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Entries by Gary Catona (140)

Tuesday
Dec182012

Scientism

Enthusiasts for science go too far when they argue for the omniscience of science as though the discipline has finally arrived at some form of self-perfection from which all issues, of whatever kind, can be judged - absolutely - to be precisely such and such by its infallible methods. This form of intellectual arrogance - sometimes called "scientism" - is NOT a reputable scientific position, but an unscientific bias about science that many scientists hold-to almost like a faith-based religion.

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Thursday
Dec132012

Weak, Uncoordinated Larynx Muscles And Pitch Control 

Let's talk about laryngeal limitations for a moment. The number one concern that beginning singers have is the requirement to “sing-in-tune.” Let's see what this means. When you sing a note, or make a vocal sound of any kind, the vocal folds make two basic kinds of adjustments. The first adjustment involves the two vocal folds moving together (approximating or adducting). The second adjustment centers on the vocal folds acquiring specific lengths and tensions during singing.

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Tuesday
Dec112012

Frank Sinatra’s Vocal Transformation 

When Nelson Riddle, the renowned arranger and conductor, first heard Sinatra sing, he described his voice as sounding like that of a “muted violin.” Indeed, his voice was thin, reedy, and lacked resonance and vocal thrust. But as Sinatra began to sing with—and compete with—Nelson Riddle’s thick and lush orchestrations, his voice underwent significant changes. It was during this period (1950s-60s) that he developed his characteristically colorful and resonant tonal quality. His voice also gained in power and drive.

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Thursday
Dec062012

Invisible Singing And Proprioception

Natural, untrained singers are virtually oblivious to the very active process that is occurring inside their own bodies. For them, they simply open their mouths and singing occurs spontaneously. What is the source of this general disconnect between a singer and his or her voice? It’s worth revisiting the two reasons why singers are disconnected from their voices.

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Tuesday
Dec042012

Follow The Bouncing Voice Box

When a singer has good vocal technique, his larynx should move (float) up and down depending on the sort of singing that he is performing. For instance, his larynx should lower somewhat for strong, lower register, low note, singing, and, by contrast, his larynx should rise to some extent if he is singing falsetto—and there are many variations in between with respect to the vertical movements of his larynx. 

Moreover, certain vowel sounds can influence the vertical movements of the larynx: the "OO" vowel (as in "boot"), for example, can cause a singer's larynx to drop to some degree, as compared to, for instance, the "EE" vowel (as in "beet"), which typically has the opposite result.

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