Vocal Resonance (Lesson 2): Vowel Purity and the Basics of Resonance Tuning

This is the second lesson in an 8-10 video series on the topic of vocal acoustics. In this lesson, I discuss the concept of vowel purity (what it is on the physiological and acoustic levels) and encourage the viewer to experiment with some basic resonance tuning to find the pitch centeredness of the vowel.

[@Nico-ec7xl]

Karyn, I say this in response to all of the videos you posted: The quality content you share and how easily digestive you explain it, are both unmatched! You helped me a great deal with every issue I have experienced so far as a singer (I'm only 25 but have been singing since I was 8). Everyone interested in good/healthy vocal technique should subscribe to your channel! Thank you so much and can't wait for the other videos of this series! :))

[@ericbrotherson2003]

I am a developing voice coach and I just love how you conceptualize and talk about the voice. Thank you for your expertise and joy.

[@VIDEOHEREBOB]

Excellent, and so important to great tone quality.

[@setapartforHim]

So much information. Thank you so much!

[@singwisevocals]

You're most welcome!

[@palestrinachoirschool2314]

Thank you for the tuning of the radio example. Very good explanation of the effects of diphthongs on vowel purity!

[@singwisevocals]

I'm glad it was a helpful analogy!

[@maxi8891]

Thank you so much for these videos on vowels and for everything you do. You're a fantastic teacher.

[@martineyeo7491]

What a great topic! Funny how I come across a topic that answers a recent question I was asking myself!

[@brianschuck4832]

I was in a coaching session for my barbershop quartet last night and some elements that you cover in this video came up. In the barbershop genre the goal is to maximize resonance and ring with four singers - vowel matching between parts is critical. At one point I was singing the word "I" (dipthong ah followed by eee) and then a short phrase later the word "say" (dipthong eh followed by eee). The feedback I received was that the way I was placing the ah vowel sound was enough different than the eh vowel that it stood out as not belonging to the same "family". The message I think that would relate to most singers of any genre is you not only need to find where you resonate the best at each vowel target, but you also need to make sure that there is consistency to your sound between those vowels.

[@singwisevocals]

Yes! I actually posted a video some time back about achieving homogeneity of our sound across all vowels on the same pitch - what I call 'horizontal equalization of our vowels.' (In that video, I also discussed 'vertical equalization of our vowels,' in which we maintain the same amount of depth and ring - the same quality - on the same vowel across our the majority of the scale.) Some of the challenge in achieving this consistency/homogeneity is that on the same pitch, we could be in different acoustical registers depending on the vowel that we're singing (due to the differences in the first formant locations of the vowels). This is something that I plan to discuss later in this series.

[@romulo_lupin]

I love your videos. I am a voice coach in Brazil and you help me a lot.

[@Rosannasfriend]

Glad you're back!

[@inhocsigno9151]

Interesting, it is nice to see your video again. Have to look for Lesson 1.

[@fonoaudiolunita]

You explained very clearly, the information that usually quite complex to understand. Thanks for that!!

[@Jerel_con_jota]

What a wonderful resource! I wish you had been on the voice faculty of my school when I was in college!

[@bigfakenetwork]

Wonderful. Thank you.

[@daiilasdivinations4379]

Omg she knows her stuff

[@gregoryallan3137]

Thank you.

[@singwisevocals]

You're welcome.

[@purnashmusic8727]

After watching this very educational video with really in depth examples, there are no singing examples 😭😭😭!!!

[@samsschool3639]

I can't begin to thank you so much for this, I have Ken B's book but you need to be a specialist to understand the details, thanks for making it understandable!

[@simje7020]

Thanks so much for sharing this video with us. Its helpfull 🙏🥰👍

[@Rosannasfriend]

I agree, you're not supposed to seeing vowels as they're spoken. But the differences all that teachers I have seen before called those vowels "pure vowels". So we say that you're not supposed to sing "pure vowels". So while we have the same message, the terminology you're using seems to be different. You're saying that you can sing pure vowels , but pure vowels are not the spoken ones, according to you.

[@singwisevocals]

'Pure' vowels, by definition (linguistics, phonology, and acoustics), are vowels in which the articulators stay in one position during their execution. That's not the same as a speech vowel. Our speech vowels are seldom 'pure.' In addition to many of them being diphthongs, they are also all very prone to assimilation - when a speech sound becomes similar or identical to a neighboring sound. (We somewhat change our speech sounds depending on what other speech sounds precede and follow them. Speech sounds are influenced by the ones that they're next to.) Assimilation decreases the range of motion of our articulators, which increases efficiency, but it also has an impact on the resonance of the vowel. But in singing, there is a greater need for vowel purity - keeping the articulators in one position when we sing our vowels - so that we can 'tune' our resonance more effectively. I guess I am using different terms than some other teachers do, although 'pure' is more commonly used to describe vowels in which the articulators don't move.

[@aldebaran853]

11:45 okay now I understand why I hear this bell like ring quality in some singers more clearly. It's very pleasant and penetrating at times, and somehow give you an illusion your voice has a natural echo in it. I have a question. I noticed in some singers when they sustained a note, a belt for example. Say the vowel they sing is /a/ I see that as they sustained them longer and longer they kinda change their lips position. Are they refining their vowel until the last phrase?

[@singwisevocals]

I think it might depend. First, it's really hard for us to keep muscles (including our lips and facial muscles) completely still. There's going to be some subtle movement. Sometimes, singers are simply not aware that they are making changes to their vocal tracts and they do so unwittingly. In other cases, they may indeed be trying to find a better shaping to give them more efficiency or a more desirable 'tuning' or sound quality.

[@aldebaran853]

@@singwisevocals oh okay, thank you very much for the answer ^^

[@mamymimma]

I was thinking of dipthongs in My Way - I'm Italian, and I didn't know you consider the Italian vowels 😊 I noticed the lips changing the vowels a lot ... the tongue position had a minor impact in comparison 👄or maybe I did it wrong

[@singwisevocals]

That is a very interesting observation. The tongue is considered the primary articulator because it has the most effect on the resonator tract. It serves as a partition between the pharynx and the mouth. Consequently, its movements directly impact the size and shape of each of those sections of resonator tract.

[@mamymimma]

@@singwisevocals Thanks a lot for your kind reply

[@sananton2821]

Those vowels most certainly do not occur in every language in the world. What is your source for that assertion?

[@hansy1305]

7:00 for pure vowels

[@voice__Maker]

great!

[@diegonavarromeza5208]

Could you quote the references? I’m very interested in the picture about vowel envelope (formants). Thank you very much

[@singerfromhell666]

Remember Hip hop, when you say speaking does not do the same :) haha

[@aleferraz78]

so many information.. so few examples... its really doesnt help me..