Epiphany

[ronws]

I had another one of those danged epiphany thingies.

I was in the main site watching a Kevin Richards video I had part of before but something clicked even better this time, no pun intended. It was on the definitions of falsetto and head voice. Falsetto is a tonal quality that can be applied to any part of your range, low, mid, or high. If it was a range or register, it would only be available at a select range of notes. Head voice and falsetto are separated by differences in what he calls chord approximation, or proximity. In falsetto, the chords meet but not tightly and a lot of air escapes, indeed, giving the tone an airy quality. In head voice, the chords are more closer together and not allowing as much air to escape.

The reason this became important to me is because I was reviewing my second recording of "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas. The second recording was better, in spite of my rinky-dink mic because, mainly, I controlled air pressure better and wasn't trying to out-blast a, say, a jack hammer. Because I wasn't using as much air pressure or velocity, I thought I was singing parts of it in falsetto. But, in reality, it was head voice, without the ear-splitting volume. So, even I don't always accurately describe what I think I am doing. Because I wasn't forcing enough air to lift a Volkswagen doesn't mean that I was singing falsetto. In fact, it was a better controlled head voice, primarily through air pressure. As well as concentrating better on the approximation of the vocal chords to create the note and placing it in a better resonance. And I have been applying it to other "louder" songs as well, with better results.

[ronws]

And following my own personal understanding the these processes, I performed "Sweet Child o Mine" last night for my wife, using all I have learned here so far, including the reduction of air pressure and the understanding what is head voice and the song caused me no strain at all, no tension moving from one part of the range to the next. I wasn't singing OVER the guitar, I was singing with the guitar. When I was done, no tension in the neck, no cracking of the voice while speaking. And she thought it sounded fine. And no, she doesn't have to say that just because she is my wife. Please believe, she has called me to task on something in the past, if she felt the need to do so. And it usually involves her being right and I learn something new, regardless of whatever "it" is.

I have done this song a number times (I've lost count since 1988) but it's kind of been my benchmark. Just as Bob (videohere) relates his progress to Lou Gramm's stuff. It could be for some of us, as I know it was for me, that one certain song became that "magic moment" that, even though we sang before, we then became concerted in our effort to "improve" or more accurately, discover our voice. And I can see in times past where I thouht I had to get a big blast of air going to get the support of the high notes. Thanks to the articles on less air pressure, better control of tension on the chords, and of course, the different techniques of resonance, and here, the distinction between relative singing volume and tonal quality, I have learned to sing this song better.

At first, I couldn't get quite get the connection of the 'sing like you speak' model. It felt disconnected to me but now, I get the point, in my own roundabout way. You don't scream or push air while you are speaking. Neither should you do so while singing. So, when jonpall had linked a video of doing lip bubbles, which I have done before, I didn't get quite the use out of it at the time because I can't make my lips do slow bubbles. I don't have full lips, thanks to my germanic and celtic ancestry. But rather than get hung up on the fact that can't keep my lips from "motorboating," I took the process to mind. Whether my lips motorboat or not, is not the deal. The deal is, controlling the air pressure. That is, the pressure you make to bubble the lips is the air pressure you need to create the note, regardless of range. It is a training thingy to teach me how to apply just enough air pressure, as if I were speaking. By blowing bubbles in either scales or a melody line, I retrain the support I give the notes. On the other hand, I can use my embouchre (lip compression and velocity) to blow into a 1/2 inch EMT (electrical metallic tubing, electrical pipe) and make it sound like a coronet.

What I have found that can do is tongue trills (?), similar to a german r sound or the spanish rr sound. That, I can do slowly, and achieve the training I need.

And, I wonder at times, if using such a limited mic is actually helping me by requiring me to use less singing volume and/or air pressure. Just as years of singing over a guitar with no mic caused me to develope volume that could give a listener a headache. My first wife had said that. I would be on pitch but I was so loud that I could cause headaches.

And for this, I do need to thank this site, this forum, and yes, jonpall. It's such a subtle lesson that you taught me. As well as Steven's formidable technical expertise. It explains why I can sing a note without too much air pressure but it sounds loud, because of the science of acoustics. I thought I knew something of acoustics. The basics, anyway. But Steven educates every time he types something.

