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Post by lawrence on Mar 31, 2023 15:31:20 GMT -5
STRAIGHT TONE SINGING IN CHORAL MUSIC During the Baroque period of the 17th and early 18th century, straight tone was the standard way of singing. Choirs of that time consisted of castrated young boys, the Castrato. The purpose of castrating these boy singers initially had to do with the fact that women were forbidden to sing in church choirs. The Castrato, who sang the soprano and alto parts, were in very high demand in choral music and in opera production as well. In modern times, of course, women have taken their place in church and secular choirs. Nevertheless, straight tone singing has remained the preferred technique. There is a lot of information on the purpose of straight tone singing in adult choirs. Suffice it to say that the sound/tone is much cleaner and "purer", and creates an aesthetic of "blend", sounding like “one voice”. It is very beautiful when all the voices are in sync. Choir members are selected for their ability to sing straight tone accurately for the sake of harmonious blend. Imagine 50 or more voices singing vibrato with varying frequencies and techniques. I learned to sing "straight tone" when in a college choir that sang predominately Baroque music. What about children's choirs? Young boys and girls who enjoy singing and are selected to join grade school choirs haven't developed a significant vibrato, if at all. They naturally sing straight tone, that being the absence of vibrato. Here is an example: Jackie's grade school choir. She is front row center....the only one moving to the music . There is no vibrato being produced by these kids, at least none that is noticeable. Next listen to The Tabernacle Choir consisting of 360 members. They are trained to sing straight tone at a high level of accuracy which is necessary in producing the sound required of them. No vibrato if any is noticeable
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2023 1:59:53 GMT -5
STRAIGHT TONE SINGING IN CHORAL MUSIC During the Baroque period of the 17th and early 18th century, straight tone was the standard way of singing. Choirs of that time consisted of castrated young boys, the Castrato. The purpose of castrating these boy singers initially had to do with the fact that women were forbidden to sing in church choirs. The Castrato, who sang the soprano and alto parts, were in very high demand in choral music and in opera production as well. In modern times, of course, women have taken their place in church and secular choirs. Nevertheless, straight tone singing has remained the preferred technique. There is a lot of information on the purpose of straight tone singing in adult choirs. Suffice it to say that the sound/tone is much cleaner and "purer", and creates an aesthetic of "blend", sounding like “one voice”. It is very beautiful when all the voices are in sync. Choir members are selected for their ability to sing straight tone accurately for the sake of harmonious blend. Imagine 50 or more voices singing vibrato with varying frequencies and techniques. I learned to sing "straight tone" when in a college choir that sang predominately Baroque music. What about children's choirs? Young boys and girls who enjoy singing and are selected to join grade school choirs haven't developed a significant vibrato, if at all. They naturally sing straight tone, that being the absence of vibrato. Here is an example: Jackie's grade school choir. She is front row center....the only one moving to the music . There is no vibrato being produced by these kids, at least none that is noticeable. Next listen to The Tabernacle Choir consisting of 360 members. They are trained to sing straight tone at a high level of accuracy which is necessary in producing the sound required of them. No vibrato if any is noticeable I like belcanto singing more.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 1, 2023 15:22:06 GMT -5
Bel Canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song"). "The Harvard Dictionary of Music by Willi Apel says that bel canto denotes "the Italian vocal technique of the 18th century, with its emphasis on beauty of sound and brilliance of performance...." Composers such as Bach and Handel were preeminent in that period. As, pointed out earlier, straight tone singing was the traditional vocal style from the 17th to mid 18th century.
The following is Suite No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Bel Canto Choir Vilnius, in straight tone of course. "The work, composed for violin, now known as the "Air on the G String" attracted this nickname in 1871 when the German violinist August Wilhelmj (1845-1908) made a violin and piano arrangement of the second movement of this orchestral suite. By changing the key to C major and transposing the melody down an octave, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string." The song is sung vocalise (there being no lyrics)..."da ba da ba da".
