btherl
New member
For those confused about vocal registers, here is the answer: They are confusing! And different people use different terminology. Someone pointed me to a 2004 paper on vocal registers:
http://www.ncvs.org/pas/2004/pres/thurman/thurman.htm
To get the text click on the pdf link next to "link to speaker's notes". Here's an extract discussing a particular register:
"At the present time, various voice professionals label this register as head, falsetto, loft, or light mechanism. The CoMeT committee referred to this register as Register #3. In prescientific vocal pedagogy, this register is labeled head by some, and falsetto by others. Still others use falsetto for register #3 and head for register #4."
The paper uses a muscular definition, where the lower register (or chest) involves the TA muscles more than the CT muscles, and the upper register begins when the CT muscles dominate. Falsetto (male) and Flute (female) registers begin when the TA muscles release altogether, and only the CT muscles are active.
The TA muscles shorten and thicken the vocal cords, giving the chest voice sound. The CT muscles lengthen and thin the vocal cords, giving the "head voice" sound. These are the primary muscles involved in singing.
It also discusses incomplete adduction (not fully connected vocal cords) in each register, as well as hyperadduction (squeezed vocal cords). The falsetto in the paper is not that used in SLS, where it is used to describe incomplete adduction.
It also has a discussion of breaks, explaining that a smooth transition between lower and upper registers relies on increasing CT contraction while reducing TA contraction in the right proportions. If the proportions are not correct, then there will be an abrupt and audible change to find a new equilibrium, along with a sudden change in tone quality.
None of this is hugely useful for singing (better to take lessons from a skilled teacher), but it's all very interesting
http://www.ncvs.org/pas/2004/pres/thurman/thurman.htm
To get the text click on the pdf link next to "link to speaker's notes". Here's an extract discussing a particular register:
"At the present time, various voice professionals label this register as head, falsetto, loft, or light mechanism. The CoMeT committee referred to this register as Register #3. In prescientific vocal pedagogy, this register is labeled head by some, and falsetto by others. Still others use falsetto for register #3 and head for register #4."
The paper uses a muscular definition, where the lower register (or chest) involves the TA muscles more than the CT muscles, and the upper register begins when the CT muscles dominate. Falsetto (male) and Flute (female) registers begin when the TA muscles release altogether, and only the CT muscles are active.
The TA muscles shorten and thicken the vocal cords, giving the chest voice sound. The CT muscles lengthen and thin the vocal cords, giving the "head voice" sound. These are the primary muscles involved in singing.
It also discusses incomplete adduction (not fully connected vocal cords) in each register, as well as hyperadduction (squeezed vocal cords). The falsetto in the paper is not that used in SLS, where it is used to describe incomplete adduction.
It also has a discussion of breaks, explaining that a smooth transition between lower and upper registers relies on increasing CT contraction while reducing TA contraction in the right proportions. If the proportions are not correct, then there will be an abrupt and audible change to find a new equilibrium, along with a sudden change in tone quality.
None of this is hugely useful for singing (better to take lessons from a skilled teacher), but it's all very interesting