[Robert Lunte]

I respect Kevin's work, but I disagree with this definition of Falsetto. Falsetto vs Head Voice is not a matter of the measure of your fold closure (adduction).

Head Voice is a vocal register. It is the sum total of resonators, upper vocal track, mask and essentially, the physical space that which sound is resonating inside of (like the sound hole on an acoustic guitar). Head Voice is the place... People erroneously refer to Falsetto as a register, it is NOT, it is a vocal mode... read on.

Falsetto is a vocal mode. As a vocal mode it is associated with a very specific laryngeal configuration (muscle contractions, ect...), that is characterized, among other things, but an open glottis (the space between the vocal folds). The glottis is open enough to have an excessive amount of respiration flood through the glottis, thus resulting in the "windy" sound of Falsetto. Falsetto is also a vocal mode that ONLY exists in the head voice. Simply put, open the glottis and sound windy in the head voice and your phonating Falsetto mode.

Summary:

1. Falsetto & Head Voice are not the same thing!

2. Head Voice is the "place" you go, its a vocal register, its that higher voice we go to for high notes.

3. Falsetto is NOT A PLACE/Register, it is a term that defines a particular "windy" phonation that people make when they fail to fully close the glottis (fold closure) , while inside the head voice.

4. If you are in the head voice and you achieve fold closure, you are phonating a new vocal mode INSIDE the in "head voice"... your now phonating in some kind of twang or opera vocal mode. "head voice" is not a vocal mode.

You can sing different kinds of vocal modes inside the head voice; falsetto, twang, opera, distortion/twang... to be clear.

I have an article on the main site called, "Falsetto is NOT your head voice"... there is a huge semantic problem in the business. Too many people and unfortunately, too many teachers teaching that Falsetto is the same as head voice and its creating a lot of confusion for students of singing and preventing them from grasping one of the most important concepts to truly becoming great singers, the study and practice of vocal modes.

If your going to get the confusion of Falsetto vs Head Voice figured out, you will stop thinking about Falsetto as a register and start understanding more about vocal modes, what are they how they help singers and teachers understand how to sing better.

Hope this helps...

[Steven Fraser]

I had another one of those danged epiphany thingies.

I was in the main site watching a Kevin Richards video I had part of before but something clicked even better this time, no pun intended. It was on the definitions of falsetto and head voice. Falsetto is a tonal quality that can be applied to any part of your range, low, mid, or high. If it was a range or register, it would only be available at a select range of notes. Head voice and falsetto are separated by differences in what he calls chord approximation, or proximity. In falsetto, the chords meet but not tightly and a lot of air escapes, indeed, giving the tone an airy quality. In head voice, the chords are more closer together and not allowing as much air to escape.

ronws: I don't know Kevin's work at all, so this may seem closed-minded of me. What I have to say now has no import at all to your breakthrough. Breakthroughs are breakthroughs, however we understand them. Congrats that you had one.

But, I must say that the description of Falsetto you mention is not complete. I think there may be a better way to understand what you have done to achieve this new level of singing. Allow me to explain.

To the voice scientist, falsetto is a distinct register of the voice due to a particular muscular coordination occurring in the larynx, as it interacts with the breath energy during phonation. The muscular coordination which characterizes this register, and which results in the familiar tone quality, is one where the thyroarytenoid (TA) muscle does not flex... it is inactive.

Falsetto can be done with a fully-adducted vocal process, even including twang, resulting in a clear, somewhat ringy tone, quite commonly used by classical falsettists. Without the twang, it can be made very softly and delicately. Falsetto can also be done with an incomplete adduction, resulting in a breathy tone quality. For all of them... the key characteristic which defines the register is the vocal process motion which results when the CT is not active.

This definition means that falsetto can be sung over a good range of notes, but not with equal power. Since the TA action is not present, the vocal process will not adjust as it would in modal voice during descending note patterns.