This is another wonderful example of the exquisite beauty of straight tone singing by The Stellenbosch University Choir of South Africa, ranked by Interkultur as the best amateur choir in the world. Interkultur is the world's leading organizer of international choir competitions and festivals since 1988. Listen especially to the sopranos soaring above the choir. "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan
In summary, "straight tone is a technique used most often in singing non-classical music such as pop, rock, jazz, blues, country, R&B, and other popular genres. It's also common in musicals, choral performances, and traditional forms of folk music where pronounced vibrato might sound out of place". As shown, it is a vocal style that has been a tradition in choral music since the 17th century including classical. Therefore, in my estimation, it is not inappropriate to sing straight tone when performing classical pieces, or to characterize it as "bel canto" (beautiful singing). Jackie demonstrated the technique with her innovative Puccini medley, which has been her standard encore since she was 18 years old. Her performance is not straight tone throughout, rather referred to as "straight tone to vibrato" which she exhibited most dramatically in the transition between O Mio Babbino Caro and Nessun Dorma, and on the 3rd and 4th "vincero". The opera aficionado would vehemently disapprove. Whether one approves or disapproves, or whether one thinks it is beautiful or not beautiful, straight tone ought to be appreciated as more difficult to perform than vibrato, requiring exceptional accuracy of pitch, particularly through a long sustained note, and of course it requires great breath control among other considerations.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2023 3:10:49 GMT -5
Bel Canto (Italian for "beautiful singing" or "beautiful song"). "The Harvard Dictionary of Music by Willi Apel says that bel canto denotes "the Italian vocal technique of the 18th century, with its emphasis on beauty of sound and brilliance of performance...." Composers such as Bach and Handel were preeminent in that period. As, pointed out earlier, straight tone singing was the traditional vocal style from the 17th to mid 18th century. The following is Suite No. 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Bel Canto Choir Vilnius, in straight tone of course. "The work, composed for violin, now known as the "Air on the G String" attracted this nickname in 1871 when the German violinist August Wilhelmj (1845-1908) made a violin and piano arrangement of the second movement of this orchestral suite. By changing the key to C major and transposing the melody down an octave, Wilhelmj was able to play the piece on only one string of his violin, the G string." The song is sung vocalise (there being no lyrics)..."da ba da ba da". This is another wonderful example of the exquisite beauty of straight tone singing by The Stellenbosch University Choir of South Africa, ranked by Interkultur as the best amateur choir in the world. Interkultur is the world's leading organizer of international choir competitions and festivals since 1988. Listen especially to the sopranos soaring above the choir. "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan In summary, "straight tone is a technique used most often in singing non-classical music such as pop, rock, jazz, blues, country, R&B, and other popular genres. It's also common in musicals, choral performances, and traditional forms of folk music where pronounced vibrato might sound out of place". As shown, it is a vocal style that has been a tradition in choral music since the 17th century including classical. Therefore, in my estimation, it is not inappropriate to sing straight tone when performing classical pieces, or to characterize it as "bel canto" (beautiful singing). Jackie demonstrated the technique with her innovative Puccini medley, which has been her standard encore since she was 18 years old. Her performance is not straight tone throughout, rather referred to as "straight tone to vibrato" which she exhibited most dramatically in the transition between O Mio Babbino Caro and Nessun Dorma, and on the 3rd and 4th "vincero". The opera aficionado would vehemently disapprove. Whether one approves or disapproves, or whether one thinks it is beautiful or not beautiful, straight tone ought to be appreciated as more difficult to perform than vibrato, requiring exceptional accuracy of pitch, particularly through a long sustained note, and of course it requires great breath control among other considerations. There are, it should be clear, more choristers than soloists. For a choir it is enough to sing even with little vibrato, you don't hear that either. A note without vibrato is in principle no more difficult to sing than a note with vibrato. It depends individually on the singer which is harder. The requirements are the same for both. The term "bel canto" is nowadays used almost exclusively for opera singing.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 3, 2023 13:24:31 GMT -5
