vowels well will help with correct folds closure and poor closure can often be traced to sloppy vowel pronunciation? In that case, I think I get what vowels being "long" is about as they seem to need to be "elongated" to become very clear?

[Steven Fraser]

Articulating vowels as clearly and distinctly as possible seems to encourage correct registration, am I correct? So articulating vowels well will help with correct folds closure and poor closure can often be traced to sloppy vowel pronunciation? In that case, I think I get what vowels being "long" is about as they seem to need to be "elongated" to become very clear?

Matt: IMO depends on what you mean by 'clearly and distinctly', and what interpretation of the word 'long' you want.

For example, linguistically the word 'long' has two common usages: one having to do with the amount of time the vowel is sustained, and the other having to do with the vowel color itself. Sometimes these two usages align, and sometimes they do not. In singing, we almost always mean the latter... the modifier 'long' (or its companion 'short') added to tell us which vowel shading we mean.

A 'long E' may mean to pronounce EEE, as in the English word 'week'.

A 'short E' may mean to pronounce EH, as in the English word 'wet'

This challenge of how we may describe. with written words, sounds which we make vocally has been pretty well addressed with the invention of the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA. It assigns each phoneme (distinct vocal sounds, consonants, clicks, pops and non-language noises) a particular graphical symbol, and for typewriting, an ASCII representation. For the Italian vowels which we might describe conversationally as 'long', the ASCII representations are /i/ (for ee), /e/ (for ay), /a/ for ah, /o/ (for oh), and /u/ (for oo). For the common 'short' vowels, /I/ (for ih), /E/ (for eh), /A/ (for ah, as in 'cat'), /O/ (as in hot) and /U/ (for Uh, as in 'cup').

For each of these vowels, whether from the 'long' list or the 'short', the amount of time the vowel persists is considered a separate aspect.

Based on this, which particular aspect of 'long' are you interested to discuss?

[Matt]

I mean

A 'long E' may mean to pronounce EEE, as in the English word 'week'.

This feels long in the mouth, thinning and elongating the cavity between the folds and the upper palate like a slimmer, longer pipe. Weeeek is a good example, but the same seems to apply to all vowels when pronounced very cleanly, think "my fair lady", or "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain".

[Steven Fraser]

I mean

This feels long in the mouth, thinning and elongating the cavity between the folds and the upper palate like a slimmer, longer pipe. Weeeek is a good example, but the same seems to apply to all vowels when pronounced very cleanly, think "my fair lady", or "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain".

Matt: I know exactly what you mean from that scene in the show. Higgins is working on the enunciation of the vowels, and working for particular, distinct shades of them. Interestingly, the approach he uses is one based on phonemes... the things that IPA represents.

Now that I have a better idea about what you have in mind, I think I agree with your original thesis, which is that well-pronounced vowels encourage more appropriate registration. My use of well-pronounced includes the idea that the vowel is made in such a way that the harmonics of the phonated tone align with the resonances of the vowel... because that is what makes the vowel 'clear', and also, makes the vowel as powerful as it can be for the amount of energy being provided.

Further extending this idea, the clear (more resonant) vowel will not need as much energy produced in the phonated tone to appear as loud as one which is not resonant. So, the singer can 'do' less (register more lightly), and get more sound.

Within this general association, there are still limits on the influence of the vowel on the registration. A resonant vowel can be formed, and still be under- or over-registered (too lightly or too heavily sung), with the most likely condition for male voices being too heavily, For this reason, many teachers (including myself) work the softer end of the dynamic range, in the middle voice, to establish clear (and easy) tone quality (i.e., clear, correct vowels), before working out to the extremes of range and dynamics.

In classical voice training, this often comes under the category of 'vocalizing', the singing of specific exercises in simple note patterns, with attention to vowel quality and registration balance. I am absolutely convinced of the value of this sort of exercise as the technique is built.

[Matt]

Thanks for the great reply. As always, if you want to do something well in singing, you have to be doing the foundation properly...

[raymond c miller]

Not to sound snotty, but you may want to look into real good 'listening' for a better answer than 'closure'. What finger do you put in there to modify closure?

Again, trying to be helpful, not snotty. You may need some quality control on your product.

Give a real listen! ....................musiker

[Matt]

Not sure how you mean?

[Matt]

By "long", I was referring to "tall" vowels that I sometimes see referenced in classical singing. Mixed the words up.

[Steven Fraser]

By "long", I was referring to "tall" vowels that I sometimes see referenced in classical singing. Mixed the words up.

Matt: I've read about the 'tall' metaphor in classical vowels as well, usually accompanied with the recommendation that the singer should raise the soft palate and drop the jaw, 'making space' for the vowel. This leads to certain vowel colors and resonance characteristics which are generally desirable for classical singing. Once the student has learned to position the vocal organs accordingly, and the physical sensations which accompany them, the reminder to 'sing tall vowels' is offerred by the teacher as reminder, when necessary.

From my perspective, the metaphor is about vowel formation and resonance, and 'tall vowels' have resonance appropriate for classical singing, and for many other styles as well. As such, what I wrote earlier (and elswhere, previously) about the effect of resonance on the ease of phonation still applies.

But so do the limits on the effect. Particularly, the quality of the adduction (not too firm, not too light) still has to be managed by the singer, and that is very little, if at all, influenced by the resonance configuration. For example, if the adduction is incomplete, the singer will still get a breathy vowel, just a 'well-resonated' one Similarly, if the adduction is too firm, leading to 'pressed' phonation, the hardness of the tone quality will be the more obvious for the vowel being well-formed.

Even the technique of adding 'twang' to a sung tone is limited in its automajik effect on the quality of phonation. While twanging on a breathy phonation does make it more audible, and easier to do, the twanged tone still can be recognized as having a breathy phonation. To make such a tone 'clear' still requires that the adduction be firmed up, and coordinated with the appropriate registration.