As soon as any amount, however small, of TA engages, the modal voice register (with its glottal wave motion) results with its characteristic tone quality. In certain ranges and volume levels, this can sound so much like well-done falsetto that it is indistinguishable to the casual listener. The resulting sound can be either head voice, or chest voice, depending on the range. There is very little vibrational motion difference between the chest voice and robust-sung head voice in a male singier.

In this configuration, if the adduction is incomplete, the resulting tone quality will be breathy. This is true if done anywhere in the range, even in what would be ordinarily called the chest voice or head voice ranges. I recognize that some authors use this definition ascribed to Richards. I am familiar with it, as it was popularized in the latter half of the 20th C by Cornelius Reid in his interpretation of the classical 'blending of the registers' pedagogy.

Now, to your breakthrough... I think you have found a new balance of laryngeal muscle action and breath energy that is resulting in a more sustainable head voice. A good test for this is to onset a note softly in it, and then do a crescendo. IF it is falsetto... it will most likely crack into full voice, or not cresc at all. If it is head voice, it will crescendo without a break to a firm tone. As you get better at it, the smoothness of your crescendo will improve.

Congrats on your breakthrough. I hope my explanations are of use.

[rockthestagenyc]

Steven - to become more familiar with my work please visit my YouTube channel :

http://www.youtube.com/user/rockthestagenyc

To clarify my position on falsetto and head voice. To me falsetto is a tonality because you can apply it to practically any note in your vocal range from low to high. Just as I can apply grit/distortion or even nasal twang. Therefore it cannot be a defined as a register.

My "definition" of head voice comes from Thomas Appell's book "Can You Sing a High C without Straining?". This is how he describes it. It's head range notes with full voice tonality. This is only accomplished with adduction or fold compression. I also grabbed some of my definition from Brett Manning who clearly defines falsetto vs. head voice as a difference in vocal fold approximation. If you don't compress the folds enough you get a falsetto tonality, compress them enough and you get a full voice tonality.

I have slowly walked away from the chest/head registers point of view and are now leaning more into a "one voice" mentality. Where you don't think of the voice as having separate registers but merely shifts in resonance. Connecting the voice so it seems "registerless" in my experience is a matter of proper air and compression ratios. Where the right amount of air flow meets the right amount of vocal fold compression with the right amount of twang so the upper and lower parts of the voice blend. By adding naso-pharynx resonance we keep the "cut" of the lower notes as we ascend into the inherently weaker upper notes. Added upper resonance gives the upper notes "cut" and projection without any extra effort. You add 10-15db to your voice with the right amount of pharyngeal twang.

Kevin Richards

Rock the Stage NYC

http://www.rockthestagenyc.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/rockthestageny

[ronws]

And ya'll definitely have the better scientific terms. In my own job, of course, I know all my terms, esoteric jargon and scientific. But, in vocal anatomy and terms, I'm not quite literate. Maybe semi-literate. And I kind of thought that you, Kevin, were saying something that was similar to what is said here, you just happen to say in a way that a semi-literate guy can understand. I think of things as physical processes, described by mathematics. To where I could envision a formula, a tensor calculus that would describe the action of the note being resonated and the equation would be similar to one for fluid in a pipe defined by the structure of that pipe, etc. Sorry, I went tangential there. But finding a mental image sometimes help to do the right thing, even if I don't always describe it accurately in the current nomenclature.

I wasn't saying that I thought recently that falsetto was a register. I had described it, before coming here, as a style of singing when describing it as a tonality or even a mode is more accurate than my words. And in learning the new words, changes my mental image of it for the better.

[Martin H]

This debate is one of the reasons why I prefer CVT. They don't use any of the "old bagaged" terms at all....and therefore avoids this confusion. My advice to all teachers with their own method is to use terms which are exclusively used within that method. :)

[Snorth]

It's a wierd clash when different methods use the same word for different things. I'm content with neutral and airy neutral. :P

[Steven Fraser]

This debate is one of the reasons why I prefer CVT. They don't use any of the "old bagaged" terms at all....and therefore avoids this confusion. My advice to all teachers with their own method is to use terms which are exclusively used within that method.

