Application Of Bright Timbre

[Guest]

Hey all, this is not a new discovery for me but I definitely realized its value very recently. Let's call it application of bright timbre or twang compression. In TVS methodology we lower larynx to approach head resonance a little earlier and boomier.

We apply a DARK TIMBRE on the way to head voice to help "cover" the sound. Similarly I have found that it is CRITICAL to apply a BRIGHT TIMBRE (twang) to the falsetto range. Essentially it feels like empowering the head voice with more ring...more chest voice!! ofcourse this seems like a basic TVS principal however I felt I greatly underestimated it.

My voice responds very well to an application of bright timbre from the TOP-DOWN. At first I thought I had to find the right resonant spot but I was very wrong... the bright timbre is applied AT the vocal cords. It's like a power-up for falsetto so to speak.

So aside from quacking.... what are some gentle ways to start applying a "bright timbre" or twang compression in my falsetto. What specific exercises help better than quacking? I think quacking is great btw but it's really not "enough" to get that sweet spot of adduction, compression, and resonance I need in the upper-register.

Thanks in advance! Hope someone can advise me on finding genuine cry/brightness/twang in falsetto registration.

- JayMC

[ronws]

I will have to disagree, though it may be just a personal viewpoint of mine, gleaned from the writings of people such as Dr Fillebrown, and others.

The folds are just a generator of sound. The actual timbral value of the voice comes from the resonators.

But, hey, whatever suits you.

I personally try to steer clear of over-controlling or placing too much importance on the throat. Which you may have already determined from my redneck mantra.

[Guest]

Ahh... so how should one view the application of twang and firm glottal closure? They are not created in the resonators....

[ronws]

Glottal closure, to me, is a bit of a misnomer. Glottis is the aperture that seems to be created when the folds are vibrating open and closed. As such, it may or may not involve the entire length of the leading edge of the membranes that are actually vibrating. That is, it is no the "T/A"'s that are vibrating, it is the membranes at at the very outer layer. Membranes, by the way, do not "train" to be thicker or thinner. They simply are what they are and are controlled by the chromosonal shuffling at conception of the zygote that later becomes a singer. Yes, that old genetics thingy.

But the idea presented in the popular definition of twang is a narrowing of the epiglottic funnel, which should be physically above the folds, right? In which case, it is a space that is after the generation of tone at the folds. Therefore, a theoretical factor of resonance and not a timbral control at the actual folds.

Twang has been defined as a narrowing the epiglottal funnel, which would be a matter of resonating space, not something to do with the folds.

According to my limited knowledge of anatomy, the epiglottis (which is not the same thing as what we mean by glottis in the vocal folds) is a fold of tissue controlled by a sphincter. What happens is the sphincter draws the epiglottis to cover the larynx during the act of swallowing and drinking, essentially anything that is taken into the esophagus on its way to the stomach.

And it will absolutely not hurt my feelings for anyone, and I mean anyone, to prove me wrong.

The devil is in the details ....

[Gina Ellen Vocalist]

something that helped me is starting on a windy falsetto note in head, slowly applying twang, then slowly lowering the larynx and adding more support. so you go from a breathy head tone to a beefy head tone. A kind of messa di voce. Think this helps to build that configuration ans muscle. Quack is just used to get that feeling of twang.

[VideoHere]

gina, i totally agree....i have gotten such good results from doing this.

jay, i suggested you learn to cry and learn to lean into the vocal folds, but you have to have good support so as to isolate the folds and not bring in extraneous muscle tension. don't overdo it. just try crying into the notes.

remember support, relaxed jaw, yawn-like mouth setup..