UNIT 3: HUMAN VOICEINTRODUCCIÓN ¿QUÉ ES UN CANTANTE PARA MI?

3.1 RESPIRATORY SYSTEM

Your respiratory system is made up of the organs in your body that help you breathe.

Remember that respiration =breathing. The goal of breathing is to deliver oxygen to the body and to take away carbon dioxide.

Parts of the respiratoy system:

The Respiratoy system moves air in and out of the body using oxygen and eliminating carbon dioxide, a gas produced when cells use oxygen. The respiratory system includes the nose, mouth, bronchi, diapragm and lungs.

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- Mouth: Air enters the body through either the open mouth or the nose. It travels down the trachea to the lungs, where the oxygen in it passes into the bloodstream.

- Nasal passage: Air enters the body through either the open mouth or the nose. Tiny hairs in the nose trap unwanted particles while a sticky liquid called mucus catches many of the germs before they all can go too far into the respiratoy system.

- Trachea: About half of its 13 cm lenght is inside the chest and the other half is in the neck. The lower end of the trachea divides into two bronchi (tubes) that carry air into the lungs.

- Bronchi: the lower end of the trachea divides into two bronchi (tubes) that carry air into the lungs. One bronchus goes to the left lugn, the other into the right lung.

- Bronchiolies: Each bronchus divides into smaller and smaller tubes called bronchiolies.

- Alveoli: Bronchiolies eventually lead to tiny, stretchy sacs called alveoli. These sacs blow up like tiny balloons when you breathe in. Oxygen from the air passes through the walls of the alveolid into capillaries while carbon dioxide is passed out.

- Lung: Balloon-like structures in the chest that bring oxygen into the body and expel carbon dioxide from the body.

- Diaphragm: it is a strong muscle just below the lungs. When you breathe in and out, the diaphragm moves downwards and upwards against the lungs.

- Epiglotis: A flap in the throat that blocks the windpipe when food or liquid is being swallowed.

Why do i yawn?

When you are sleepy or drowsy the lungs do not take enough oxygen from the air. This causes a shortage of oxygen in our bodies. The brain senses this shortage of oxygen and sends a message that causes you to take a deep long breach a yawn.

Why do i sneeze?

Sneezing is like a cough in the upper breathing passages. It is de body’s way of removing an irritant from the sensitive mucous membranes of the nose. Many things can irritate the mucous membranes. Dust, pollen, pepper ore ven a cold blast of air are just some of the many things that may cause you to sneeze.

What causes hiccupus?

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Hiccups are the suden movementes of the diaphragm. It is involuntay--- you have no control over hiccups, as you well know. There are many causes of hiccups. The diaphragm may get irritated, you may have eaten too fast, or maybe some substance in the blood could even have brought on the hiccups.

3.2. HOW THE VOICE WORKS

We rely on our voices every day to interact with others, and a healthy voice is critical for clear communication. But just as we walk without thinking about it, we usually speak without thinking how our body makes it happen. However, knowing how we make sound is useful to maintaning the health and effectiveness of our voices

The main parts of voice production:

- The power source: Yo doy el texto y quito alguna palabra.the power for your voice comes from air that you exhale. When we inhale, the diaphragm lowers and the rib cage expands, drawing air into the lungs. As we exhale, the process reverses and air exits the lungs, creating an airstream in the trachea. This airstream provides the energy fo the vocal folds in the voice box to produce sound. The stronger the airstream, the stronger the voice. Give your voice good breath support to créate a steady strong airstream that helps you make clear sounds.

The vibratorThe larynx (or voice box) sits on top of the windpipe. It contains two vocal folds (also known as vocal cords) that open during breathing and close during swallowing and voice production. When we produce voice, the airstream passes between the two vocal folds that have come together. These folds are soft and are set into vibration by the passing airstream. They vibrate very fast from 100 to 1000 times per second, depending on the pitch of the sound we make. Pitch is determined by the lenght and tension of the vocal folds, which are controlled by muscles in the larynx.

