Why do some people’s singing voices have more vibrato than others? Can it be taught?

Carl E. Seashore, who died in 1949, did pioneering research in audiology and the psychology of music. He analyzed vocal vibrato in modern Western classical singing by quantifying recordings of singers. In 1938 in “Psychology of Music,” he described the components: “A good vibrato is a pulsation of pitch, usually accompanied with synchronous pulsations of loudness and timbre, of such extent and rate as to give a pleasing flexibility, tenderness and richness to the tone.”

He also suggested that the three components could be heard and practiced. He described the ideal classical pitch component as varying by no more than a semitone around the main note. (Modern “pop” vibrato tends to vary more in amplitude than in pitch.)

Vibrato involves the muscles of the larynx and surrounding structures, including the tongue, epiglottis and pharyngeal wall. It is usually described as a rhythmic contraction and relaxation of the muscles surrounding the larynx.

How to teach singers to achieve a vibrato without exaggerating any component is controversial. A 2006 study in Journal of Voice by Johan Sundberg and others found that professional training seems to develop it without conscious effort. In 22 students before and after three years of professional singing education, the study measured the top note in a three-note pattern sung loudly and softly, with the top note held about five seconds. After three years, voices with vibratos slower than 5.2 cycles per second had speeded up, and voices with vibratos faster than 5.8 cycles per second had slowed down.

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For classical recordings, the future is online

ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN

From Monday's Globe and Mail

Quick, which music group has won the most Grammy Awards? No, it's not U2 (who lead the field in popular music with 22), but the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, whose recordings have won 60.

For breadth and sheer number of albums, no one can match the world's great orchestras, some of which have been recording for nearly a century. The Chicago SO has made more than 900 recordings; a Boston Symphony Orchestra discography published last year needed 350 pages to get through the whole catalogue.

Numbers like that used to be grounds for chest thumping, but now they're reminders of a golden age that is definitely past. Formerly dominant labels such as Decca and EMI Classics now do so few orchestral recordings that many fabled ensembles are setting up their own labels and selling their music online.

"The days of the seven-, 10- or 15-record deal are long gone," says Mark Volpe, managing director of the Boston SO. "We decided to take our destiny into our own hand."

The BSO launched its BSO Classics label earlier this year, with an initial batch of four live recordings. Two are available as CDs; the others can only be purchased as digital downloads from the BSO's website. "I have two kids, and they've never bought a CD in their lives," says Volpe. In any case, the BSO's website records more than 7.6 million unique visitors per year, far more traffic than the orchestra could expect from record stores.

The Philadelphia Orchestra ended a 10-year recording drought in 2007 by launching a partnership with the tiny Finnish label Ondine, with which it has since produced seven live CDs.

As in Boston, the Philadelphians are seeing a bigger future in marketing their own music online. They will sell you music from a selection of recent and archival concerts, one piece at a time. Most works cost $5 or $6 (U.S.), depending on the audio format.

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has three live recordings for sale as digital tracks on its website (for 99 cents each), and as CDs with very limited distribution. So far, says a TSO spokesperson, the downloads outstrip the hard-copy sales by two to one, and over half the downloads are from buyers outside Canada.

The common element in all these situations, aside from the drift away from hard copies, is that the recordings were all made live, and none would have been feasible before 2007. That's when the American Federation of Musicians signed an industry-wide deal that allows North American orchestras to make live recordings of their unionized players without paying them extra fees up front.

The details of the arrangement vary from one orchestra to another, but the outcome is the same. The biggest single cost of recording an orchestra - the players' "step-up" fees - is drastically reduced, or at least deferred until the recording is launched and begins to make money.

"There's no advance," says Volpe, of his contract with the players in Boston. "We don't pay out until we've covered our costs."

It costs so little to turn the microphones on at Symphony Hall, where many concerts are already recorded for radio, that the BSO now tapes every concert it plays. Only those that both management and orchestra feel would enhance the BSO's discography and reputation are put up for sale as digital albums, for $8 to $13. (The BSO also sells all-access online subscriptions for $30 to $50.)

