Chest Voice, Falsetto, and Mix: Oh My!
�The Science of Vocal Registers
Dana Zenobi, DMA - Assistant Professor of Music (Voice)
School of Music
Jordan College of the Arts
Today’s Adventure�
Defining Vocal Register
Mechanical Aspects
Acoustic Aspects
More Nuanced Models
Take Aways
Framing the Discussion�
All Models Are Incomplete
Disagreement Persists
Among Experts
My Experiential Background:�College-Level Solo Voices
Classical Style
Terminology Salad�
William Vennard:
Zacconi (1596): Voce di petto, voce di testa
Behnke (1886): Lower thick, upper thick, upper thin, small
Van den Berg (1963): Chest, head or mid, falsetto, Strohbass, whistle
Vennard (1967): Chest, middle, head (SSA) or chest, head falsetto (TBB)
Heavy Mechanism vs. Light Mechanism
Hollien (1974): Pulse, model , loft
MIller (2000): Chest, middle, upper, flageolet (SSA) or Chest, full head, falsetto (TBB)
Roubeau (2009): M0 (fry), M1 (chest), M2 (falsetto), M3 (whistle)
Source: Christian T. Herbst. Registers - The Snake Pit of Vocal Pedagogy, Part 1. Journal of Singing. Nov/Dec 2020. p. 175.
What IS a Vocal Register?�
Manuel Garcia II (1847)
A series of consecutive and homogenous tones going from low to high, produced by the development of the same mechanical principle, and whose nature differs essentially from another series of tones, equally consecutive and homogenous, produced by another mechanical principle.
Scott McCoy: Your Voice, An Inside View
3rd Edition, Inside View Press, 2019. p. 230
Contiguous Pitches
Produced in Same Physiological Manner
Share the Same Basic Timbre
Mechanical / Muscular Aspects�
MODE 1 / CHEST / “STEAK”
Thyroarytenoid muscle dominant
Vocal folds shorter/thicker
Cover, body, and muscle layers vibrate
More horizontal spectral slope
Longer closed phase
Images: Titze, Ingo and Verdolini Abbott - via Ragan, Kari. A Systematic Approach to Voice: The Art of Studio Application. Plural Publishing. 2020. p. 118
MODE 2 / HEAD/FALSETTO / “PAPER”
Cricothyroid muscle dominant
Vocal folds longer/thinner
Cover and edge vibrates
Steeper spectral slope
Shorter closed phase
Look and Listen�Mechanics: Vocal Fold Contact Time
EGG - Electroglottograph
Sends electrical pulse across glottis. Tracks contact of vocal folds each cycle of vibration.
Baritone (Mode 1) vs Treble (Mode 2)
Contact Quotient: 50-70%
Contact Quotient: 30-40%
Closing Phasease
Closing Phasease
Vocal Folds Touching
Vocal Folds Touching
Opening
Phasease
Opening
Phasease
Glottis Opense
Glottis Opense
Look and Listen�Acoustics: Relative Strength of Upper Overtones
Spectral Slope/Tilt/Roll Off: Rate at which higher harmonics decrease in intensity.
Mode 1:
Shallower Spectral Slope
Mode 2:
Steeper
Spectral Slope
Amplitude
(dB)
Frequency
Hz
Higher frequency harmonics have more amplitude in Mode 1 and less amplitude in Mode 2
Laryngeal Registration Exercises�
Simple Registration Switch Exercise - Bel Canto Boot Camp
Source: Rachelle Jonck and Derrick Goff. The Vaccai Project: A practice diary exploring the historical performance practice of the bel canto style inspired by the lessons of Nicola Vaccai. Bel Canto Boot Camp. 2022, p. 28.
Laryngeal Registration Exercises�
More from Bel Canto Boot Camp Advanced Switch Exercise (treble)
Yodel Exercise (baritone key)
: �
Source: Rachelle Jonck and Derrick Goff. The Vaccai Project: A practice diary exploring the historical performance practice of the bel canto style inspired by the lessons of Nicola Vaccai. Bel Canto Boot Camp. 2022. p 73, 87
Laryngeal Registration Exercises�
Registration Exercises - Kari Ragan
Head Voice Isolation - Sing Do, re, mi, re do on /u/ piano, then /o/ or /a/ forte. Begin on C5.