The resonatorBy themselves, the vocal folds produce a noise that sounds like simple buzzing,much like the mouthpiece on a trumpet. All of the structure above the folds, including the throat, nose and mouth, are part of the resonator system. We can compare these structures to those of a horn or trumpet. The buzzing

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sound created by vocal fold vibration is changed by the shape of the resonator tract to produce our unique human sound.

When our voices are healthy, the three main parts work in harmony to provide effortless voice during speech and singing.

3.3 VOICE TYPES Solo nombrar.

The main classification criteria for determining our Voice Type are as follows:

- vocal range: is one of the key indicators of what type of voice a singer may have knowing our vocal range is vital because we would then know wich notes we should train with when we do our vocal warmups before singing.

- Register changes: our voice goes throug a number of changes in tone and quality as we move from low pitches to higher notes, and these changes are called vocal register changes. Knowing where your registers change or ‘shift gear’ would be able to help us determinate what Voice type we would belong to, and also help us to direct our vocal exercices efficiently towards smoothening our our register changes.

- Vocal tone Different singers have varying vocal tones, as some may have voices that are bright and ringing, whereas others may have voices that sound dark and heavy. Knowing our vocal tone helps us to be able to know what kinds of songs we can perform, and what songs we should avoid when performing or auditioning.

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- Tesitura or voice strength: tesitura refers to the vocal range within which our voice is at its most comfortable and sounding its best. Knowing where oir voice strenght lies is key to understanding what voice type we belong to. For example, a soprano would have a stronger head voice whereas a bass singer would have a stronger middle voice.

- Speech level voice: our speech level voice is usually the voice with which we are most comfortable using, and it also the voice that we would use the most in our everyday conversation. It gives us an important indication as to whether we are a tenor, baritone or bass singer we would most probably talk using our tesitura or most comfortable vocal range.

Female voices: : yo doy la definición y tú pones el nombre /tabla completar.

Soprano: The soprano is the highest singing voice. The tessitura of the soprano voice lies higher than all the other voices.

Mezzo-soprano: The mezzo-soprano is the middle-range voice type for females. The mezzo-soprano lies between the soprano voice and contralto voice, over-lapping both of them.

Contralto: The contralto voice is the lowest female voice. A true operatic contralto is rare so much so much thath often roles intended for contraltos are performed by mezzo-sopranos.

Male voices

Tenor: The tenor is the highest male voice within the modal register. The tessitura of the tenor voice lies above the baritone voice and below the contertenor voice.

Baritone: The vocal range of the baritone lies between the bass and tenor ranges, overlapping both of them. The baritone is the most common type of male voice.

Bass: The bass is the lowest male voice, it has the lowest tessitura of all voices.

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Children’s voices

The human voice is in a constant state of change and development just as the whole body is in a state of constant change. A human voice will alter as a person gets older moving from inmaturity to maturity to a peak of prime singing and then ultimately into a declining period.

Completar con palabras

The vocal range and timbre of children’s voices does not have the variety that adults’ voices have. Both boys and girls prior to puberty have an equivalent vocal range and timbre. The reason for this is that both groups have a similar larynx size and height and a similar vocal cord structure. With the onset of puberty, both men and women’s voices alter as the vocal ligaments become more defined and the laryngeal cartilages harden.

From the onset of puberty to aproximately age 22, the human voice is in an in-between phase where it is not quite as a child’s voice nor an adult one yet. This is not to suggest that the voice stops changing at that age

Completar el texto. Quitaré alguna palabra.

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3.5 ANIMALS

The mechanisms used to produce sound vary from one family of cetaceans to another. Marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, and porpoises, are much more dependent on sound for communication and sensation than are land mammals, because other senses are of limited effectiveness in water. Sight is less effective for marine mammals because of the way particulates in the ocean scatter light. Smell is also limited, as molecules diffuse more slowly in water than in air,which makes smelling less effective. However, the speed of sound is roughly four times greater in water than in the atmosphere at sea level. Because sea mammals are so dependen ton hearing ot communicate and feed, enviromentalists and cetologists are concerned that they are being harmed by the increased ambient noise in the world’s oceans caused by ships, sonar and marine seismic surveys.

