Ethnomusic

A statistical analysis by the present writer on adharashadja or keynote of the singers of South Indian classical music has shown that the pitch ratio between men and women singers lies as 3:2 Musically speaking, the adharashadja of a woman's voice is the madhyama note of a man's adharashdja. The man who has a sthayisarira or a high-pitched voice is described as having madhyamasruti voice. In both the sexes, those who mature early possess high voices. At the age of fifty or sixty another change occurs in voice quality because the laryngeal cartilages begin to stiffen and the elasticity of the soft tissues starts to decrease. The voice becomes weak and lacks in volume and quality.

Regarding breathing habits, men breathe differently from women but there is no difference among children of both sexes in breathing habits. Men breathe usually with the diaphragmatic type with the movement of the diaphragm effected by a more wide and free movement of the lower part of the chest wall. Women breathe with the costal type as the upper part of the chest walls are more flexible and hence move more freely.

"The set-up of the chest cavity is different for women from men and this causes the difference in the type of breathing. 

• Its capacity is less

• The sternum is shorter and its upper margin is on a level with the lower part of the body of the third thoracic vertebra whereas in the male it is on a level with the lower part of the second.

• The upper ribs are more movable and so allow greater expansion of the upper part of the thorax"2.

Because of this natural capacity, we find that even an untrained male voice is strong at the lower tessitura while an untrained female voice is powerful in the higher tessitura. Hence men should be trained to sing the upper octave freely by improving the muscular control to handle the breath upon high notes while women should be trained to reach the lower octave notes with adequate loudness by learning the diaphragmatic type of breathing.

Finally, the voice quality is influenced by the physical makeup of the resonating chambers that vary with children, men and women. The resonating cavities are usually larger in men than in women while children have smaller cavities than adults. The child has more space in its head than in its throat passage. Therefore the child produces the tone with the high overtones predominantly. The voice sounds shrill. When the child grows, the spaces in the throat passage enlarge and lower overtones enter into his tone which make the voice rich. The space of the throat is enlarged for the adults which makes the voice quality powerful. The voice of the child is usually high also because of the short vocal cords which are placed very high in the neck.  

An investigation has been made by the present writer about the influence of the physical makeup of the face upon the quality of the voice. The following facts are observed: the person who has a lengthy mouth and thin lips produces the voice predominated by 'E' sound while the person who possesses a round mouth and thick lips produces the voice with an 'O' sound. The voice loses the mouth resonance if the cheeks are too chubby as the shape of the mouth becomes contracted. The disarrangement of teeth in the mouth makes it difficult to produce consonant sounds and also spoils the quality of the voice as the physical makeup of the face is changed. A nasal voice is produced by those who have a flattened nose and those who have their noses turned upward. III-developed sinuses make the voice very much deficient in loudness. The hard surfaced other bony structures of the resonant mechanism make the voice sound more metallic by bringing out overtones more powerfully. The fleshy and soft resonating walls dampen the upper partials and make the tone mellow. Normally people who possess big faces have loud voices and people with small faces have soft voices.

The student must be taught always to sing in his own voice. The quality of the voice is spoilt when one sings with an unnatural voice. Hence children should never try to imitate the voice of an adult, and men should always sing with a powerful and manly voice while a lady's voice must be soft and gentle.

(concluded)

Dr. Durga is an internationally well-known voice training specialist for singers. She received her research degree M.Litt., from the Madras University, for her thesis on Voice-Culture. Indian Musicological Society, Baroda, has brought out her book on Voice Culture. Carnatica, Chennai, has brought a video out titled "The Ideal Voice" with her presentation on Voice Culture. She has conducted many workshops on Voice-Culture in India including the Shibir for Gujarat - Sangeet Natak Academy, India, and in other foreign countries including Bharathiya Vidhya Bhavan, London. Dr. Durga is a visiting professor for Voice Culture at S.N.D.T., Women's University, Bombay and The Music Academy, Madras.

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