Chest Voice Isolation (trebles) - On /væ/: Speak four quarter notes. Find brassy, forward, megaphone forward resonance. Then sing do, re, mi, re do, starting on A3. Progres to ascending broken thirds on same syllable.
Blend - Sing a five-note descending stepwise pattern on /u/ followed by /o/, /i/ and /a/. Allow registration to change from head to chest. Begin on A4.
Source: Kari Ragan: ASystematic Approach to Voice: The Art of Studio Application, 2020. Plural Publishing. p. 130, p. 139, p. 135.
Let’s Complicate the Model�
Source: Christian Herbst and Jan Svec
MODE | TWO |
MODE | ONE |
Thin
Thick
Weaker
Adduction
Stronger
Adduction
Round Vowels
SOVTEs
Humming
Acoustic Aspects�Timbre Perception - Psychoacoustics
Auditory Roughness: Perceived buzziness in the timbre. Lower pitches tend to have more auditory roughness / buzz/ brassiness. Pitches sung with greater auditory roughness are perceived as “chestier” regardless of laryngeal function.
Higher pitches tend to have less auditory roughness because there are fewer closely clustered harmonics above the fundamental. Pitches sung with less auditory roughness are perceived as “headier” and more pure/smooth regardless of laryngeal function.
Source: Ken Bozeman. The Case for Acoustic Registers. Journal of Singing. November/December 2022. 181-187. KenBozeman.com Logarithmic Power Spectrum. Ian Howell: Parsing the Spectral Envelope. PhD Dissertation, New England Conservatory. 2016.
Acoustic Aspects�Tone Color and Emotional Affect
Absolute Spectral Tone Color (Chart): Frequency ranges are perceived as having vowel like qualities.
Sources: Ian Howell. Parsing the Spectral Envelope. www.IanHowellCountertenor.com
Ken Bozeman. www.Ken Bozeman.com: Chiaroscuro Whisper Vowel Modeling.
Affects for Cultivating Upper Overtone Colors (Chest/Buzz)
Affects for Cultivating Lower Overtone Colors (Head/Smooth)
Acoustic Aspects�Formants, Resonances, & Vowels (Oh My!)
Resonance: An intrinsic property of a vocal tract that can boost certain frequency ranges. Changes when vocal tract shape changes.
Formant: The boosted resonances in the radiated sound spectrum. First two influence vowels. Top three influence carrying power.
ACOUSTIC REGISTRATION (Bozeman)
Open Timbre: Two or more harmonics below first formant.
Close Timbre: One harmonic below first formant.
Whoop Timbre: Zero harmonics below first formant.
Let’s look at it: KenBozeman.com, Listen with Madde Synthesizer.
Sources: Ian Howell. Parsing the Spectral Envelope. www.IanHowellCountertenor.com
Ken Bozeman. www.Ken Bozeman.com. Voice Pedagogy Resources.
Look and Listen�Acoustic Registration /a/ vowel
Sources: Ian Howell. Parsing the Spectral Envelope. www.IanHowellCountertenor.com
Ken Bozeman. www.Ken Bozeman.com. Voice Pedagogy Resources.
Open Timbre
Close Timbre
Consistent Shallow Spectral Slope
First
Formant
Close Timbre
Whoop
Timbre
Application: Vowel Choices�
ACOUSTIC RESONANCE STRATEGIES
Acoustic “Chestiness”: Choose vowels with higher first formant frequencies, like /a/ /ɛ/ and /ɔ/. More harmonics below first formant will create more open timbre.
Acoustic “Headiness”: Choose vowels with lower first formant frequencies like /i/ /u/ and /o/. Fewer harmonics below first formant will create a more closed or whoop timbre.
More Nuanced Models�
Ragan, Kari. A Systematic Approach to Voice: The Art of Studio Application. Plural Publishing. 2020. p. 119
Take Aways�
Registration is Complicated!
Experiment with Laryngeal Function
Playing With Acoustics Can Really Open Up Options
Resources��
NATS Science-Informed Pedagogy
See Articles in Journal of Singing By:�Christian Herbst & Jan Svec
Kenneth Bozeman