There are, it should be clear, more choristers than soloists. For a choir it is enough to sing even with little vibrato, you don't hear that either. A note without vibrato is in principle no more difficult to sing than a note with vibrato. It depends individually on the singer which is harder. The requirements are the same for both. The term "bel canto" is nowadays used almost exclusively for opera singing. In reply to my comments in "The Emergence and development of Jackie's vibrato Part 1", you stated, "The creation and development of Jackie's vibrato is normal, that's the case with almost every singer." And, as vocal coach, Tamara Nozik, says in the video below, "Vibrato in the voice comes naturally with a healthy voice. You can't force yourself to sing vibrato, it just comes." Vibrato results from the pulsing or periodic relaxation of the vocal muscles under tension when one is singing. It occurs naturally in order to protect the vocal folds when singing a long sustained note. Since straight tone is the intentional "absence of vibrato", a singer must eliminate vibrato when singing straight tone. This creates tension with no relief. Therein lies the difficulty in learning to sing with straight tone. It generally requires concentration, effort, and practice to acquire a good straight tone technique that is healthy, strong and endures through a long sustained note. Moreover, the challenge is staying on pitch. Vibrato is in actuality a slight variation of the pitch itself, an obvious wavering of the voice as the vocal muscles pulsate to relieve tension. The pitch variance remains centered around the actual written pitch, and the listener automatically hears the average of the pitches being sung. "It is more difficult for many to maintain exact pitch on a sustained note when singing straight tone", because there is no relief of the muscle tension and because a straight tone must be absolutely accurate to be beautiful, with no variance of the pitch. The primary "requirement" of vibrato and straight tone is to be on pitch. An accomplished singer can sing a sustained note beautifully on pitch with either vibrato or straight tone, thus able to produce the sustained "straight tone-to-vibrato" technique Jackie exhibited in her performance of the Puccini medley, posted above, or sing an entire songs with straight tone. Of course different singers have different challenges. Directors of great choirs like The Tabernacle Choir, St. Olaf's Choir and others demand that their members be trained in straight tone technique, for one very important reason, among others of course....creating the aesthetic of blending as one voice, as I said earlier. I know this from experience as a former choir member and a soloist. This vocal coach explains briefly the difference between singing solo and singing with a choir.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 4, 2023 0:09:57 GMT -5
There are, it should be clear, more choristers than soloists. For a choir it is enough to sing even with little vibrato, you don't hear that either. A note without vibrato is in principle no more difficult to sing than a note with vibrato. It depends individually on the singer which is harder. The requirements are the same for both. The term "bel canto" is nowadays used almost exclusively for opera singing. In reply to my comments in "The Emergence and development of Jackie's vibrato Part 1", you stated, "The creation and development of Jackie's vibrato is normal, that's the case with almost every singer." And, as vocal coach, Tamara Nozik, says in the video below, "Vibrato in the voice comes naturally with a healthy voice. You can't force yourself to sing vibrato, it just comes." Vibrato results from the pulsing or periodic relaxation of the vocal muscles under tension when one is singing. It occurs naturally in order to protect the vocal folds when singing a long sustained note. Since straight tone is the intentional "absence of vibrato", a singer must eliminate vibrato when singing straight tone. This creates tension with no relief. Therein lies the difficulty in learning to sing with straight tone. It generally requires concentration, effort, and practice to acquire a good straight tone technique that is healthy, strong and endures through a long sustained note. Moreover, the challenge is staying on pitch. Vibrato is in actuality a slight variation of the pitch itself, an obvious wavering of the voice between two notes very close together as the vocal muscles pulsate to relieve tension. The pitch variance remains centered around the actual written pitch, and the listener automatically hears the average of the pitches being sung. "It is more difficult for many to maintain exact pitch on a sustained note when singing straight tone", because there is no relief of the muscle tension and because a straight tone must be absolutely accurate to be beautiful, with no variance of the pitch. The primary "requirement" of vibrato and straight tone is to be on pitch. An accomplished singer can sing a sustained note beautifully on pitch with either vibrato or straight tone, thus able to produce the sustained "straight tone-to-vibrato" technique Jackie exhibited in her performance of the Puccini medley, posted above, or sing an entire songs with straight tone. Of course different singers have different challenges. Directors of great choirs like The Tabernacle Choir, St. Olaf's Choir and others demand that their members be trained in straight tone technique, for one very important reason, among others of course....creating the aesthetic of blending as one voice, as I said earlier. I know this from experience as a former choir member and a soloist. This vocal coach explains briefly the difference between singing solo and singing with a choir. The natural vibrato appears when you sing a longer note, after a phase without vibrato. It is not in the tone from the beginning. Singing with continuous vibrato is learned and not natural. As I said, there are more singers who sing with a straight tone than singers who don't. In my singing club are enough singers who sing in choir and solo, i can only sing in choirs, who find it harder to control vibrato than to sing with a straight tone. Learning to control the vibrato, which also includes singing with a straight tone, involves much more, speed, strength, etc. So in principle it is no more difficult to sing Notes with a straight note than with vibrato. Especially singing with a straight tone to vibrato is easy. Every average singer does that. In Pop, Jazz, Folk Country, Rock etc. But it's actually about Jackie's vibrato and not about singing with a straight tone. For the listener it is a question of preference whether it sounds better for him. If Jackie values vocal virtuosity, a transition into a crescendo or a trill would be interesting. Just like Witney Houston did.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 4, 2023 14:37:04 GMT -5