Martin H: That's right. CVT uses completely new terms with their own meanings. So, what mode results if a male singer sings a clear, well-adducted non-breathy tone on the G above middle C without any TA involvement? How about if that same singer includes a very light amount of TA involvement?

[Jens]

Steven post a clip of the two mentioned, would be intresting My guess is that it would be neutral in both cases one being abit offcentered in the mode/ going towards Metallikeneutral.

But the thing is, without soundclips this thread is worthless, then all words become garbage. It's like discussing how a fruit tastes like and everyone has a diffrent fruit in mind.

[Steven Fraser]

Steven - to become more familiar with my work please visit my YouTube channel :

http://www.youtube.com/user/rockthestagenyc

To clarify my position on falsetto and head voice. To me falsetto is a tonality because you can apply it to practically any note in your vocal range from low to high. Just as I can apply grit/distortion or even nasal twang. Therefore it cannot be a defined as a register.

My "definition" of head voice comes from Thomas Appell's book "Can You Sing a High C without Straining?". This is how he describes it. It's head range notes with full voice tonality. This is only accomplished with adduction or fold compression. I also grabbed some of my definition from Brett Manning who clearly defines falsetto vs. head voice as a difference in vocal fold approximation. If you don't compress the folds enough you get a falsetto tonality, compress them enough and you get a full voice tonality.

I have slowly walked away from the chest/head registers point of view and are now leaning more into a "one voice" mentality. Where you don't think of the voice as having separate registers but merely shifts in resonance. Connecting the voice so it seems "registerless" in my experience is a matter of proper air and compression ratios. Where the right amount of air flow meets the right amount of vocal fold compression with the right amount of twang so the upper and lower parts of the voice blend. By adding naso-pharynx resonance we keep the "cut" of the lower notes as we ascend into the inherently weaker upper notes. Added upper resonance gives the upper notes "cut" and projection without any extra effort. You add 10-15db to your voice with the right amount of pharyngeal twang.

Kevin: Thanks for your post. I'll go back and listen to your materials on youtube later today. I am very interested to hear what you have there.

Let me add some clarity of my own: I don't use the terms Head Register or Chest Register. I use Head Voice and Chest Voice, as I do not think these are registers. I think my working understanding of the full voice is quite similar to yours: A modal phonation of wide range, with different resonance characteristics, and with an overall continuity of tone quality.

I think our divergence as to the meaning of the term 'falsetto' is that, unless I misunderstand you, falsetto is a tone quality to you, and to me it is a vibrational motion of the vocal process when no TA is active. As you have said, by your definition, falsetto is not range-limited. In mine, it is limited to the higher notes because of the lack of TA involvement. With no TA coordinating with the registration, there is nothing to manage the shorten/thicking of the vocal process as the scale descends.

As you can probably tell, I think Brett's identification of falsetto as resulting from a difference in vocal fold approximation does not tell the whole story. The thickness and stiffness of the vibrating part of the folds plays a big part in shaping the glottal pulse pressure wave. Thickness and stiffness of the vocal process are the direct result of the action of the CT and TA muscles which are in opposition in the full voice. Yes, adduction (approximation) plays a part, but the registration muscle actions of the CT and TA are bigtime involved. IMO, this aspect of laryngeal muscle coordination, as it results in 'compression', is missing from the definition.

For me, where items become particularly problematic using Brett's definitions are when evaluating what to call the well-adducted but lightly registered sounds in the upper voice, and the partially adducted but heavily registered notes in the lower voice.

In sum, I think Brett glosses over the registration aspects of the production of the full or falsetto tones. By this, I mean that I think he has not represented well the interaction of adduction (approximation), and the registration as they interact with breath energy during phonation. Perhaps it was not his intent to do so, but IMO to not include registration in this consideration is an important oversight.

To your comments about twang, etc., I think its important to remember that twang is a resonance effect, a result of a narrowed configuration of the section of the vocal tract immediately above the larynx. Twang can be applied to any quality of phonation, even to breathily-made tone. I agree on the aspects you ascribe to it, i.e., its utility in creating cut and consistency of tone quality throughout the range.

