Describing Sounds

As we sing and study singing, it is important to be able to describe what we hear as specifically as we can, so that we can re-create the best parts of our sound later. 

Some examples of sound descriptions might be healthy, damaged, raspy, free, forced, nasal, non-nasal, aspirate, pressed, dark, bright, in-tune, out-of-tune, clear, vibrant, straight-tone, etc.

In Your Voice, An Inside View by Dr. Scott McCoy, he lists some objective terms to describe the singing voice. These descriptions of sounds can help us identify individual vocal qualities, but also to hear whether a singer has any physical tension affecting sound.

• Bright --- Dark: This alludes to the overtones of a singer's voice. The balance between Dark and Bright in Italian is called chiaroscuro, and is an identifying quality of the "Classical Singing Voice."
• Twang --- Loft: This is a term not referring to a singer's accent, but rather the position of the soft palate (more to come!). A Lofty voice would be one with a significantly raised soft palate, such as Julia Child's voice (listen to her speak).
• Clear --- Breathy: This describes whether the vocal folds are fully meeting when singing. A breathy or aspirate sound is extra air passing through and sometimes used stylistically.
• Clean --- Raspy: A raspy voice happens when we have a cold, or when the vocal folds are swollen. This is an easy way to recognize if a voice is healthy or needs rest. Sometimes raspiness is used as a style in music like Heavy Metal or Grunge.
• Healthy --- Damaged: Obviously, we want to keep our voices healthy for the long-term, but a damaged voice is sometimes the recognizable quality in pop singers' voices.
• Vibrant --- Straight-Tone: An even, consistent vibrato or a vibrant tone is a good sign that your vocal folds are healthy. A straight-tone sound can be used for an expressive device.

While taste in music is subjective, we can observe specific voice qualities objectively and tailor our voices to specific techniques to suit the style we wish to sing. 

For example:

- Dolly Parton sings in the Country or Bluegrass Style - her style of singing is most often a clear, has twang, and slightly nasal tone, sometimes a little vibrant, but mostly straight-tone. Her language is English and it has a Southern twang. (Listen on YouTube)

- Renaissance Choral Music is a historic practice of singing - this style of singing is a clean, lofty, and straight-toned sound which rarely uses vibrato. The language can be Latin, English, Italian, French or sometimes German with very clear pronunciation of text. (Listen on YouTube)

- Luciano Pavarotti sings Opera and Classical Music - this style of singing is most often a clear, throaty sound with no nasal tones. This style uses vibrato consistently throughout the range. The language could be Italian, German, or English. Dialect will depend on the context of the story, Pavarotti is Italian so he mainly uses standard Italian with very clear pronunciation.  (Listen on YouTube)

- Sam Smith is a pop singer - his style of singing is aspirate, sometimes pressed and with raspy sounds for specific, intentional moments that coincide with lyric choices. Sam usually uses a straight-tone sound with very little vibrato, if any. He sings in English with a colloquial American accent ("gonna" instead of "going to" etc). (Listen on YouTube)

In the comments section, describe some of the qualities of the voice of your favorite singer.