But it's actually about Jackie's vibrato and not about singing with a straight tone. For the listener it is a question of preference whether it sounds better for him. If Jackie values vocal virtuosity, a transition into a crescendo or a trill would be interesting. Just like Witney Houston did. Thanks for bringing the conversation back to Jackie. The discussion of straight tone was going nowhere. I'll agree to let the members and guests determine what makes sense to them on the subject, and move on. A reminder of what this thread is about: Part 1 demonstrated the development of Jackie's vibrato from age 7 to 14. Part 2 looks into the ways she has altered her vibrato since then.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 6, 2023 12:51:45 GMT -5
If Jackie values vocal virtuosity, a transition into a crescendo or a trill would be interesting. Just like Witney Houston did. Who says Jackie doesn't value vocal virtuosity? She sings a trill in her recording of "Vocalise" at age 14. Btw, a trill is not an alteration of vibrato. Vibrato wavers around a single note. A trill happens when a vocalist moves back and forth between two adjacent notes very quickly. @ 1:20 and 4:24 In what song in Jackie's repertoire from age 15 to the present would a trill have been "interesting"?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2023 5:13:46 GMT -5
If Jackie values vocal virtuosity, a transition into a crescendo or a trill would be interesting. Just like Witney Houston did. Who says Jackie doesn't value vocal virtuosity? She sings a trill in her recording of "Vocalise" at age 14. Btw, a trill is not an alteration of vibrato. Vibrato wavers around a single note. A trill happens when a vocalist moves back and forth between two adjacent notes very quickly. @ 1:20 and 4:24 In what song in Jackie's repertoire from age 15 to the present would a trill have been "interesting"? Trill: Over the duration of the main note, the notated main tone and the overlying secondary tone (semitone step or whole tone step) are sung in rapid alternation. What Jackie sings in "Vocalise" is a "lover mordent". Jackie also uses an "upper murdent" in the live version of "Blue" in Nashville. If a singer wants to show how virtuosic, versatile, flexible her singing is, there are many possibilities. Such embellishments make a song more interesting, and that's something Jackie needs more interest.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 7, 2023 13:25:30 GMT -5
Trill: Over the duration of the main note, the notated main tone and the overlying secondary tone (semitone step or whole tone step) are sung in rapid alternation. What Jackie sings in "Vocalise" is a "lover mordent". Jackie also uses an "upper murdent" in the live version of "Blue" in Nashville. If a singer wants to show how virtuosic, versatile, flexible her singing is, there are many possibilities. Such embellishments make a song more interesting, and that's something Jackie needs more interest. "Upper" or "lower" mordent are terms used to determine whether a trill begins with the upper note or the lower note. There is no trill in Jackie's performance of blue, and if there were, it would be totally out of place. Trill is an ornamentation/embellishment, not a variation of vibrato. Moving on, Please offer something demonstrating some way Jackie has altered her vibrato which is the topic of this thread. "Blue" performed in Nashville...the first song of the video @ 0:40
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2023 3:50:00 GMT -5
A "mordent" is a trill over three notes, a real trill has more than three notes and only goes upwards from the basic tone. Minute 2:24 of the video Jackie sings an "upper mordent" she goes from D5 to F5 and back again. Why is a "mordent" out of place there? In Burn, Jackie sings a trill. Minute 2:23. Jackie also uses the vibrato as an ornament. What else do you expect to say about Jackie's vibrato? Jackie controls it in speed and strength. That's all you can write about it. In pop or jazz, such embellishments are called riffs or runs, I think.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 8, 2023 11:51:41 GMT -5
The subject of this thread is "ways Jackie has altered her vibrato". Any discussion of trills, mordents, riffs, runs or any other vocal "embellishment" is irrelevant. What else do you expect to say about Jackie's vibrato? Jackie controls it in speed and strength. That's all you can write about it. Thank you for your contribution.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 10, 2023 12:00:58 GMT -5
JACKIE'S VIBRATO STYLE WHEN SINGING CLASSICAL SONGS The following are excerpts from an online article: Vibrato -Vocal Technique, Voice teacher/singer, Patrick DeGennaro, NYC. There Are Two Styles of Vibrato, the Classical and the Contemporary. Vibrato is a natural oscillation in pitch. The two most important characteristics of vibrato are: * Extent -the variation in pitch above and below the note one is singing. * Rate -the number of oscillations per second Moderate vibrato involves a variation (extent) of about a half step (a quarter step on either side of the pitch) and a rate between 5 and 8 oscillations per second.
