equalization
the spectrum, thus avoiding an exaggerated concentration of acoustic strength in the upper region of the spectrum. To retain the same relatively lateral mouth posture appropriate to the speech range, while raising the pitch of the singing voice to upper-range tessituras, can only result in overly bright, thin, shrill timbre. Therefore, in upper range one no longer sings with the same buccal aperture as pertained in the speech-inflection range. Drastically alter-ing the resonance spectra is detrimental to vowel integrity and to the chiaroscuro balance. A gradual process is the answer.
The mouth gradually opens (that is, the jaw slightly lowers) as one goes from normal to forceful communication. I select a homey illustration to make the point. If the baritone has a close personal relationship with lovely young Jane, when he speaks intimately to her, saying “Jane,” his mouth is in the lat-eral positions of the vowels [e] and [i] (or [i]), spoken as a glide. If Jane walks away, he calls out “Jane!” at a higher pitch level, and his mouth opens slightly.
If Jane has had it with him, and strides away in anger, he calls loudly “JANE!!”
In so doing, his mouth opens yet farther. However, it does not assume the positions it would have if he to were to call out the names of “John,” “Joan,”
or “June.” (He wants only Jane to respond, not John, Joan, or June!) The point is that, even in heightened phonation, vowel integrity can be maintained. It can do so only if the vocal tract is permitted to maintain the proper balances among the resonators that allow for clean linguistic definition. This process is often termed “vowel-tracking.”
“Covering” must serve to modify the vowel but ought not to destroy the in-tegrity of the vowel. Where does the mouth begin the gradual process of ad-ditional opening? For the lyric baritone, that point generally corresponds to the B3pitch region (the primo passaggio, see chapter 1). However, the extent of the change in the vocal tract at that point in his scale is still minimal. A major problem for many lyric baritones is in opening the mouth excessively at the primo passaggio under the impression that it is necessary to do so to
“cover” the tone. Then the production becomes too heavy for an easy ascent to the secondo passaggio that occurs around E4or E4.
The character of his instrument determines the extent to which a singer needs to “cover” at the secondo passaggio. Some baritones require a minimal degree of vowel modification at the pivotal registration notes, others a bit more. None need to make the dreaded “Ah-ooga!” sound of an old automobile horn for an intervallic leap from lower to upper voice. Ought every lyric bari-tone to modify the vowel exactly at the same note in the scale as do certain other baritones? Will all dramatic baritones modify at a given pitch? Will the bass-baritone and the bass conform rigidly to comparable specific “cover”
points in the scale? The answer to all of those queries is a resounding “No!”
Vowel modification is one of the most individualistic maneuvers of the male elite singing voice. The more dramatic baritone will undergo a gradual
mod-57 vowel modification, energization, & range equalization
ification process beginning around B3, the bass-baritone at A3, and the bass at A3or at G3. A more marked modification will take place roughly at the sec-ondo passaggio, approximately at the interval of a fourth higher respectively for each fach. Yet, no universal rule is applicable.
My own preference, which I firmly believe to be in keeping with historic in-ternational pedagogy, is that natural modification of the vowel—together with an increase in breath energy—automatically assists in “covering” the phonation. There is no need for drastic alteration at the level of the pharynx or the larynx. Modifying results from natural acoustic accommodation. In proper modification, the larynx and the pharynx synergistically cooperate;
the vocal tract responds in comfortable fine-tuning without distortion.
The expression “cover” is found in every major national school of singing:
copertura in Italian; couverture in French; Deckung in German; cover in English.
There is even some physical reality about the expression “to cover,” in that the epiglottis, in response to movement of the tongue as the vowel-spectrum progresses from /i/ to /u/, more completely obscures the visibility of the vocal folds on the back vowels. This can be witnessed by fiber-optic examination.
There is, incidentally, a wide divergence in the degree of epiglottic lowering from technique to technique, and from singer to singer.
The term “covering” is closely related to other frequently found expres-sions of international voice pedagogy: voce aperta and voce chiusa—literally
“open voice” and “closed voice” (see chapter 16). These phenomena have solely to do with acoustic adjustments and do not refer to an open or a closed throat. “Open” phonation is the unmodified sound that results from raising the pitch without modifying the vowel. “Open singing” is described in several languages as voce bianca, voix blanche, weisse Stimme, and white voice.
There is an increase of breath energy as the baritone, bass-baritone, or bass leaves the speech-inflection range. (Please remember that increased en-ergy does not denote a boost in volume nor in vocal effort.) It is impossible to separate acoustic aspects of the singing voice from breath-management events. The classic term “appoggio” refers to the coordination of breath pac-ing and resonance.
As a rule, in ascending pitch the front (lateral) vowels tend to require less adjustment because they already have about them the “chiusa” aspect of copertura. The back (rounded) vowels—being acoustically lower in upper partials than the front (lateral) vowels—may seem to require greater modifi-cation as the zona di passaggio is experienced.
Each individual instrument must discover the proper degree of copertura on lateral and rounded vowels. For every singer, the desire for an even, un-interrupted scale will determine at what point the vowel is to be modified, and the extent of that modification. In some respects, this is the most telling tech-nical maneuver the low male voice must learn. Of course, ignoring the exis-tence of register pivotal points makes the unified scale impossible.
A word of warning is in order. One of the most pressing problems in the teaching of singing comes from too great a concentration on the events of registration. A singer can become so focused on registration that the natural musical flow is interrupted. The even scale can only be established by com-plete awareness of the need for registration adjustments but without undue concentration devoted to its accomplishment. Gradual modification of the ascending vowel, and an increase in breath energy, produce the desirable even scale, the hallmark of the classical singing voice.
59 vowel modification, energization, & range equalization
A
dditional commentary on male registration is now in order.Perhaps the most crucial area of the male singing scale, histori-cally designated as the zona di passaggio (the passage zone), lies between the speech range and the upper-mid range of the singing voice, an area also termed voce media (see chapter 1).
Ancient fragments of music from classic Greece and from Hebrew and Christian chant were restricted almost entirely to the speech-inflection region.
As vocal boundaries expanded in response to cultural demands, singers began to sing in ranges beyond the speech span. Today’s singing artist must com-mand an impressive extension of the vocal scale. The inexperienced low-voiced singer tends to rely on “the call of the voice” to negotiate pitches that lie above the speech range, because that is what he does in normal life when he makes voiced sounds above the primo passaggio. He then depends on a quality termed “chest” or “modal.” There are teachers of singing who advo-cate using this “call of the voice” beyond the regions of healthy function.
A widely differing approach, equally detrimental, is advocated in certain other quarters: the entire upper male range is based on falsetto quality (the imitative sound of the female voice in the male instrument). International historic voice pedagogy avoids both pitfalls through a gradual balancing of timbre as the vocal scale progresses upward. Sudden marked changes in quality are shunned.
The process of vowel modification begins at the point where ascending pitch encounters the zona di passaggio. Vowel modification enables the ne-gotiation of pitches that lie above the passage zone. Several interchangeable international expressions well describe the vowel-modification process. One such term is aggiustamento (adjustment). As has been pointed out, registra-tion is not an event that occurs suddenly for all vowels at an exact pivotal note