Interesting discussion. IMO, its important for the differing meanings to be well understood, even if the terminologies we use vary. I thank you for sharing so forthrightly the terms and their meaning to you.

[Steven Fraser]

Steven post a clip of the two mentioned, would be intresting My guess is that it would be neutral in both cases one being abit offcentered in the mode/ going towards Metallikeneutral.

But the thing is, without soundclips this thread is worthless, then all words become garbage. It's like discussing how a fruit tastes like and everyone has a diffrent fruit in mind.

Jens: Great Idea. I'll see if I can do that.

[Martin H]

[so, what mode results if a male singer sings a clear, well-adducted non-breathy tone on the G above middle C without any TA involvement? How about if that same singer includes a very light amount of TA involvement?

To be honest....who knows?

Do we know how much the TA is activated or not on that given note? We would probably have to use an EMG to show it.

The point is....

The G above middle C can be sung in SOOO many diferent ways.

It would probably be Neutral according to CVT. Though if it is without TA involvement they would say that you are using the flageolet coordination but it is still Neutral.

They base their modes mostly on the acoustics...because the anatomical/physilogical are still not fully understood when it comes to the voice, though they are very well aware of what is currently known scientifically of course and implement it in their teachings as well - ex. how to manipulate the vocal tract to change the soundcolour. :)

[ronws]

I'm glad I started this topic. Because I pick up bits and pieces from each viewpoint.

[keoladonaghy]

I respect Kevin's work, but I disagree with this definition of Falsetto. Falsetto vs Head Voice is not a matter of the measure of your fold closure (adduction).

Head Voice is a vocal register. It is the sum total of resonators, upper vocal track, mask and essentially, the physical space that which sound is resonating inside of (like the sound hole on an acoustic guitar). Head Voice is the place... People erroneously refer to Falsetto as a register, it is NOT, it is a vocal mode... read on.

Falsetto is a vocal mode. As a vocal mode it is associated with a very specific laryngeal configuration (muscle contractions, ect...), that is characterized, among other things, but an open glottis (the space between the vocal folds). The glottis is open enough to have an excessive amount of respiration flood through the glottis, thus resulting in the "windy" sound of Falsetto. Falsetto is also a vocal mode that ONLY exists in the head voice. Simply put, open the glottis and sound windy in the head voice and your phonating Falsetto mode.

Summary:

1. Falsetto & Head Voice are not the same thing!

2. Head Voice is the "place" you go, its a vocal register, its that higher voice we go to for high notes.

3. Falsetto is NOT A PLACE/Register, it is a term that defines a particular "windy" phonation that people make when they fail to fully close the glottis (fold closure) , while inside the head voice.

4. If you are in the head voice and you achieve fold closure, you are phonating a new vocal mode INSIDE the in "head voice"... your now phonating in some kind of twang or opera vocal mode. "head voice" is not a vocal mode.

You can sing different kinds of vocal modes inside the head voice; falsetto, twang, opera, distortion/twang... to be clear.

I have an article on the main site called, "Falsetto is NOT your head voice"... there is a huge semantic problem in the business. Too many people and unfortunately, too many teachers teaching that Falsetto is the same as head voice and its creating a lot of confusion for students of singing and preventing them from grasping one of the most important concepts to truly becoming great singers, the study and practice of vocal modes.

If your going to get the confusion of Falsetto vs Head Voice figured out, you will stop thinking about Falsetto as a register and start understanding more about vocal modes, what are they how they help singers and teachers understand how to sing better.

Hope this helps...

Aloha Robert, my Skype session with you this past Saturday was a revelation, and I think a perfect example of how confusion regarding these two terms is so counter-productive to students such as myself. Since we started working together and have been trying to get me through that first passagio at Eb4/E4, I've essentially (in my mind) trying to smoothly transition from chest voice to falsetto, whether it was only partially adducted or completely. It took an incredible amount of mental energy to convince my body to allow that "lift-up/pull-back" move in the way you had been telling me without breaking into falsetto, to know that it was not "pulling chest", and to trust that it wasn't going to blow out my voice. Yes, I had to work through those mental barriers. But once I got there, once YOU got me there, good Lord, it was amazing. Physiologically it feels so much different than falsetto to me I donʻt know how I could have confused the two.