Scientific studies demonstrate that there is no such thing as a truly “straight" tone because there is always a slight variation in pitch and/or amplitude. “Straight tone” is the listener’s perception, but it is not physiologically attainable. Instead, we refer to 'straight' tone as MINIMAL vibrato.
There are substantial differences in how vibrato is used according to style. In most classical singing moderate vibrato is used throughout a phrase. In operatic solos, vibrato extent may be wider and quite noticeable. Both extent and, to a lesser degree, rate can be controlled by the singer.... In most contemporary styles moderate vibrato (sometimes, even wider vibrato) is not used until the end of a phrase on the final, sustained note. The shift from minimal to moderate vibrato typically occurs after starting the note, and there is a widening of extent as the note is sustained. Often, this is accompanied by an increase in sound level. The final note thus blossoms and vibrato ia noticeable to the listener, particularly in contrast to minimal vibrato during most of the phrase. _______________________________________________________________________ Jackie's use of vibrato in classical songs had changed considerably from when she performed Dream With Me in Concert at age 11 to when she performed her Puccini aria combination on World's Got Talent at age 18. I've chosen 4 songs spanning a seven year period demonstrating Jackie's vibrato style compared with that of familiar classical singers. "Nessun Dorma": Performed by Sarah Brightman followed by Jackie's performance for PBS Great Performances. At age 11, Jackie's vibrato was more classical, moderate with very little minimal extent. "Dormi Jesu": Recorded by Kathleen Battle followed by Jackie's recording on her Awakening album. At age 14, Jackie's vibrato is more contemporary, with her deliberate and selective use of minimal vibrato. "Attesa": Performed by Sarah Brightman followed by Jackie's video recording from her Two Hearts album. At age 16, Jackie continued to use minimal vibrato, and her rate had slowed some. Along with that, her interpretation is more ethereal than it is classical (my perception). "O Mio Babbino Caro": Performed by Kathleen Battle followed by Jackie's performance of her Puccini aria combination. At age 18, her style was emphatically contemporary with demonstrative use of minimal vibrato (straight tone). Her rate had slowed noticeably from what it was at age 11. I think this performance would be referred to as "pop opera" ("a song, theme or motif from classical music stylized as pop"). Jackie's contemporary style of vibrato has remained when singing classical songs, evident in her standard concert encore (Puccini arias) and her Christmas concert performance of "How Great Thou Art" at age 22.
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Post by lawrence on Apr 19, 2023 11:01:14 GMT -5
THE VERSATILE SINGER:
A GUIDE TO VIBRATO & STRAIGHT TONE
by
Danya Katok
Advisor: Philip Ewell
Straight tone is a valuable tool that can be used by singers of any style to both improve technical ideals, such as resonance and focus, and provide a starting point for transforming the voice to meet the stylistic demands of any genre. By employing a resonant, minimally vibrated, balanced sound as the core of the voice, the versatile singer can stylistically unbalance the voice by layering colors and effects in ways appropriate for many types of singing. In order to fully understand the inner workings of vibrato and how it can be healthily minimized, my discussion of vibrato and straight tone is broken down into four parts: (1) acoustics; (2) physiology; (3) pedagogy; and (4) style.
Perception is a key ingredient to understanding the full extent of the marriage between vibrato and straight tone. Straight tone is not completely without vibrato and the role of perception plays a large role in this acoustic deception. Equally as important is considering the physiological ways that vibrato can be produced—be it through natural or manufactured means. The mechanics behind vibrato are directly connected to the various types and degrees of vibrato, straight tone being one of them. Straight tone can take its place among the vocabulary of natural vibratos once these mechanical differences are taken into account. Vocal exercises designed to uncover a singer’s innate, core sound can be used to define straight tone for each individual singer and begin the road to versatility in singing. (Italics are mine)
"How Straight Tone Singing can Make You A Better Singer"
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Post by lawrence on May 23, 2023 15:23:36 GMT -5
This is EXTRAORDINARY!
Renee Fleming singing Howard Shore's "Twilight and Shadow", sung in Elvish (The Lord of the Rings) with minimal vibrato, requested of her by Shore. Extremely rare for an opera singer....perhaps never before or since?
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