Nobody has looked further into the future of symphony orchestra recordings than the Berlin Philharmonic. Its Digital Concert Hall, which it launched last year, is a multimedia experiment that combines elements of live performance, concert film, online event and replayable audio recording.

The Berlin Phil put almost all of its 2008-2009 programs on DCH, as high-definition concert films shot in its home auditorium at the Berlin Philharmonie. The 30 concerts were all streamed live on the day they were performed, then stored in the DCH archive.

For a subscription fee - €39 ($60) for one month or €149 for the year - you can watch and listen to virtually anything the Berliners played last season, as well as forthcoming live streams during your subscription period (you can also buy a single ticket for €9.90). It's like having a recording you can listen to whenever and as often as you like, though it feels like you're witnessing a live event, and at the end of your subscription you own nothing.

I've watched a few DCH concerts, and I find them a bit like the Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts, only better. The Met broadcasts threw open the doors of a great opera house to anybody who could get to a movie theatre. The DCH does the same thing for one of the world's best orchestras, without having to rely on theatres that are better equipped for blockbuster soundtracks than scores by Gluck or Beethoven. The video production values are very high, and the performances I've heard so far are staggeringly good.

The DCH also offers music you simply can't hear anywhere else. A June concert conducted by Daniel Barenboim includes a new flute concerto by Elliott Carter, which had previously been performed only in Jerusalem. North American subscribers might be surprised by how much contemporary music is played in one of the European temples of orchestral music.

A DCH concert performance of Haydn's opera Orlando Paladino, recorded with Nicholas Harnoncourt last March, offers a rare chance to hear the ascendant Canadian soprano Jane Archibald, whose opera calendar for next year doesn't include any dates in Canada. The series also introduced me to the Swedish Wagnerian soprano Katarina Dalayman, who warmed up for her April debut at the Met as Brunhilde (in Gotterdammerung) with a luscious and powerful March performance of excerpts from the opera in Berlin.

Like every other orchestra feeling its way into this new world of recording, the Berlin Phil doesn't expect to make any money from its online activities. The lure is all about expanding audiences, enhancing prestige and making a document of performances that will last long after the final chord.

"Without the support of Deutsche Bank [DCH's major sponsor], and of the guest artists who gave all these [recording] rights almost for free, it would not have been possible," says Olaf Maninger, a Berlin Phil cellist and managing director of the DCH. "It's very interesting for them and us to have a look into the future. We all want to give it a try. And we are building an archive in HD, which is fantastic."

The next piece of that archive will be put in place at 1 p.m. on Friday, when the Berlin Phil opens its season at home and online, with Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and a new commissioned piece by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho titled Laterna Magica. That sounds like a pretty good description of my computer, streaming music and images from DCH.

Vancouver maestro saves British couple's big day

When the expected pianist called to say he wasn't going to make it to the wedding in time, the groom hit the panic button – with stupendous results.

Disaster was imminent: The bride was due to arrive at any moment and the pianist called to say he wasn't going to make it to the wedding in time. Fearing his wife-to-be would have to walk down the aisle in silence, the groom hit the panic button – with stupendous results.

Bramwell Tovey, music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, happened to be in the east of England last Saturday to conduct a concert in the hall adjacent to the wedding venue. When the frantic groom ran into the grand surrounds of St. Andrew's Hall hoping to find a passable pianist or even a CD he could borrow, he was lucky enough to run into Philip Biggs, the administrator for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. Mr. Biggs immediately called the band's artistic director – Maestro Tovey – who stepped into the breach without hesitation.

“I was driving when I got the call,” said Mr. Tovey, back home in Vancouver Wednesday. “Philip explained what had happened and asked if I might be able to help out. I put my foot down and made a few illegal turns and got there in under 10 minutes. I thought if the police stopped me, they would understand.”

Arriving, by his own admission, somewhat dishevelled in shorts and a T-shirt, British-born Mr. Tovey was asked if he could play Cole Porter's Night and Day and promptly thrust onto the stage of the medieval Blackfriars' Hall where, he said, he sat down at a “gorgeous Boesendorfer piano – one of the best grand pianos you can get. I must have looked a bit of a mess.”