In my mind I had associated that "lift-up/pull-back" move with a move into falsetto because I didn't know any other way to hit those notes. Thanks to you I've discovered that next register and it feels like magic. After a few nights of practice it is much less strained that it was during the lesson. I could say I wish I had gotten there earlier, but all things in their time. Everything that you had been pounding away at me for the past months became crystal clear. Mahalo.

[VideoHere]

Aloha Robert, my Skype session with you this past Saturday was a revelation, and I think a perfect example of how confusion regarding these two terms is so counter-productive to students such as myself. Since we started working together and have been trying to get me through that first passagio at Eb4/E4, I've essentially (in my mind) trying to smoothly transition from chest voice to falsetto, whether it was only partially adducted or completely. It took an incredible amount of mental energy to convince my body to allow that "lift-up/pull-back" move in the way you had been telling me without breaking into falsetto, to know that it was not "pulling chest", and to trust that it wasn't going to blow out my voice. Yes, I had to work through those mental barriers. But once I got there, once YOU got me there, good Lord, it was amazing. Physiologically it feels so much different than falsetto to me I donʻt know how I could have confused the two.

In my mind I had associated that "lift-up/pull-back" move with a move into falsetto because I didn't know any other way to hit those notes. Thanks to you I've discovered that next register and it feels like magic. After a few nights of practice it is much less strained that it was during the lesson. I could say I wish I had gotten there earlier, but all things in their time. Everything that you had been pounding away at me for the past months became crystal clear. Mahalo.

mahalo, i totally relate to what you said..once you get that "feel" of that transition, you will find it so automatically ingrained that you won't remember how "not" to do it. prior to vocal study, i used to muscle my way up notes in my chest register and try to go to notes like a4# (i never even knew what an a4# note was last year lol!!) and push and push my ass off till i finally realized i have got to be doiing something wrong lol!!!! now i can hit a4#'s and even decide what kind of a4#'s i want...we're getting somewhere lol!!!!

[ronws]

Sorry to drag up this old thread but I re-read Steven's post and understand a little better what he is saying. Not that falsetto is a register but, according to the physical structure used, it certainly is more prominent and supported in higher notes, or can have more volume in higher notes. On the other hand, might a baritone phrase that is nearly whispered "sound" like falsetto?

But I think the other part of my epiphany was that a high note can be sung with relative "softness," in volume and timbre, and not be falsetto. Someone might hear it and think erroneously that it is falsetto simply because it doesn't sound like the Axl Rose buzzsaw timbre or a Lou Gramm high that sounds belted.

[VideoHere]

Sorry to drag up this old thread but I re-read Steven's post and understand a little better what he is saying. Not that falsetto is a register but, according to the physical structure used, it certainly is more prominent and supported in higher notes, or can have more volume in higher notes. On the other hand, might a baritone phrase that is nearly whispered "sound" like falsetto?

But I think the other part of my epiphany was that a high note can be sung with relative "softness," in volume and timbre, and not be falsetto. Someone might hear it and think erroneously that it is falsetto simply because it doesn't sound like the Axl Rose buzzsaw timbre or a Lou Gramm high that sounds belted.

ron,

after 3:24, a beautiful sweet non-falsetto, head tone

yeah, lou gramm sure ain't no falsetto! (lol)

[ronws]

Thanks for sharing that, Bob. And, to boot, it's something us old married couples can dance to and be romantic. Although, a month ago, my wife and I were dancing to "Sweet Home, Alabama."

[VideoHere]

Thanks for sharing that, Bob. And, to boot, it's something us old married couples can dance to and be romantic. Although, a month ago, my wife and I were dancing to "Sweet Home, Alabama."

i'm single ron, unlucky in love...it's me, my video store, my singing!!

[ronws]

Here's me, giving my take on the difference between falsetto and head voice, both full volume and soft volume, though still head voice. Though we could say falsetto and full voice, both loud and soft.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8750209/better2.mp3