Effects of conductor verbal and nonverbal instructions on changes in singer voicing behaviors: A survey of recent research

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2015-04, Vol.137 (4_Supplement), p.2360-2360
• Main Author: Manternach, Jeremy N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4920570

Vocal and choral music professionals seek to guide their singers to efficient and beautiful vocal production. They do so using a multitude of techniques, some of which have been passed along from one generation of teachers to the next. These techniques include giving singers a particular focus of attention and displaying varied conducting gestures designed to evoke specific voicing behaviors. Despite the prevalence of these techniques, few researchers have investigated whether they consistently change the acoustical output or the muscle engagement used by individual singers or choristers. This presentation provides an overview of recent research that has sought to quantify the voicing behaviors of individual singers as they (a) sang a short melody while focusing on various internal or external foci, (b) viewed varied conductor preparatory (inhalation) gestures prior to singing a short melody, and (c) viewed varied conductor final release (cutoff) gestures at the end of a short melody. The resulting acoustical, biomedical, and perceptual data inform the pedagogical implications that are discussed throughout.