ABSTRACT
A good understanding of appropriate vocal pedagogy is essential not only for singers and vocal teachers, but also for choral music conductors. It is very important to understand the characteristics of each vocal part of the choir and apply ...
ABSTRACT
A good understanding of appropriate vocal pedagogy is essential not only for singers and vocal teachers, but also for choral music conductors. It is very important to understand the characteristics of each vocal part of the choir and apply the appropriate vocal strategy to the choral music. Compared to experience-based teaching methods, studies of vocal acoustics present a new systematic perspective on vocal resonance strategies for men and women.
In this thesis, we investigate how resonance strategies for men and women should vary according to vowels and pitches using the latest research in vocal acoustics and absolute spectral tone color (ASTC) theory and present appropriate training methods. In register-mixing theory, the transition of the vocal register is mainly due to changes in the vocal folds vibration mode, therefore the vocal folds should be adjusted according to the pitch to facilitate the smooth register transition. On the other hand, in acoustic vocal register theory based on vocal acoustics, appropriate resonance strategies are mainly related to the interaction between the first formant of the vocal track resonance of given vowel and the harmonics of vocal folds vibration, and depend on the vowel, pitch, and male or female voices. Therefore, for the efficient resonance of the singing voice, the adjustment of the vocal track resonance, which systematically vary with pitch and vowel, is much more important than the control of the vibration mode of the vocal folds.
Acoustic resonance strategies can be applied to both solo singers and choir singers. The blending of voices is very important in choir. We have discussed resonance strategies and the unification of vowels and tone colors, and described various other strategies to blend voices. Beginning from a motet of Catholic church in Renaissance period to a modern mass, we have suggested appropriate resonance strategies to each voice part for the give choral music as examples.
In most vocal pedagogy literature, the concept of acoustic vocal register based on vocal acoustics introduced in this thesis and the latest research results on active vowel modification and passive vowel migration for each vowel and pitch are often not considered. We believe that combining the results of vocal acoustics research with existing vocal practice methods will give better achievements in choral music in church choirs.
Keywords: Choral music in Catholic Church, Vocal acoustics, Vocal pedagogy, Vocal register transition, Acoustic vocal register, Vowel turn over, Formant tuning, Vocal track resonance