Thanks for the information, Edwin. Much to think about.

I'm listening to singers of all kinds with more acute ears these last few days. My wife brought the two aforementioned books by Cornelius Reid home from the library yesterday. The Bel Canto book is a slim but highly informative volume and A Dictionary of Vocal Terminology : An Analysis is a BIG volume (8 ½ by 11 and an inch and a half thick—about 450 pages of fairly small print). Weighs a ton! I'm going to be doing some intense and extensive reading for awhile.

Also, I'm going to have to do a bit of fairly critical analysis of some of what Reid says that flies in the face of things I have been taught and that I know from experience do work. For example, on page 277 of the Dictionary, after a fairly long discussion, he states that "'Placement' is a concept without basis in fact" and "should be eliminated if training procedures are to be constructive." And at one point, he states that telling a singer to "place" the tone is as pointless as telling a violinist to put the tone of his instrument up against the ceiling.

But—I can do it. I can feel it. And I can hear it. More important, perhaps, is that when I do it, others can hear it. And I can hear whether or not other singers are doing it. Classical singers, almost universally. Folk and popular singers, some do, some don't. But it makes a big difference in both the quality of the tone and in projection: being able to sing, even fairly softly, and bounce the sound off the back wall of a sizable auditorium.

As I recall especially hearing him live, Richard Dyer-Bennet's placement was spot on, and even when he sang softly, his voice rang clearly through the whole concert hall. Not a function of power. A function of good placement.

Comments?

Don Firth