Sonbirds learn their songs and perform them using a specialized voice box called a syrinx. Vocally, they’re in a league of their own. These adaptations have been remarkably succesful, songbirds make up almost half ot the world’s 10,000 bird species including warblers, thrushes and sparrows. The vast majority of non-songbird species make simpler sounds that are instinctual rather than learned.

Why are some bird sounds referred to as songs and others as calls? Typically a song is defined as a relatively structured vocalization produced while attracting a mate or defending a territory. Calls tend to be shorter, less rhythmic sounds used to communicate a nearby threat or an individual’s location. Each species and individual has a variety of songs and calls used in different contexts that together make up its repertoire. While the distinction between calls and songs is not always clear, it can be quite ear opening to explore the full repertoires of your favorite songbirds.

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3.6 AUDICIONES (1,2,4)Table 1 The Queen of the night

TÍTULO: The Queen of the night. (Aria) (The magic flute)

AUTOR: Mozart.

ÉPOCA: Clasicismo.

COMENTARIO:

Aria: una parte de una ópera en la que el solista canta y la orquesta le acompaña. Se utiliza en los momentos más dramáticos.

Canta una soprano.

Cosas que yo se sobre esta ópera.

Comentario personal: me gusta porque ……… no me gusta esta parte porque………Me parece muy difícil de cantar. Me gusta porque me recuera a…….

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Table 2 Habanera

TÍTULO: Habanera (Carmen)

AUTOR: Bizet

ÉPOCA:

COMENTARIO:

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Table 3 Remember me

TÍTULO: Remember me (Dido and Eneas)

AUTOR: H. Purcell

ÉPOCA:

COMENTARIO:

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Table 4 Nessumdorma

TÍTULO: Nessumdorma (Turandot)

AUTOR: Puccini

ÉPOCA:

COMENTARIO:

TÍTULO:

AUTOR:

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ÉPOCA:

COMENTARIO:

TÍTULO:

AUTOR:

ÉPOCA:

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COMENTARIO:

TÍTULO:

AUTOR:

ÉPOCA:

COMENTARIO:

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PROJECTSLas grandes voces: investiga sobre las grandes voces del siglo XX, elige tres intérpretes y elabora un tríptico sobre ellos. Debes elegir dos temas representativos y analizarlos.

El cuidado de la voz: investiga sobre las patologías mas comunes respecto a la voz y cómo evitarlas.

La música tradicional en la India: elabora un mapa conceptual sobre la música tradicional en la India.

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Acercamiento a la ópera: debes elegir uno de los capítulos del programa “This is Opera” (puedes encontrar el enlace en la web de la asignatura). Debes realizar una investigación sobre la ópera que elijas. Debe contener los siguientes puntos:

- Biografía del autor y momento en el cual compone la ópera, qué significa para él en ese momento de su vida, etc.

- Estreno de la obra: lugar, año, proceso de composición, anécdotas, etc.

- Argumento y ambientación de la ópera: debes explicar dónde y cuando se centra la ópera. También un resumen sobre el argumento.

- Personajes: debes hacer un análisis sobre los personajes, características de su personalidad, su situación, etc. Es muy importante que evalúes las “malas decisiones” que toman durante la ópera.

- Final alternativo: una vez evaluadas las decisiones que toman los personajes intenta mejorarlas e imagínate qué hubiera podido suceder.

- Análisis de fragmentos más famosos ( 3 fragmentos de la ópera)

Este proyecto es individual y cada alumno debe elegir una ópera diferente. Una vez elegida debe ser comunicada a la profesora, que reservará esta obra al alumno.

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