Along with the Porter, he played George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, then chose Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Variation 18 to accompany the signing of the registry.

“No one had told me what to play as the bride and groom walked out,” he said. “So I decided to be traditional and went with the Mendelssohn march, which I finished with a big flourish.”

“ My mother will be very excited. That'll be more impressive than conducting the New York phil.”

Lucy and Sam Taylor – the unsuspecting bride and groom – had no idea who had stepped up to save their day until later, when they Googled Mr. Tovey's name to see if they could find an e-mail address by which to thank him.

In an interview for The Daily Telegraph, Mr. Taylor said that Mr. Tovey was “just fantastic. He walked in, lifted up the lid and began playing, almost as if it had all been planned.”

Mr. Tovey was on the last day of his summer tour – an itinerary that included guest conducting engagements with the New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras, as well as his annual 10 days with the British youth band.

Having been on more than one airline flight in the past when a doctor's services were called for, Mr. Tovey said that he and his wife had often joked about there being no emergency for which a musician is qualified to help. “And lo and behold,” he laughed, “there actually was one.”

Completely unaware that he was currently being hailed in the British press as a hero, Mr. Tovey chuckled at the news. “My mother will be very excited,” he said. “That'll be more impressive than conducting the New York phil.”

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I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes for God's glory

Today I am stepping across the line. I'm tired of waffling and I'm finished with wavering, I've made my choice, the verdict is in, and my decision is irrevocable. I'm going God's way. There's no turning back now!

I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living, and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, "we" over "me," character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures. I know what matters most and I'll give it all I've got. I'll do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today.

I won't be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I'll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me. When times get tough, and I get tired, I won't back up, back off, back down, back out or backslide. I'll just keep moving forward by God's grace. I'm Spirit-led, purpose-driven and mission-focused so I cannot be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.
I'm a trophy of God's amazing grace so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for everyday, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say: However, Whenever, Wherever, and Whatever you ask me to do, my answer in advance is yes! Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I'm ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Anyway. Whatever it takes Lord; Whatever it takes! I want to be used by you in such a way, that on that final day I'll hear you say, "Well done, thou good and faithful one. Come on in, and let the eternal party begin!"

Classical Music Instrumentation

Classical and popular music are often distinguished by their choice of instruments. There are few if any genres in which so many different instruments are used simultaneously by performing groups such as symphony orchestras, which often contain as many as 5 or so different types of string instruments including violins, violas, cellos, double basses and harp; 7 or more types of woodwind instruments; 4 or so types of brass instrument; and many diverse percussion instruments, sometimes as many as 10 different types. Also prevalent, especially in opera, is the human voice. Comparatively, most popular music genres involve fewer instruments. For instance a typical rock band will consist of a drummer, a guitarist or two, a singer or two, an electric bassist and, less universally, a keyboardist. Of course, crossover influences, such as string sections in pop recordings, are very popular as well, but rarely are backing strings considered to be part of pop or rock bands.

The instruments used in common practice classical music were mostly invented before the mid-19th century (often much earlier), and codified in the 18th and 19th centuries. They consist of the instruments found in an orchestra, together with a few other solo instruments (such as the piano, harpsichord, and organ).

Electric instruments such as the electric guitar appear occasionally in the classical music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Both classical and popular musicians have experimented in recent decades with electronic instruments such as the synthesizer, electric and digital techniques such as the use of sampled or computer-generated sounds, and the sounds of instruments from other cultures such as the gamelan.

None of the bass instruments existed until the Renaissance. In Medieval music, instruments are divided in two categories: loud instruments for use outdoors or in church, and quieter instruments for indoor use. Many instruments which are associated today with popular music used to have important roles in early classical music, such as bagpipes, vihuelas, hurdy-gurdies and some woodwind instruments. On the other hand, the acoustic guitar, for example, which used to be associated mainly with popular music, has gained prominence in classical music through the 19th and 20th centuries.

While equal temperament became gradually accepted as the dominant musical temperament during the 19th century, different historical temperaments are often used for music from earlier periods. For instance, music of the English Renaissance is often performed in mean tone temperament.

From Wikipedia