Bel Canto - 500 Years Young: A study in the practical application of ​bel canto​ technique to twentieth-century vocal works in English

<p>As a young singer, it is inevitable that one is bombarded with the history of singing. ​Not only are we asked to listen to vocalists of previous ages, but we are also encouraged to analyse their methods and scrutinise their seminal performances in order to better identify the strengths of each singer​. Curious about the extent to which the lauded seventeenth and eighteenth-century ​bel canto vocal techniques hold relevance to contemporary classical singing and newer compositions, my research focused on whether these well-tried techniques are transferable. While the application of ​bel canto principles to the ​bel canto repertoire are clearly pertinent, my investigation concentrated on the feasibility and applicability of transferring these vocal techniques to modern repertoire, specifically songs and arias written in English, my mother tongue. This exegesis details my exploration of the application of such techniques to these two different sets of repertoire, and aims to shed light on the experience of the process of applying the ​bel canto ​principles to such works, and the potential benefits afforded by the practice of them.</p>

Bel Canto - 500 Years Young: A study in the practical application of ​bel canto​ technique to twentieth-century vocal works in English

<p>As a young singer, it is inevitable that one is bombarded with the history of singing. ​Not only are we asked to listen to vocalists of previous ages, but we are also encouraged to analyse their methods and scrutinise their seminal performances in order to better identify the strengths of each singer​. Curious about the extent to which the lauded seventeenth and eighteenth-century ​bel canto vocal techniques hold relevance to contemporary classical singing and newer compositions, my research focused on whether these well-tried techniques are transferable. While the application of ​bel canto principles to the ​bel canto repertoire are clearly pertinent, my investigation concentrated on the feasibility and applicability of transferring these vocal techniques to modern repertoire, specifically songs and arias written in English, my mother tongue. This exegesis details my exploration of the application of such techniques to these two different sets of repertoire, and aims to shed light on the experience of the process of applying the ​bel canto ​principles to such works, and the potential benefits afforded by the practice of them.</p>

Music Performance Anxiety in Adolescent Student Singers

<p>This project seeks to sidestep the debilitating effects of music performance anxiety by cross-referencing knowledge from the areas of adolescent psychology with literature on MPA in singers in general in order to target adolescent singers early in their training. As well as considering the causes, symptoms and treatment of music performance anxiety, the project examines the role of the natural anxieties of adolescence in triggering music performance anxiety and seeks to chart a way through. Its intended readership is the classical singing teacher.</p>

Music Performance Anxiety in Adolescent Student Singers

<p>This project seeks to sidestep the debilitating effects of music performance anxiety by cross-referencing knowledge from the areas of adolescent psychology with literature on MPA in singers in general in order to target adolescent singers early in their training. As well as considering the causes, symptoms and treatment of music performance anxiety, the project examines the role of the natural anxieties of adolescence in triggering music performance anxiety and seeks to chart a way through. Its intended readership is the classical singing teacher.</p>

Ensemble timing and synchronization

Timing and synchronization represent fundamental elements of ensemble playing. Empirical research has demonstrated remarkably tight synchronization in ensembles, including instrumental and classical singing formations. Nevertheless, asynchronies between co-performers during ensemble playing are inevitable and, to some extent, desirable: musicians deliberately co-vary their timing and synchronization to attain mastery in expressive ensemble performance. By reviewing published studies on ensemble synchrony, the contextual factors that may impact synchronization are presented. Considerations of ensemble timing are then broadened to better recognize variations by musical tradition. Ultimately, the chapter reflects on the relationships between intrapersonal and interpersonal synchrony in ensemble, from the lowest levels of the temporal hierarchy, including neural activity, to the higher levels comprising breathing and cardiac activities, and musicians’ body gestures. This overview provides a conceptual framework to explore aspects of context as well as the physiology and the psychology of collective music-making, suggesting a fruitful avenue for further investigations.

Comparison of Four Different Warm-up Tasks, Using Special Tools Also

"Introduction: In our investigation, we compared four different warming-up sections on the singing voice, always using the same task-melodies. In the first section, we used traditionally only “on vowel articulation based” – called vocalization – tasks. In the second section we used resonant tube, which is used for voice therapy mostly. In the third sections, the participants used the melodies for humming. In the fours we used - by us developed - unusual tool, called “nose-pipe” for singing voice warm-up. The theoretical basis of the first section is the so-called “linear-model” of the singing phenomenon, why the basis of the further three sections is the “non-linear” models as well as also the experiences of the SOVT (semi-occluded vocal tract) exercises, and practice. Methods: on all the four sections the same 33 people took part. 20 of them were females and 13 males. All the participants attended several years of classical singing education. We organized four independent sections one-week apart. The participants came on the sections without previous warming-up for the singing voice. Before the warming-up at first, we recorded three vowels – [y, u, ɒ] (according to IPA) – for females on G4, for males on G3 - sustaining for longer than 2 second-long, with comfortable volume, then came the 20’-25’ minutes long warming-up procedures. After the procedure, we repeated the recordings of the same vowels on the same pitches. For every warming-up procedure we used the same melodies. Recording the sustained vowels we used TASCAM DR-07 MKII equipment. With the help of a stage, the microphones were held before the mouth of every participant, at the same – 10cm – distance. For generating the FFT figure of the sound image and for analyzing we used SIGVIEW 2.4., to appreciate the values of the parameters we used the SPSS 20 software. We analyzed one-second-long part – in sound level well balanced - of the records. The investigated parameters were: mean of the FFT signal between 0-21kHz, 0-12kHz as well as 2-4 kHz; number from the noise overriding overtones; the volume of f0, and H1H7 overtones. We detected also during the warm-ups reached voice ranges. Results: according to our results all the sections have beneficial effects on the singing voice. Most of the significant effects on the analyzed parameters have the humming and the nose-pipe sections by every vowel. The reached voice range was the longest at the fours, nose-pipe section. Conclusion: we can enhance that each of the four sections is useful. The combined, conscious application of them is correct. Using the new tool – called nose pipe – has dominant preference for developing the voice range of the singing voice. Keywords: vocalization, resonant tube, humming, nose-pipe, voice range "

ENTRETIENS AVEC CINQ ÉCRIVAINES ROUMAINES DE LANGUE FRANÇAISE

Cristiana Eso is a Franco-Romanian poet and artist born in Constanta, Romania and emigrated at the age of fifteen to France. After earning a master’s degree in French literature at the Faculty of Letters of Nancy, she studied classical singing at the Lorraine Conservatory. She has published several collections of poetry in Romanian or in bilingual editions and she is a member of the Writers’ Union of Romania. This chapter contains two interviews with her.

Stylistic pluralism and the experiences of classically trained teachers of singing in the Republic of Ireland

Throughout much of the 20th century, the Western classical vocal aesthetic dominated tertiary singing training in the Republic of Ireland. At the turn of the 21st century, and reflecting similar movements internationally, Irish institutions, examining boards and private teaching studios diversified to include musical theatre and popular styles of singing in degree programmes and syllabi. The purpose of this study was to further understand voice teacher perceptions of these shifts in pedagogical culture. This research questioned how classically trained teachers of singing negotiate teaching across styles in popular music genres, and also questioned if implicit, embodied cultural ideas about classical singing defined their educative approaches to popular music vocals. Data were collected through in-depth qualitative interviews with classically trained teachers of singing in the Republic of Ireland. Analysis of interview data revealed a number of themes which are discussed within a theoretical framework drawn from the work of Bourdieu, revealing that the participant teachers are involved in processes of negotiation and re-negotiation of personal and institutional habitus.