The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #60438 Message #967069
Posted By: Mark Clark
16-Jun-03 - 12:46 PM
Thread Name: Is that really you?
Subject: RE: Is that really you?
This is a question I often think about. I don't come up with any definitive answer, I just think about it. <g> It depends partly on one's chosen idiom and the effect one is trying to achieve.
An operatic vocalist, for instance, works very hard to produce a full classical vocal tone that is radically different from his speaking voice. Does that invalidate opera? In fact any singer trying to stay within a learned form will emulate the sounds associated with that form. The archaic form of unaccompanied ballad singing found in the Southern Appalachians isn't done in the singer's speaking voice but in a highly stylized and carefully practiced mode and tone. Word pronunciation may be regional but the voice used in singing doesn't seem to be an extenstion of the speaking voice.
Here in the U.S. it's common to hear people trying to emulate an Irish accent when performing Irish songs, an English accent for music hall tunes and a Southern Black accent when performing a traditional blues number. Sometimes the same singer may attempt all three. The singer isn't trying to present himself as a native of any of those cultures, he's merely trying to show respect for the song and for his source. If he cares deeply about the heritage of the song, he may feel the song won't sound right if it doesn't included the tonal feel of the original.
Pete Seeger is an example of a successful singer who always presents his music using a songful extension of his speaking voice. Pete's voice is immediately recognizable by anyone even slightly familiar with his work. Pete works to make each song his own; he always gives credit to the source but when he presents the song, it's clearly his own. Pete's brother Mike, on the other hand, most often presents traditional material in a vocal and instrumental setting as close to the source as he can get. His singing is often rather far from his speaking voice. Both of these wonderful musicians maintain the integrity of the music and both of them teach the rest of us about the possibilities in a song and transmit their deep respect for the music and its origin.
When I'm singing a Wobbly song, a cowboy song or a traditional song that through usage has lost any regional identity I'll use an extension of my speaking voice. If I'm singing a blues, I'll try to make it sound funkier but it's still my natural voice, there's no way I could come off sounding like a black man so I don't try. When I'm singing bluegrass I tend to sing in a style that one associates with traditional bluegrass, not an extension of my speaking voice. I feel that the bluegrass sound depends as much on the vocal style as on the instrumental styles. If the vocals don't sound like bluegrass the parts don't fit together to make a cohesive whole to my ear.
- Mark