singing without vibrato
hi, since vocal cords vibrate, it's kind of impossible to sing without vibrato; what is usually meant by that is singing without the wide vibrato that characterizes so much western art music performance practice. Different cultures and different time periods have various approaches to degree and type of vocal vibrato, but singing early music, of course, poses the probably never-to-be-solved problem of figuring out what they actually sounded like. But in any case, it's unlikely to have been either, say, Bel Canto or Peking OPera cheers, Judith -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -+ Hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network http://shamash.org A service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies, http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/ * * FREE JEWISH LEARNING * * Shamash invites you to join MyJewishLearning.com, a comprehensive, objective, authoritative and interactive learning resource in all areas of Judaism. Free membership via http://www.myjewishlearning.com/shamash -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -=
Re: singing without vibrato
At 07:44 AM 9/3/03, Judith R Cohen wrote: hi, since vocal cords vibrate, it's kind of impossible to sing without vibrato; what is usually meant by that is singing without the wide vibrato... Not so. Vibrato is only tangentially related to vibration. Of course, all sound production entails vibration, but the predominant characteristic of vibrato -- whether wide or narrow -- is the slight =waver= or =variation= in pitch (along with subtle modulations of volume and tone). It is very possible to sing without vibrato. _ Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -+ Hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network http://shamash.org A service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies, http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/ * * FREE JEWISH LEARNING * * Shamash invites you to join MyJewishLearning.com, a comprehensive, objective, authoritative and interactive learning resource in all areas of Judaism. Free membership via http://www.myjewishlearning.com/shamash -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -=
Re: singing without vibrato
starting long held notes with the purity of no vibrato is exacting, demanding but also exhilarating. singing with less vibrato is something I have tried to master more and more these days.. I find the sound more dangerous and therefore more exciting. fascinating comments everyone On Wednesday, September 3, 2003, at 12:33 PM, Sam Weiss wrote: Not so. Vibrato is only tangentially related to vibration. Of course, all sound production entails vibration, but the predominant characteristic of vibrato -- whether wide or narrow -- is the slight =waver= or =variation= in pitch (along with subtle modulations of volume and tone). It is very possible to sing without vibrato. www.theresatova.com -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -+ Hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network http://shamash.org A service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies, http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/ * * FREE JEWISH LEARNING * * Shamash invites you to join MyJewishLearning.com, a comprehensive, objective, authoritative and interactive learning resource in all areas of Judaism. Free membership via http://www.myjewishlearning.com/shamash -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -=
Singing without vibrato
Thank you to Cantor Sam Weiss for his response on singing without vibrato. This isn't the first time he's answered questions or concerns that I've brought up. The choral director in my experience who stressed singing without vibrato was Gregg Smith - a famous choral director, but one of several I've experienced who weren't singers. The motivations were A) blend, and B) intonation. Smith had - and I'm sure still has - a careful ear for intonation, but he would tell those singing sharp to darken the tone to correct it, and those singing flat to smile in order to brighten the tone to correct it. I've long felt that this was like taking one medicine for a variety of ills, and that intonation problems could have more than just two origins. I suppose to Mr. Smith hearing singing with vibrato was like seeing a variety of colors when one wished to see just one. And in my training in early music it was at first stressed that singing should be done with no vibrato, but then later that was deemed to be an extreme position, and some vibrato was allowed, particularly in the music of Claudio Monteverdi. As Adrianne Greenbaum and I have been discussing off-list, there's an explanation that vibrato has roots in embellishment, so that, at the turn of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Monteverdi would be appropriate as a beginning point for vibrato. To tie it all together: at about the time I knew Mr. Smith, 35 years ago, he was recording Gabrieli's music in St. Mark's. Fred Blumenthal [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -+ Hosted by Shamash: The Jewish Network http://shamash.org A service of Hebrew College, which offers online courses and an online MA in Jewish Studies, http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/ * * FREE JEWISH LEARNING * * Shamash invites you to join MyJewishLearning.com, a comprehensive, objective, authoritative and interactive learning resource in all areas of Judaism. Free membership via http://www.myjewishlearning.com/shamash -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -=
