The Diminished Vowel Space in Classical Singing and the Tug of War between "Speech-True" and Modified Vowel Qualities
2017; Routledge; Volume: 73; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2769-4046
Autores Tópico(s)Phonetics and Phonology Research
ResumoGOOD VOICE QUALITY AND GOOD DICTION are often contradictory. This basically concerns vowels. In classical singing, vowels are often modified in their quality from speech, to make the voice function better as a musical instrument, often to such an extent that vowel identification is impossible and fine detail differences in quality regarding one and the same vowel phoneme in different languages may be neutralized. Many attempts have been made to try to understand why and how vowels need to be modified from a musical point of view; not many attempts have been made from a linguistic point of view to understand the effects of this modification on text delivery and intelligibility.The aim of this article is threefold. I intend to show and explain why there seems to be a smaller phonetic vowel space in classical singing as opposed to normal speech. I also question how vowels are reorganized from speech to singing in order to fit into this new area. And I attempt to present an explanatory model with some predictable rules and give some useful guidelines to help singers improve their diction in singing in general and to better target the correct phonetic quality in any foreign language they want to perform in particular.I base my presentation on results from my 1999 dissertation, Vowel Migration and Equalization in Classical Singing,1 and on my experience in the years thereafter, tutoring students of classical singing in the phonetics of singing.INTRODUCTIONModifying vowels in classical singing is immensely important. When vowels are modified in a correct way, singers will have better resonance across their ranges, more carrying power, better control over dynamics, more ease in upper range singing, and a better blend. But singing is also about text delivery, and although it is true that consonants surrounding vowels are more important for word and text intelligibility than the vowels themselves, it may become difficult to identify words when the modified vowel cannot be identified as the vowel phoneme it is meant to represent.Vowel modification is used in all voice categories and in all ranges. No vowels are really sung the way they are spoken, but the degree of modification is higher in high voices and in upper ranges. As a result of that, sopranos and tenors may be very difficult to understand; basses and baritones have a more intelligible pronunciation. It is often argued that it is easier to have a native-like pronunciation when you sing a language than when you speak it, due to vowel modification. This is true to a certain degree, but dependent on how much you need to modify. We can often tell whether the singer we are listening to is native or not, also when the singer is a soprano. A singer, no matter what voice category or what range needs to focus on good and intelligible diction and native-true vowel qualities. How important is this, and how can a singer manage it? I asked the famous Welsh baritone singer, Bryn Terfel, who is known for his good diction and also for his native-like pronunciation in any language in which he chooses to perform. This is his answer:I adamantly believe that unless people can understand what you are saying when you are singing, then you are cheating the audience. There is nothing more annoying than listening to someone sing and not even being able to work out what language they are singing in, because they concentrate so little on diction and so much on producing beautiful sounds ... Because of my firm belief in the importance of words I do make every effort to match the correct phonetic quality in whichever language I sing.2But, as already mentioned, it is more difficult to have a clear diction if you are a soprano. According to Scotto di Carlo, a bass or baritone singer might achieve about 100% text intelligibility if he is good, whereas a coloratura soprano probably will not achieve more than 20%, no matter how much she focuses on good diction. …
Referência(s)