Music perception
The singing voice is the most subtle musical instrument. A large degree of emotional impact is explained by the fact that both aesthetic and semantic information affect a person’s mind and feelings, the latter being distinguished, as a rule, also by a high artistic value, if outstanding poetic works are chosen for it.
The physical data of singing voices include, first of all, high-altitude (frequency) and dynamic ranges. The altitude range is usually less than two octaves, and dynamic – 35 dB. The timbre properties of a singing voice are determined by the composition and intensity of the overtones. According to the frequency range, there are three main groups of female voices, three – male and two – children’s.
Voice type Frequency range, Hz
Soprano 262 … 1318
Mezzo-soprano 220 … 1048
The contralto 175 … 784
Tenor 131 … 587 Continue reading
Questions and answers on musical vocals
How fast can you learn to sing?
It all depends on your voice natural data. Usually, vocal training takes 2-5 years. But in fact, the improvement of the voice continues throughout life, if regular classes and training are held.
What stage of voice development is fundamental?
Starting period! Without laying the foundation, do not expect success. Expressing aphoristic, teaching in youth is stone carving, in old age drawing on the sand. The first vocal steps outline and consolidate neuromuscular coordination. If the initial coordination is flawed, then with further straightening, these connections do not disappear, but are only covered by new skills and recur in adverse conditions. Initial impressions often create shock associations, produce persistent conditioned reflexes at the subconscious level. Continue reading
Basics of psychoacoustics
The task of the sound engineer, together with the composer and performer, is to create a sound image and transfer it to the listener with the help of sound recording, sound amplification, broadcasting, soundtrack of cinema and television, etc.
Various directions of modern acoustics are involved in the problems of origin, transmission and perception of sounds, one of which is musical acoustics, which studies the creation of musical sounds (acoustics of musical instruments, acoustics of speech and singing, electroacoustics); transmission of sounds (architectural acoustics, sound recording, amplification and broadcasting, etc.) and sound perception (psychoacoustics – acoustics of hearing). Continue reading
Hits are born at home
The problem of learning is one of the most important, but, unfortunately, the least lit, which often leads to deplorable results in terms of creative growth: without setting the proper basis at the very beginning, it will not be easy to get on the right track. The first thing you need to decide is how seriously do you plan to master musical science. If the case is limited to the execution of simple melodies, then, in fact, any device will do – regardless of the type of mechanics and the number of octaves. But if your intentions are more solid, then this is completely different. In such a situation, an instrument with 88 keys (7 octaves) of “heavy” hammer mechanics is necessary, which, as far as tactile sensations are concerned, is as close as possible to a real piano one. Continue reading
Musical performance and its problems
Performance as a special kind of artistic activity does not exist in all arts. In painting,
for example, it is inseparable from creativity: to create a picture is what it means to “fulfill” it. Once, in music, the creation and performance of a piece were not separated from each other: in ancient times, a musician sang or played what he himself composed and improvised.
But the creation of a painter or sculptor is embodied in the material that preserves it for centuries, and the material of music (sound) lives while it sounds. Continue reading
