Information AboutFalsetto |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT FALSETTO | |
| opera terminology | |
| singing | |
| voice registers | |
| human voice | |
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TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION During normal speech or singing, the Vocal Folds (when viewed with a stroboscope) are seen to contact with each other completely during each vibration, closing the gap between them fully, if just for a small length of time. This closure cuts off the escaping air. When the air pressure in the Trachea rises as a result of this closure, the folds are blown apart, while the vocal processes of the Arytenoid Cartilage s remain in Apposition . This creates an oval shaped gap between the folds and some air escapes, lowering the pressure inside the trachea. Rhythmic repetition of this movement a certain number of times a second creates a pitched note. This is how the chest voice is created. In falsetto, the vocal folds are seen to be blown apart and in untrained falsetto singers a permanent oval orifice is left in the middle between the edges of the two folds through which a certain volume of air escapes continuously as long as the Register is engaged (the singer is singing using the voice). In skilled Countertenors , however, the mucous membrane of the vocal folds contact with each other completely during each vibration cycle. The arytenoid cartilages are held in firm apposition in this voice register also. The length or size of the oval orifice or separation between the folds can vary, but it is known to get bigger in size as the pressure of air pushed out is increased. The folds are made up of elastic and fatty tissue. The folds are covered on the surface by Laryngeal Mucous Membrane which is supported deeper down underneath it by the innermost fibres of the Thyro-arytenoid Muscle . In falsetto the extreme membranous edges, ie the edges furthest away from the middle of gap between the folds appear to be the only parts vibrating. The mass corresponding to the innermost part of the thyro-arytenoid musscle remains still and motionless. Some singers feel a sense of muscular relief when they change from chest voice to falsetto. HISTORY Use of falsetto voice in western music is very old. Its origins are difficult to trace because of ambiguities in terminology. In a book by GB Mancini, called ''Pensieri e riflessioni'' written in 1774 , falsetto is equated with 'voce di testa' (translated as 'head voice'). Possibly when 13th century writers distinguished between chest, Throat and head registers (pectoris, guttoris, capitis) they meant capitis to refer to what would be later called falsetto. By the 16th century the term falsetto was common in Italy. The physician Giovanni Camillo Maffei in his book ''Discorso della voce e del modo d'apparare di cantar di garganta'' in 1562 explained that when a bass singer sang in the soprano range, the voice was 'called falsetto'. The falsetto register is used by male Countertenor s to sing in the Alto and occasionally the Soprano range, and was before women sang in Choir s. Falsetto is occasionally used by Early Music specialists today, and regularly in British cathedral choirs by men who sing the alto line. |
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