Barbershop Theory #5 - Understanding Overtones In Vocal Harmony

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

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[@Sunsets238]

I was in undergrad when Theo presented his DMA lecture recital on this topic. I have been fascinated ever since. Excellent video... I have been waiting for something like this!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Woaaah, how cool! I watched it online but would have loved to see it live! It's an incredibly fascinating topic, and I really only scratched the surface in this video. So glad to hear you liked the video

[@Brayth]

@@BarbershopTagAlong where can I watch this!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

@@Brayth I actually don’t now if the link still exists…It was an online lecture published by Anderson University (I think) and I’ve since then had trouble finding it. Asking Theo Hicks himself would be my best guest as to getting the video.

[@malteoester]

This series is fantastic Søren! Thanks for putting in all this work on these videos - it really makes becoming a better barbershopper so much more accessible for people around the world 💈🌍

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thank you so much Malte ❤️❤️

[@betsyasummers]

Thank you for using voce vista for this - it brings it to life, and I love the comparison with Tim W's voice, too, to show how resonance and timbre affect overtones. Love it!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thank you so much for you kind comment!! Voce vista is such a cool tool and really helps showcasing overtones and explaining how our voices work!

[@kleopatra540]

easily the hardest topic to explain about singing and barbershop in particular, but I think this is really nice, very concise for only ten minutes. I learned a bunch of new stuff :)

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Yeah, it was really tricky to Keep it both easi to understand and short at the same time :)

[@passonthering]

This is my new favorite video. I feel like I had some understanding of overtones and their application in barbershop, but this really helped to solidify my understanding. I can’t wait to apply some of this at my next barbershop opportunity.

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Wuuuh, so glad to hear that! Really made my day to read this!

[@accapozzy5440]

Very cool video! If you actually sing different vowels and experiment then you can sort of highlight different harmonics in the voice, and it is this exact concept which does this, would recommend looking into it as it can quite help practical understanding of highlighting overtones of which the theoretic element is brilliantly covered in this video!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Yeah, exactly!! I think I need to do a new where I dig deeper into vowel matching and shaping of overtones 😄

[@accapozzy5440]

@@BarbershopTagAlong Yes that would be amazing!

[@TheViolaBuddy]

This is really cool. Overtones are stuff I've seen before, so technically there's no new information, but the demonstration with that software was really cool. I know this wasn't the main focus, but dragging that frequency cutoff bar to hear the transition from "a stack of sine waves" to "the vowel aaa made by a human voice" (plus an extra oomph of power behind that voice when you get to that band of higher harmonics) was really fascinating. And trying to just barely make out that A, the hidden major 7 of the chord, in a controlled environment like this was cool since it's so hard to hear and you don't normally know what you're looking for - even here, it's only just barely audible to me (and I gave up on looking for the C), which might mean my ear needs a bit more practice at hearing this sort of thing.

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thank you so much! It’s so cool to look at overtones this way. You really get a sense of what makes up the human voice.

[@barberchopin96]

WOW I’ve been trying to figure out how we temper in barbershop, this is incredibly helpful

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Hey Christopher! So glad to help! Make sure to check out all the other barbershop theory videos on the channel, if that's your jam!

[@barberchopin96]

I think I meant to post this comment on video #4 in the series lol. Discussing the syntonic comma

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

@@barberchopin96 Yeah, I thought that too 😄

[@FunnyFungus]

This is the first time, I've ever heard a voice devided up into sinus-notes; really cool job, good sir! Also - minor detail; there's 2 octaves between the tenor and the bass! ;)

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Woops 😅

[@FunnyFungus]

​@@BarbershopTagAlong Do you think you could do a follow-up, where you point out the differences in overtones when singing different vocals? (And modifying vocals) I was just talking to my parents aboud the importance of a choir/group sining the same vocals - and that there is a difference in an "Aah" and an "Arhh" - all the way to, let's say and "Årh". I don't know if it would take up an entire video, but I'd really like to see the difference in the sinus-notes and overtones when comparing vocals :)

[@FunnyFungus]

Might be worth noticing you're allready half-way there - but my point would be how they sound "together" - and how they look. Even "Eeh" and "Ih" / "Oh" and "Uh" - because it is so noticeable when slicing each note up into sine waves and how many overtones we need to realise the vocal

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

@@FunnyFungus Would be fun to do a follow up video at some point!

