Newsgroups: rec.music.early
Subject: Vibrato in Singing
From: "James D. Feiszli" <jfeiszli@SILVER.SDSMT.EDU>
Date: 10 Nov 1992 15:34:05 -0700
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Subject: Re: vibrato in singing early music
 
 
I'm a voice teacher whose main interest is early music
(plainsong and early Renaissance).  If you have studied
physiology and anatomy and done any reading on voice (not by
singing teachers, but by speech pathologists and medical
researchers -- I'm married to one), you will find many of
the answers to the questions and assumptions that are flying
around this discussion.
 
1) Phonation occurs when air passes through the vocal folds
and they are closed to the point that they vibrate, much as
a balloon does when filled with air and then squeezed at the
top while the air is released.  The musculature around the
vocal folds which with the folds and accompanying cartilege
make up the whole larynx or "voice box", is what causes the
folds to approximate and, thus, produce a steady vibration.
This wonderful little mechanism can apply force from all
sides ("X" and "Y" axes, if you wish to visualize it so, and
all points around them).
 
2) The more air pressure that comes up from below the larynx
(let's call this the "Z-axis"), the less pressure must be
applied at the larynx to create the same pitch frequency.
The opposite holds true: less breath support requires more
larygeal muscle action to achieve the same result.
 
3) So, all singing (good, bad, ugly) is done on a continuum
between too much "breath" and too much "muscle"  No larygeal
pressure and the folds do not approximate enough to vibrate.
If you take a deep breath and exhale no sound will occur
unless your crico-thyroid muscles close the glottis enough
to create an increased airflow which makes the vocal folds
vibrate.  Too much larygeal pressure and the folds will be
closed tightly, resisting the air pressure.  If the air
pressure increases enough to blast the folds into vibration
you will have what is termed a "glottal attack".  The
resulting tone is generally tenser than if the larygeal
pressure was reduced.
 
4) Now, vibrato (!!!) occurs when larygeal pressure is
reduced to the least extent necessary for a regular pitch
frequency to be attained.  This slackening of pressure from
around the vocal folds allows some slight fluctuation of
pitch (the vibration frequency is less regular because the
controlling mechansim is less rigid)  Of course, in order to
achieve the same pitch with less larygeal pressure, the
breathing apparatus must take up the slack.  The more air
that moves through the windpipe, the less pressure is needed
at the vocal folds.
 
5) It does not take a genius to realize that untrained
singers for the most part will not be utilizing their
breathing apparatus in the most optimum fashion.  Very few
"trained" singers do.  Therefore, a  "natural" state doesn't
exist.  Most singers sing with too little breath and too
much larygeal muscular action.  Young singers who sing a lot
-- whether they be Vienna Choir Boys, Australian aborigines,
or American fifteen-year-olds trying to sound like thirty-
year-olds because they want to win a beauty contest) -- are
doing so without a fully matured breathing apparatus.  To
produce a big sound (read "operatic"), a young singer must
over-compensate by utilizing larygeal pressure.  Even to
create a merely clear sound (as most choral directors want),
young singers must apply more pressure at the vocal folds to
get them to vibrate at an even frequency without letting air
through (which is considered a "breathy" sound).  These
vocal production habits become part and parcel of the young
person's muscle memory and are most difficult to change
(ever try to tie your shoelaces or neckties in a different
manner than normal?).  I spend a majority of my time
(dealing ages 19-40) trying to change old habits in singers.
 
6)  Good singers usually have some slight vibrato (I admit I
haven't heard Kirkby).  I can hear it in all my recordings
of the Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer, Kings Singers, Solesmes
monks, etc., etc.  But good singers (read "those who sing
with a solid foundation in vocal technique and use a healthy
tone") NEVER have a great deal (excessive amount) of
vibrato.  Opera singers are an exception and I have problems
including them in the category of good singers because they
often develop vocal production problems due to the sheer
amplitude of sound they must produce.  Wonder why that opera
soprano has such huge vibrato? -- completely open throat,
tons of breath coming through, just enough larygeal pressure
to stay close to pitch.  Hell, she has be heard above a
forty-piece orchestra.  But (and here you go, all you
flamethrowers out there), I submit to you that a voice with
absolutely no vibrato is not only unhealthy (poor technique)
but also not as attractive a sound as those that have some
vibrato.  THAT'S why all the recorder players (saxophone,
trumpet, vielle,...you name it) are always trying to emulate
the human voice.  It has a timbre created not by rigid
materials but by human flesh and is thus much warmer and
attractive (more "human" sounding?).  The more rigid the
larynx area, the more tense and less warm the tone.
 
7) CAVEAT: Keep in mind that most tone and resonance is a
result of bone structure, pharynx, and oral cavity
manipulation.  Vowels and consonants are shaped by the
tongue position, openness of the oral cavity, etc.  The
sound produced at the larynx is a very thin sound.  We're
talking about human tissue that is about 18mm long in males
and 10 mm long in females (hence the nearly octave
difference in those voices -- of course boys' vocal cords
have not yet grown to that length).  However, the more air
coming through the cords (and less pressure at that point
because less is needed), the "fuller" the sound will be.
 
Finding the optimum balance will allow a good singer to
choose what type of tone and how much vibrato to use.
 
8) Others have already commented on the fact that vibrato
is a phenomenon more common in Western music and that
this is most likely due to the fact that our pitch distinctions
are not as fine as those in Eastern cultures.  When one must be
able to sing and hear quarter-steps, there is very little tolerance
for pitch fluctuation on a tone.
 
These are not just observations based on twenty years of
professional singing and teaching.  If you want some reading
material, most of it from the speech pathology and medical
fields, email me and I'll try to dig up some titles for you.
 
 __________________________________________________________________________
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| Jim Feiszli, Director of Music               | jfeiszli@silver.sdsmt.edu |
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