[@Cellottia]

Very interesting, thank you for such good and clear information! (Soprano chorister, cello and trombone player.)

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thank you so much!

[@jakobnolda2113]

This was so interesting and well-explained!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Happy to hear that! Thanks!

[@nibbletman]

Super interesting! Thanks as always, Soren :)

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thanks - so glad to hear that, Edward!! :)

[@galen255]

Excellent video!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thank you so much Galen!

[@Micro.]

I'm taking a guess that Tim Waurick's overtones are ringing more clearly due to post-mixing after recording, in addition to being an incredibly talented singer.

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

That is also a posibility, but I also tried EQ boosting my high end to see if that would change anything, and I was still seeing holes here and there, whereas Tim has clear, strong overtones all through the Spectrum.

[@Ynqve]

@@BarbershopTagAlong do you mean his “Vocal Spectrum”? 😏

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

@@Ynqve We have a funny guy over here!

[@jazzrat2000]

Overtones are why God gave us just intonation :) I've yet to hear one come from a piano. Sometimes you can get a string to vibrate if you hold a key down, I'm not sure that counts. When I was still teaching the jazz ensemble I used to show them about chords and how they needed to be tuned by using the trombone section. I would get a couple of guys going on a perfect 5th and then let the girl if there is one :) put in the major 3rd and mess with it until you hear it in tune and the overtones

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Overtoners are all around, but most people just don’t notice them. It’s so amazing to watch when people first experience a just intonated chord and hear an overtone for the first time!

[@paulgardner6239]

Before this starts, I would like to say that on a personal level I have been singing barbershop since 1994, sung in three choruses and two quartets and have never heard an overtone. Ever.

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Hey Paul. I guarantee you that you have probably heard multiple overtones throughout the years, but if your ears don’t know What to listen for, it can be impossible to tell an overtones from all the other sounds. They are not always super clear, as in the example from my video, but I bet you have been exposed to overtones before without knowing it.

[@ConradGodfrey]

All Hail King Soren

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Hahahaha!! Thanks Conrad ❤️😄 I figured this would be right up your alley!

[@sm9450]

In a future video, could you touch on why vibrato generally isn’t used in bbs? Talking to non-barbershoppers who worked hard to get their vibrato!

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Hmm, I might need to tie it into another topic because on its own it’s faily simple to explain. Because the goal of barbershop harmony is to have ringing chords that lock into place, vibrato basically ruins that.

[@PabloGambaccini]

Which page do you use to create the overtones? 🤔 (the first one where you could swich them on and of)

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

I actually don’t remember 😬 I think I just Google’ed online tone generator

[@AnthonyMondon]

Excellent work ! How can I contact you to send some tags to record ?

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

My work e-mail should be on my profile, but just write to [e-mail]

[@bobhillyer3970]

What is that software

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

It’s called VoceVista Video 😊 You can download a free trial version on their website

[@P-Funk_]

I love these videos. Like a lot. Also I got accepted into a university called Harmony U and offered to pay half tuition. Then I can apply for scholarship and possibly get it free😇

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

Thanks my man!! Woah, cool!! Harmony U is going to be a game changer for you! 😊

[@TagGuy]

Good for you. HU is wonderful! If you really want to dive deep into overtones be sure to take the “Tune It Or Die” class.

[@owencrawford5984]

Nice racist thumbnail bro

[@BarbershopTagAlong]

I’m sorry you see racism that easily. This is a picture meant to look frustrating because the topic of the video is complicated.

[@minimalisttraveler9337]

Everything is racist REEEEEE! What a loser.